When it comes to greenlighting new drama, networks love two areas, crime and hospitals; of course it is a constant struggle to find a new a way to tell tired old stories. We have already explored the hospital dramas with Nurse Jackie and network light clone Mercy, but now we will look at the new trend in crime drama. Cops and detectives and forensics have all been done so now writers are looking elsewhere. The Mentalist burst onto the scene in 2008 with the idea of teaming a man with a unique skill (in the case a reformed TV psychic) with a bunch of detectives (now it can be argued that the idea for The Mentalist was stolen from comedy drama Psych – a fact not gone unnoticed by the show.) This was followed a few months later by Castle which saw a crime novelist team up with detectives to solve crime. Finally we have White Collar, this time the guy with a skill is a expert conman Neal Caffrey, rescued from prison to help the FBI solve crimes.

When I first heard the pitch for the show it felt like it picked up where Catch Me If You Can left off. But, this is no catch me if you can, there is no background to this guy’s amazing abilities in identifying fraud just everyone says that he is the best. The first episode sees him escape from prison to stop his girlfriend leaving him.. The cop who put him away originally tracks him down but on discovering that he as knowledge of a crime is deputised to help solve such a crime.  Tagged and housed up in a crappy hotel room it does not take Caffrey too long to con his way into more upscale digs with a rich widow. Ultimately his insight proves more useful than the entire resources of FBI and they find the people responsible for a large counterfeit operation. This seals the trust between conman and cop and the start of many new adventures, of course Caffrey still hasn’t reunited with his ex and working with the police may just be a stop gag position until he finds out where she is.

There was much to like in this caper led pilot and I certainly found it more engaging that Castle, but lacked the insider tricks provided by the Mentalist. I wonder would happen if they teamed up these guys as the legit law enforcement seems wholly incapable of solving a crime without these quirky outsiders. This is where these shows fall down, just because you have a unique skill it does not make you the life saver of every operation, however since he is the life saver people should just stop doubting him.

The first series received a 14 episode order with a news of a second series being picked up too.

Created / Written by: Jeff Eastin
Directed by: Bronwen Hughes
Starring: Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay, Willie Garson, Natalie Morales, Tiffani Thiessen
Date premièred: 23rd October 2009
UK Details: TBC