New Show to Check Out: TNT's 'Rizzoli & Isles'

I first heard about the new TNT show Rizzoli & Isles during the overwhelming pilot pick-up season. It didn't pique my interest much beyond the fact that Janet Tamaro, a former Bones scribe, was attached in some sort of producing capacity. Then the other day, one of my Twitter followers referred to the show as the the "bicurious Bones" which gave me a good chuckle.

Then lo and behold, yesterday while going through the pages of the most recent EW, I came upon a cute ad for the show:



Okay. I'm intrigued...

The premise of Rizzoli & Isles, similar to Bones' origins, is based on a crime drama novel series by Tess Gerritsen's. From TNT:

RIZZOLI & ISLES follows Boston detective Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) and medical examiner Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander), complete opposites and good friends who solve crimes and bust some of Boston's most notorious criminals. Growing up at opposite ends of the economic spectrum, the two remain strikingly different from one another in many ways. Jane, the only female detective in Boston's homicide division, is a tough and gutsy cop who doesn't let her guard down (except with Maura), dodges her overprotective mother and is better at basketball than her brother. Maura, meanwhile, is usually more comfortable among the dead than the living. She is always impeccably dressed in designer duds with a steady, sometimes icy temperament. And she is working on curbing her tendency to diagnose the people she meets - including her first dates. Jane and Maura often find themselves working together as both use their brilliant minds and expertise to figure out the "who done it" as well as the "how done it" of Boston's most complex cases.

Despite their many differences, Jane and Maura are best friends, with a quirky and supportive relationship. As Tamaro explains, "That Jane and Maura are so different and yet so effective as a team makes them unusual. There's something rare about their relationship that I see in the world but not enough on television: two smart, strong, competent women who instinctively drop the protective shield when they're with each other."

RIZZOLI & ISLES also stars Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos) as Angela, Jane's demanding and intrusive mother; Lee Thompson Young (FlashForward) as Det. Barry Frost, Jane's somewhat green partner; Bruce McGill (Law Abiding Citizen) as Det. Vince Korsak, Jane's seasoned former partner; and Jordan Bridges (Dawson's Creek) as Jane's brother, Frankie, a patrol cop who hopes one day to become a detective.

Sounds interesting, right? Personally, I think it will be refreshing to see a female-female partnership, as opposed to the opposites attract male-female pairings we're so accustomed to on procedurals. I think Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander should make for an interesting duo.

Here's some behind-the-scenes fun to en

joy:

So what do you think? Will you check out Rizzoli & Isles? I for one, plan on giving it a shot. The show premieres this Monday, July 12 on TNT at 10/9 pm. For more, click here.