Oni Press becomes the latest comics publisher to land a TV adaptation of one of their books.
Stumptown tells the tale of a military vet turned private eye (Cobie Smulders, ex-How I Met Your Mother) who has to balance her career, love life, and caring for a younger brother with Downs Syndrome, all the while trying to get herself established as a PI.
Veteran comics & mystery writer Greg Rucka cited shows such as The Rockford Files and Magnum, PI among his influences in developing the comics, as well as the TV version. Magnum makes sense, given the military veteran angle, but I'd be willing to throw in Marvel's Jessica Jones, since Dex Parios' favorite interests off the job include sex and alcohol. Just like Jessica.
Jake Johnson (ex-New Girl) co-stars as Grey, one of Dex's confidantes and lovers. Another is Detective Hoffman (Michael Ealy), whose superior officer (Camryn Manheim, ex-The Practice) reminds me a lot of Rockford's primary police contact and frenemy, Sgt. Dennis Becker.
Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that Smulders appeared in over the last 7 years as SHIELD agent Maria Hill (including a guest turn or two on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD), Stumptown uses a classic oldies soundtrack, as demonstrated in the trailer.......
This week's episode has Donal Logue, fresh from Gotham, as a rogue PI. Whether that will be a recurring role or a 1-off, remains to be seen.
Where Stumptown gets in trouble is its time slot, airing opposite S.W.A.T. on CBS, and Chicago PD on NBC. The series is already losing viewers after the first week's curiosity, and when you add the baseball playoffs on cable, I have this feeling Stumptown won't survive the season.
Rating: B--.
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