TNT's "Dark Blue": Not very dark, not very blue, but very TNT

Ladies, presenting the star of the action-packed new TNT series “Dark Blue”... Dylan McDermott!

No? That did not stop traffic? That did not launch a thousand TiVos among my readership? Well, perhaps that is the reason why the former star of ABC's “The Practice” does not have lead billing in most of the publicity material being circulated by TNT to promote “Dark Blue,” which begins 9 p.m. CT Wednesday.

Instead, the name at the top of the marquee reads Jerry Bruckheimer, and if you know anything about Hollywood (and the folks at TNT clearly assume you do), you know that this makes “Dark Blue” a very big deal indeed.

Bruckheimer, with $15 billion in box-office success from “American Gigolo” to “National Treasure,” turned to the small screen and made CBS the most-watched network in television. His “CSI” and its flotilla of copycats combined action-movie flash with workmanlike crime-solving. Now, as part of its effort to become the most-watched cable channel this summer, TNT has enlisted the master to merge his formula with the network's.

The result is something of a cross between “The Unit” and “The Shield,” with just enough of the buddies-in-danger ingredient to catch the eye of fans of TNT's “Leverage,” which airs at 8 p.m. on TNT leading into “Dark Blue.”

McDermott plays Carter Shaw, a decorated LA cop whose familiarity with the streets gets him picked to head up a double-secret undercover team that is attempting to penetrate the worst of the worst inner-city criminals. If this were “The Shield,” Carter would simply use his position to muscle his way into the bad guy's lair and then apply some extra-legal persuasion (and, while he was at it, score a piece of the action if he could).

But this is TNT, where even the so-called troublemakers all behave like they were Eagle Scouts once. So our boy Dylan minds his P's and Q's -- never mind the suspicions of that nosy FBI agent, played by Kyle Secor in a spot-on reproduction of every Kyle Secor role ever. His supporting cast of infiltrators, however, may or may not be as squeaky clean as our hero.

There's Curtis (Omari Hardwick, last seen in the too-short-lived TNT series “Saved”), whose recent marriage may be compromised by a fling his spy alias once had; Dean (Logan Marshall-Green), whose value to the team may be compromised by a love of money; and Jaimie (Nicki Avcox), whose skill as a pathological liar may be compromised by the fact that she is a pathological liar.

This being cable, “Dark Blue” does not quite achieve the levels of Bruckheimerian dazzle in TNT's reduced-resolution HD production. The premiere, however, is tightly paced and has a lot of turns to it, though as always I despair of the action genre's tendency to create suspense by having somebody killed. I will admit that it is an excellent match with “Leverage,” and airing an hour later in the night “Dark Blue” does not need to have that show's whimsical pacing. But I think most fans of “Leverage” will be unimpressed by the soulless, violent machinery at the center of the show, even if they are wowed by the superproducer operating it.