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But for every good cop show, there are about 10 easily forgettable entries. Which brings us to…uh, shoot, what's it called again? Oh, right, "Southland."

Now airing on NBC, "Southland" tells the story of the Los Angeles Police Department. A good portion of the story is told through the eyes of a young rookie from a privileged background named Ben Sherman.

Like 95 percent of all cop shows, Ben is learning the ropes at the hands of a gruff police veteran who likes to constantly remind the kid that he doesn't know what the hell he's doing and has a lot to learn about making it on the streets – stuff you can't learn in the police academy.

It's all pretty absurd and the show might as well be titled "Listen, rookie…" Ben Sherman is played by "The O.C.'s" Ben Mackenzie, an actor who wasn't exactly known for his, um, range as an actor. But, then again, all he was supposed to do on "The O.C." was brood and occasionally mumble.

Maybe in a new role on a new show he would show us what he was capable of. Or, maybe not. Once again McKenzie simply sits and stares for minutes at a time before finally asking or answering a question.

At one point I thought I saw him convey an actual emotion, but it turned out he was just blinking.

To be fair, McKenzie hasn't been given anything to work with. Neither have the rest of the cast, who just sort of wander around like cop actor zombies, solving a crime here, complaining about their married life there, looking at their watches to see how much longer they have to pretend to be invested in their characters. If they don't seem to care, why should we?