‘Backstrom’ premiere video: Rainn Wilson lays out character traits, more

After ragging on Fox for most of the fall, they’ve manage to recover somewhat moving into the new year. “Gotham” has kept its numbers up, “Empire” is an overnight sensation, and while “American Idol” may no longer be a beast, it is still much better than the majority of the shows on the network.

Can the winning streak continue with “Backstrom“? The biggest reason that we are excited is merely because of Rainn Wilson’s presence. He is a guy already well-known for playing a cantankerous man in Dwight Shrute, but Backstrom is a far more cynical man at his core. He has no overt sense of whimsy. As a matter of fact, everyone seems to hate the guy. Yet, he manages to be so skilled at his job within the Portland Police Department that nobody can get rid of him.

The easy assumption to make here is that this is just another cop series with an eccentric detective, but we don’t feel like that is the case. You have a good cast, and show creator Hart Hanson obviously knows what he is doing. “Bones” has turned out pretty tremendous for Fox already.

What this series may be doing better than anything else right now is making a very good move in regards to timing. In premiering it a week before the Shonda Rhimes empire returns to ABC, maybe you can pull in some of those viewers who feel like “Scandal” is trying too hard at this point to desperately do shocker after shocker. We feel like the show’s bigger competition will be “The Blacklist,” which returns on Thursday nights starting February 5.

Are you planning to watch this new show? Share with a comment, and head over here if you are interested in getting some other TV news on everything we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9iAqT4xZ9U