61st Street (2022– ) User Reviews (30)

True to life

[redinnevada · 8/10 · 1 May 2022]

There are a LOT of ostriches reviewing this show. They're deliberately keeping their heads in the sand and demanding to be allowed to be willfully ignorant to the systemic racism happening all around us but especially in big inner city locals where cops who are supposed to protect us ALL are being allowed to break the very rules meant to do just that.

The setting of the demolished neighborhoods, truly impoverished whole sections of cities ignored by the rest of society is horrifying but more so because it IS true to life. They look like war zones because they ARE.

This show is gonna bother me. Which is exactly what it's supposed to do for those of us who see the world for how it is. Terribly unfair to whole groups of people while others turn a blind eye to their pain.

Must Watch

[kadiri_alex · 8/10 · 13 April 2022]

Usually, when a new show gets released, I try the pilot just to be sure I wanna see more. Did that with this show and wasted no time getting the second. So far, just two episodes have been released and after taking a chance on them, I found myself wholly engrossed. Pretty addictive if you ask me. Acting is good, story (so far) is good. Literally can't wait to see the rest of it.

My "bad" review

[zappapappa-528-951161 · 8/10 · 10 August 2022]

It's too bad we can't rate with 0.5 points because I would have given this a 7.5 but after looking at the numbers and other reviews I decided on an 8. This is a typical example of politized scoring and reviewing. This series shows and discusses the institutional racism that is present everywhere in the world and unfortunately everywhere in the police force(s). I'm Dutch, I live in Spain and lived in Italy, England, Austria and I've seen it everywhere. We can deny or ignore it, but deep down we all know it exists. But a part of the ppl get offended by this, not because it's not true, but they choose not to see it.

These series is way better than it's get credited for by the users. It's not great but aboslutely not a 6.2 the score it had when I (re)viewed it.

Hard to watch doesn't mean it's not realistic

[Biscuit78 · 10/10 · 24 April 2022]

This show is going to be really polarizing. People who don't have to face particular issues like the rac!al disparities in this c0untry, particularly within the just!ce system won't be able to handle this. Ign0rance is bliss. But this story and stories like it need to be told and shown. I hope AMC keeps it because there are definitely folx who appreciate it.

Trite, maudlin, and way too talky

[shoobe01-1 · 6/10 · 1 December 2022]

Bad cops, but the typical movie bad cops that know what they are doing is wrong and apparently relish being evil, plus in supervillain mode tell everyone that is their evil plan, and the moral underpinnings of why they are doing it.

Oh, everyone does this. I mean, there are no real good guys - of course - but the less-evil are also overly monologuing moral justifications for everything that is done, and everyone likes to tell off other characters for doing their job or whatever wrong, or gloat about how they have the upper hand.

Now, the same actions could have played if they'd done what is basically the ads for this. Slightly trite bad cops, setting up someone for political reasons (take back the ACAB narrative by showing a Bad Black Man) but Courtney Vance is the only true voice of reason willing to stand up and say it. He could be the educated lawyer who explained what is happening to everyone, and to us.

But with /everyone/ talking about things, there's no tension, no reveals, and no real hero. It robs him - when he does it anyway - of his ability to do that for his narrative arc, so dulls the point of his character.

Powerful!

[silence-26 · 9/10 · 17 April 2022]

I noticed another reviewer described this as, ' a Hollywood documentary trying to convince us that cops are corrupt and evil.'

Sorry. This is a show which explains just how corrupt and evil cops really are.

I live in NYC. I've seen cops pull the routines described in this show time and time again for decades. This show is nailing it when it comes to illustrating the truth. There's a great cast here doing stellar work. And as always, Courtney B. Vance is absolutely terrific.

Lots of reviwers aren't really watching. They got mad without thinking.

[jackiemirek · 7/10 · 13 September 2022]

There's way more thoughtfulness and far fewer easy spoonfed answers here than most of the reviewers would have you think. It's far from perfect, and doesn't reach the level of its closest comparisons "The Wire" and "The Night Of"/ But it's way, way too easy to paint this with the Woke brush and convince people that it's nothing but tropes at work. There are tropes, and there are common themes, into which category you fall depends on execution. I'd urge you to think about a few things.

If this show is so blatantly "all cops are bad", "all the poor black kids are totally innocent victims", and every BLM activist is the true hero, then please tell me:

Why is the character with by far the most internal struggle and most significant ongoing dilemma about loyalty versus doing the right thing, the younger white cop (1 of only 2 named recurring cop characters)? If he's the embodiment of bad in this supposed liberal fable, where does the agony come from?

Why is the impetus of all of his dilemma the evidence that his partner gathered on their corrupt boss when actually doing the right (but hard) thing?

Why is the young cop shown isolated and without a fictionalized and unrealistic "blue brotherhood" to fall back on and glean excuses from? That's not complex enough of a picture of cops for you?

Why in god's name is the undercover cop revealed to be stringing along and gaining intel on the defendant's mom a Black guy?

Why is the defendant's younger brother openly shown getting involved with and making money on unjustified crime? Why is the local shady (Black) kingpin try to manipulate the soon-to-be elected official? As a supposedly celebrated BLM neighborhood hero, why is she show taking the bait and not standing up to him?

Why is the shooting of the drug dealer in the first episode set up as a tool for the gang to retaliate against his mother? Where's the suggestion that the shooting of the drug dealer (who was also a snitch) was not justified? Oh yeah, there is none.

Bottom line: please think. Stuff like this isn't made to accuse anyone, to make you mad or guilty, or to serve some "agenda' like state sponsored television (what would that even look like? Lol). It's a story that hopefully engages all kinds of people and has some value, even if it's not perfect. No one can deny that such situations as on this show reflect true life in some way. Dropping your guard and giving stuff a chance won't bite. The great thing about movies and TV is that you lose nothing, you don't have to answer to or argue with anyone else. Just pay attention and think for a little bit, all by yourself. Don't believe the Florida politicians. Learning about bad stuff doesn't hurt you, it can make you better.

Difficult But True

[katydidryan · 9/10 · 25 April 2022]

I think the people who low-balled the rating, never lived in Chicago or, if they did, never went near Englewood, Garfield Park, or Roseland. Their 'trip through the hood' was speeding down the Dan Ryan Expressway on the way to Olympia Fields. This show, like Englewood, is real...and it has been for too many years. I write this as a middle-aged white woman, who was born-and-raised on the South Side. I worked at 26th & Cal (Cook County Court) for years, and unfortunately this show is as realistic as it gets. It's dirty, gritty and hard to watch. BUT DO NOT TURN IT OFF. I've seen cops, clerks and judges take payoffs practically in the open. Their are good and fair public servants; but their are a lot of good and honest people. This show follows it all and hopefully can initiate change.

I watched to see Courtney Vance, disappointed.

[wfoux · 1/10 · 20 April 2022]

Watched two episodes completely, a very poorly written show. I realize it's a police fictional drama, but it's just ridiculous and unwatchable. I loved 'The Wire' show and trailers for this show led me to believe it would be similar.....NO! Please, Mr. Vance find a show worthy of your talent.

True Stories

[vykbgsym · 10/10 · 28 April 2022]

The people writing negative reviews didn't grow up in the areas or conditions the series is documenting. If you're from the hood then you know all of this is true and happens far too often. Giving something a bad review when you have no real clue about the content is ridiculous. If you think cops are so good then ask yourself why do police officers call each other "rats". I know many police officers and real life and this story is portraying what actually goes on behind the piercing walls. Bad guys do bad things and other officers either participate or turn a blind eye. If you're that blind to police corruption just go do some research and find out how rampant it is. Just like politicians it's going on in every major city no question.

Not accurate at all :(

[sunny_wells · 3/10 · 12 April 2022]

So, I started to watch this yesterday and had to turn it off, because it's entirely ridiculous and it seems you are actually trying to enrage people to injustices that are simply not happening!

1. No one has ever been sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing a $10.00 canister of baby formula! That's just stupid! I even looked it up! The only time anyone has been sentenced to prison for stealing baby formula is when they've stolen MASSIVE amounts of baby formula, in order to resell it! 🤦‍♀️ Even if a judge wanted to make an example of him, the most he could be sentenced to is a year... but nowadays, no DA would even take this case...

2. You have cops interrogating a high schooler without a parent... strike #2! That doesn't happen!

I don't know what you're trying to do, but this isn't entertainment, it's propoganda and unfortunately, you really missed the mark! I'm not saying that police corruption isn't real, especially in Chicago... and I'm not saying that cops don't take it too far sometimes, but you have a middle age cop chasing a collegiate track runner, and he catches up to him? 🤣🤣 okkaayyy..... 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ 👌🏻

Next time, if you're going to make a crime series, maybe you should have some consultants on set to at least try to make it accurate!!

Superb!

[genemitchell42 · 9/10 · 22 May 2022]

To me, one of the best written tv shows in a while. I am picky when it comes to the acting, and for me, the acting is very realistic! I give it 9/10 stars!

getting real

[zoombroom86 · 10/10 · 30 April 2022]

Watched the first three episodes. Good solid show. I grew up in Detroit and have family in Chicago. Lots of dirty cops in both places (liars, planting drugs and guns, etc.). The stuff in the first 3 eps is spot-on.

Can't get enough of this TV drama

[deeporter29 · 10/10 · 6 May 2022]

I am really enjoying this TV series. It's definitely binge watching material. I watched all 5 of the current episodes in the same night. With some irritation that there wasn't more episodes to watch. I'm enjoying the actors and their storyline. Great writing!!!!.

Stereotype, meet your script

[sanjsrik · 1/10 · 17 April 2022]

Overworked public defender with a sob story... check Inner-city kid with a full ride scholarship (for sports), wrong place, wrong time... check Dirty Chicago cops... check All the world is bad because (check most stereotypical thing you can think of, oh, yeah, inner city) script needs it to be... check Judges and justice system who don't care... check

If there was a way to write something COMPLETELY true-to-form for EVERY SINGLE STEREOTYPE, this script accomplished it.

Just the first episode is enough to tell you EXACTLY how this will play out. It's just bad and boring because you KNOW what and how each of the characters will be and how they'll play their roles in this "drama".

Save yourself some time and go watch an even worse show like any latest Law and Order.

FRANKLIN as in ARETHA!!!! 👀😉

[mrsbrooks1617 · 10/10 · 27 April 2022]

This is an EXCELLENT show that's not a "feel good" show but a very necessary no filter in your faces show of what is really happening whether you're aware or not. BLACK LIVES DO NOT MATTER😔 and the WORLD shows us this everyday!!!! I was raised to be PROUD✊🏾 & Unapologetically BLACK✊🏾 and the older I get the more I'm faced with the reality of we will always have these insecurities and stains....it's such a stressful life to live....and your understanding is only as solid as your experience 👀 However, as difficult as it is to watch this show I can't stop...definitely a good edge of your seat show 🎯👌🏾😅

Not "The Wire"

[tjb3434 · 2/10 · 19 April 2022]

Thought I would check it out. Heard this show was the new "The Wire", Chicago style. Wrong. The Wire was realistic.

The first episode got off to a bad start. A stereotypical uncaring white judge sentenced a young black man to 30 months in jail for stealing baby formula for his baby because the young man had to decide between feeding and diapering his child, or something like that. In the real world, this young man likely would not have even been arrested if caught. For example, Chicago just had a judge give a young black man, with a long record, who stole $2,300 in perfume/cologne, a misdemeanor. The States Attorney in Real World Chicago barely if ever even bothers to prosecute minor theft.

The rest of the story line wasn't any better in terms of its realism. I give it two stars instead of one, as there was some good acting from Courtney Vance who I like, and from some other cast members, but the show was a big disappointment.

Gripping and realistic from episode 1

[majorpita-13838 · 10/10 · 6 July 2023]

From the moment I started watching this, I was intrigued and enthralled at the same time, by the end of the 1st episode I was hooked, I've binged it to the latest episode. This series felt genuinely realistic, so I did some research and discovered this:

The series was informed by deep research into the city's history, as well as the personal experiences of executive producer-writer J. David Shanks, who grew up as a young Black man on the South Side and later became a Chicago police officer before entering the world of film and TV.

After discovering this, it has made me want to continue watching this series.

Good tv show

[odjono · 10/10 · 21 May 2022]

It is a little predictable but a good show but that's kinda the point how predictable some interactions can be. I don't think it's as much about white and black discrimination as much as class discrimination that was caused by racism carrying on through in patterns into today. People need to face the reality that this isn't the America we were brainwashed into believing as kids yes people can come from nowhere but wealthy kids are far more likely to do well while the poor struggle. The judge Doesn't get it because he never had to experience any real desperation. I live in a city of 400,000 I personaly witnessed cops behaving badly. Once walking through downtown at 2 am I witnessed a woman giving a cop head in front of his police car with the headlights on in the road downtown her car pulled over not trying to hide anything wtf probably a way to get out of a dui. I'm a white dude who grew up in a primarily white culture but I saw that cops gravitated around poor neighborhoods pulling people over for crap that would never be tolerated in good neighborhoods. Mostly because they wanted to catch that one bad guy by harassing 50 innocent people.

Hooked

[triniyonkers · 10/10 · 13 May 2022]

The people who have negative reviews are clearly not living in the same America I live in, this show is so real and true to form, this is everyday live for some of us, some of us experience this kind of injustice daily, I love Courtney B Vance & I already know he's gonna shine in this character as the show progresses, I'm HOOKED.

Fire, aim, ready - misses

[bosporan · 3/10 · 13 April 2022]

A messy melange of ideas centring on a caricature dirty cop/wrongful arrest, racial-tension trope. A cacophony of characters in this ensemble leaves none fleshed out making it impossible to identify with either group.

Potential disappointingly squandered presenting a dull, diffuse drama.

Worth the watch

[maryjenniferalbert · 10/10 · 19 August 2023]

I just finished Season 2. I was captivated from the first episode in Season 1.

The ugliness of life is often hard to watch but seeing the reality of others is something we should all step into once in a while, then where we can, DO something about. The actors, all of them, were solid. Everyone believable. Mark O'Brien, Julian Parker, Courtney B Vance, Aunjanue Ellis and Andrene Ward-Hammond were stellar! Now my job is to get as many people to watch the series and hopefully take away from it what I did. Then we can all stand a little closer together to create content that helps us to question our world and create meaning.

Same old garbage

[jhusovsky-72-936617 · 1/10 · 11 May 2022]

If you are going to set a crime story in contemporary Chicago, how can you ignore the hundreds of homicides and shootings in the city? The producers of this show apparently can, focusing on corrupt cops railroading an innocent young black man. If the producers actually cared to portray a realistic show, the young man would be trying to protect himself from the gang elements that are shooting up the city rather than the cliched bad cops and corrupt judges.

Courtney B. Vance plays a public defender fighting for social justice, a role he has played in various guises throughout his career. Vance could play this role in his sleep as he seems to do in this series.

I had hoped this series would be realistic and deal with the issues destroying the city. Sadly, it is just the same old garbage.

For real?

[abfabflorist · 9/10 · 17 August 2023]

I'm from Oz. Does this kind of 'policing' occur every where in the good ole' USA?

I'm so angry as I watch this. Kudos to the writer. I know our so called 'Police' have been using discrimination at the very least towards our indigenous Australians but I hoped it had improved in the USA.

Especially with regard to the police who are supposed to serve and protect.

It's only when a blaring light can be shone on issues like this can we hope to cut through the absolute lies.

Thank the people for BLACK LIVES Matter. And the wonderful writers, musicians and artists who are also warriors in cutting through the racism.

So well acted.

Thank you for the truth.

Wow, shame on poor ratings n reviews

[Tomayto_Tomahto · 10/10 · 7 December 2022]

Shame on you all who have rated this poorly and/or left poor reviews. Shame on America for not making series like this a must watch.

Mr. Franklin (Courtney Vance) when he was speaking to the jury in his closing remarks, he was also speaking to each and everyone of us, to look deep into our souls and root out our prejudice about black people or people of color. Yes black crime may be a much higher % but then are the causes & effects which we so easily ignore. The limited opportunities black folks get, the poverty, the environment, schools n neighborhoods they are brought up in, the racism they face each & every day, policy brutality, etc. - why in this 21st centuries cant be improved !? Why this nation needs to spend Billions & Trillions in WoMD, Wars, aiding other nations, etc. When some of that money could well be spent here at home. Why White collar criminals stealing millions/billions of dollars go unpunished but a black parent gets jailed and some for years for shop-lifting baby formula (yes happened right in front of my eyes).

Like most, love Obama but he also takes the blame for not doing much for his black community, to uplift them when he had the chance, at least in the second term. Should have given a f... to what others would say about him. Oh well...

Sir Vance, if ever there was an Emmy award, it should go to you. The whole cast & direction, dialogues, screen-play were outstanding. Yes some glaring mistakes (why the video was not played for the jury or why Brannigham not know of the wire from the same video, etc.), but important thing was and is - the Message it sends to society, to all of us.

Hats Off. Respect.