My husband told me the most hilarious thing he’s ever told me. Now, my darling husband is a wonderful man; his sense of humor tends to skew toward the very dry – so for him to give me a huge belly laugh is cause for at least this blog post. It really gives me a hook for a new TV show that I stumbled upon: Boston’s Finest. First, the belly laugh story:

Doug was traveling on business to and from Boston – affectionately known by New Englanders as “Bah-stun.” He gets off the plane and picks up the rental car and continues on the road to a full day of meetings in and around the Boston area. All the while that ‘wicked starm‘ was a-brewing; Chicago was being pounded by about a foot of snow and with a low pressure coming up from the south, ‘Bah-stun’ was in line for what the natives call – ‘a wicked starm.’ (I can’t help but hear the voice of Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting.”)

On Doug’s way back to the airport, time was tight; he had dealt with several flight changes because of the ‘wicked starm‘ that was wreaking havoc with flight schedules in many major cities. As he traveled on the three lane highway he needed to get in the passing lane. He got behind one car – and the driver immediately pulled into the center lane; same thing happened with the next car he got behind. Then he realized, “Ah – I’m driving a Crown Victoria.” It’s better known in the law enforcement world as a Crown Vic. When you see that Crown Vic in your rear view mirror, you move over – and hope you aren’t being PULLED over. The moral of the story: when in a hurry and renting a car – request a Crown Vic.

Which leads me to “Boston’s Finest.” Executive producer Donnie Wahlberg has put together one fine reality show. And with the glut of reality shows these days – most of them complete wastes of time – this show is the exception. Wahlberg, who is the older brother of Mark and also an actor, wanted to shoot this reality show in his home town and did NOT want the show to be like the old COPS (Bad Boys, Bad Boys – Whatcha Gonna Do if They Come for You…). Well, I’m not from Boston, but I think he’s doing Boston’s men and women in blue proud.

The editing and camera shots are outstanding. The opening credits and music are great. Even in some of the rough neighborhoods where the profiled police are patrolling, the city looks terrific. I have no idea how Wahlberg’s production team or the Boston police brass chose the officers who are profiled, but between the job each of them does, combined with the editing and producing – the stories being told are compelling.

After two episodes, we’ve learned about a 5’3″ spitfire officer, Jenn Penton and her partner along with fugitive squad officer Greg Dankers who is married to an officer who works the opposite shift. We’re learning details about each officer’s personal life; how he or she copes with the shift work; working overtime; the cases and arrests; decompressing; family troubles and dealing with the danger of the job.

Donnie Wahlberg’s narration adds more flavor to the Boston culture with his unmistakable Boston dialect. It’s not extreme; but the accept and his soft-spoken explanations fills in the blanks so you understand what’s happening from one  patrol to the cross-town patrol. There is frank language with suspects and drivers who are pulled over and lots of bleeped out curse words as cops talk to each other.

What’s interesting is that Boston’s Finest runs before the struggling TNT drama Southland; a fictional look at police working in South LA. Like a novel compared to the movie, Boston’s Finest is better than Southland. Or the real thing is better than the drama. Boston’s Finest is worth your time. Enjoy the camaraderie, the Boston sights, the real life stories of these dedicated officers and the overall production of Donnie Wahlberg’s Boston’s Finest.