Shark Bytes

Loved this show. Rumor has it that the cancellation had more to do with the Chief of the real Bakersfield PD threatening to sue than poor ratings. Best remembered line? The macho cop complains that his effeminate partner is sexually harrasing him by calling him "sweety" and the like:
Brian Doyle Murray: "What were you wearing?" What a great show. Funny how shows like Reno 911 now are so huge and this got sacked.

A TV transmition problem during the first episode shown in the UK didn't help - But this is the best ever comedy series!

http://www.raretv.co.uk/bakersfield-pd-1993-dvd-p_63.html
<Taps nose>

You never heard it from me, right?

Yet another show that shouldve had more time.Great cast...Brian Doyle-Murray who seems to be in his share of cult classics(Get a Life), Giancarlo Esposito, and the underrated Chris Mulkey.Is this show on DVD?

here's where you can find it (also seen it pop up on ebay)

raretv.co.uk

I bought it from them and it came through just fine

I absolutely loved this show. I'm english and agree that if this was first released at the same time as the office. It would have won the ratings war. It is so much funnier.
Denny, Captain Styles, Phil, Wade are even funnier just to look at than any office crap.
Does anybody even know were you can get a copy. I've been trying for about 6 months, I've wrote to Fox, Walt Disney, even Channel 4 here in England who actually screened the show and I just can't get it anywhere.
If anybody knows anything could you mail me at up44nything@hotmail.co.uk.
Thanks a million - Mike

Unfortunately, this was ahead of its time. Had Bakersfield PD debuted at the same time as The Office, it would probably be on its fourth season.

However, one thing to be grateful for at least, is that it never did jump.

I'm glad the posters here enjoyed the show while it was briefly on. For Ron Eldard, this "Before They Were Stars" moment helped him pay the bills before he'd appear on "E.R." and movies like "Black Hawk Down" and "In the House of Sand & Fog." Incidentally, its a good thing that the show ain't based on the real-life Bakersfield Police or the Kern County Sheriff's Dept., or it'd be like your usual crime drama. (Would it have stayed on longer perhaps?) "Shoot 1st, ask questions L8r." I'm a little sketchy on the details, but I think you can get the answers on a book called "Mean Justice" by Ed Humes.

A story. It's 1994, and I've been on tour in England with the same play for months and months. Haven't been home, poor quality digs, cast members arguing with each other etc. Man, I'm down. So one night in Weston-Super-Mare I'm flicking round the (four!) channels when I come across this irreverent, genre-defying, intelligent, hilarious show called Bakersfield P.D. For the entire half-hour I sit, slack-jawed in awe. Almost a perfect televisual experience (it would have been perfect but for the fact that when it had finished my Chinese takeaway had gone cold). From then on I was hooked. It stands alongside the very greatest of American shows that we have imported and I agree wholeheartedly with everything everyone else has said on the subject. No laugh track? Essential. Hey- imagine Six Feet Under's lighter moments with a laugh-track. Or, rather, don't. The performances, the nuanced characters, the subtle revisiting of narrative strands... why did this show only get one series? I really envy the fact that you have channels which rerun shows tragically cut down in their prime- I wish we had the same over here, if only for the genius of Bakersfield P.D. One episode of that show, one chance to laugh again at the guy who couldn't make decisions, or the cop who treated his partner like his "partner", or the fat kid who was such a disappointment to his son, is worth more than every single episode of guileless dreck like 'Last Of The Summer f***ing Wine.' And if you guys in the States don't know what that show is... believe me, your lives are that bit happier.

I agree with all of the above. Brilliant, funny show that had to be seen to understand. The pompous captain, the frustrated detective who wants to go elsewhere; For some reason I only remember one line: Ron Eldard is telling a bad guy that if he tries to escape, he will shoot him either in the lower back or the knee, "but either way, great parking!" Very funny show.

Switchman & Hot Dog That episode was the reverse jump: the show when Bakersfield P.D. went from being a solid, consistently funny show to becoming an instant classic.

I'm so glad Trio is airing Bakersfield P.D. I haven't seen this show for about 10 years the last time Fox aired this show and I was pleased at how much this show gave all the credit it deserves. A good and fresh comedy with no laugh track, very well written, more of a semi-parody of Hill Street Blues, even special guest stars such as William H. Macy. Plus a really good cast with Brian Doyle-Murray(Bill Murray's older brother), Tony Plana, Chris Mulkey, Jack Hales, Ron Eldard and Giancarlo Esposito (later appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street). It was a shame this show was canceled after only one season, it didn't do much for the summer season either with the addition of four episodes but at least it was a good show. Since Trio is airing this show as part of Brilliant but Canceled, I'm hoping they later aired another Fox short-lived show called Key West with Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit, Early Edition), another good show with all the humor.

This was a FABULOUS show... and yes, FOX cancelled it before it's time... only 17 shows to air... but don't cut down too much on FOX... at least they aired those 17 episodes... You had to love it... the whole intro with the train and the escaping vehicle... then cut off by a million care freight train... The humor only got better... each episode, with it's low-brow commentary... no laugh track (you provided your own)... and amazing stupidity laced with charm, smiles and wit... The episode with the guy breaking into the police station with a gun... then handing the gun over... only to have it given back to him was beyond hilarious... fortunately I have 10 episodes on video... and I watch them sparringly... Humor never had it so good... A show well worth your time. A show well ahead of it's own time... Shame in light of the dreck that is on, too... and it's ten years later! It never jumped unless you were watching.

Bakersfield P.D. definitely never jumped the shark, even for a short-lived show that lasted from 1993-1994. FOX definitely had a modest time on Tuesdays for this show's running but it was definitely a big mistake for them to cancel a classic gem that not taking itself too seriously. Now that Trio is currently rerunning the whole series, its by any chance that I finally get to see this show and tape it for sure. It also deserve to be on DVD as well.

Never had a chance to jump. This was an absolutely amazing show with everything firing on all cylinders- especially the acting- very nuanced and subtle. You just couldn't pull off the proper "tone" of a slightly off-kilter show like this without a cast of high quality actors who are always 'in the moment'. For a show that only lasted 17 eps (eternal shame on FOX) there were so many moments to remember...incredible. LUCKY 13 and CABLE DOES NOT PAY should rank as two of the funniest TV episodes ever. Snowman and Bones, indeed!!!Or how about the naive but sexy dairy farmer Marnie, who is convinced that all of the men who gawk at her are only interested in her cow Lulu..."So I said to Sled Jenkins 'if you're gonna gawk, grab a teat and get to work'...he just turned and ran away". My tape of that one is nearly worn out. Where are the DVD's!!!