# The Job (2001)

> A volatile New York City detective struggles to keep his personal life and his sanity intact while working the streets.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/58

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 19
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, drama, crime
- Created by: Denis Leary, Peter Tolan
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Denis Leary, Lenny Clarke, Diane Farr, Adam Ferrara, Bill Nunn, John Ortiz, Julian Acosta, Keith David
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272980/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: sardonic, gritty, irreverent, bleak, wry

## What critics say

Audiences praised The Job as a sharp, irreverent cop comedy-drama carried by Denis Leary's abrasive lead performance and its raw take on policing in New York City.

## Synopsis

The Job (2001-2002) is an American network crime dramedy created by Denis Leary and Peter Tolan for ABC. Denis Leary plays Mike McNeil, a decorated New York City detective whose hardest case is his own frayed nerves. Balancing a strained personal life against the demands of the squad room, he wonders each day whether he is the last sane person in the city, and his unorthodox methods make him a superb investigator even on his worst days. Lenny Clarke plays his veteran colleague Frank Harrigan, while Diane Farr, Adam Ferrara, Bill Nunn and John Ortiz fill out the precinct ensemble. The engine is simple and character driven: each episode pairs a street case with the friction of colleagues who bicker, cover for one another, and keep one another afloat. Across two seasons and nineteen half-hour episodes, the show stays a single-camera workplace comedy with dark edges. Its tone is cynical and jagged, sardonic about police culture while tender toward its battered protagonist. Fans of Rescue Me, NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues will find resonance in its blend of gallows humor, bruised masculinity and gritty New York texture. Its network origin and short run give it the feel of a sharp, cult-leaning cop show.

## Shows like The Job

- [The Good Guys (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/29537)
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- [Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/4245)
- [Stalker (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54242)
- [Instinct (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/63402)
- [Hack (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/9718)
- [The Commish (1991)](https://ember.film/tv/3654)
- [Third Watch (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/482)
- [Law & Order (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/518)
- [Cracker (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/28)

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