''Public Morals'' is an American

police drama The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...

television series, created, written, executive-produced, directed by and starring

Edward Burns Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor and filmmaker. He rose to fame with '' The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), his low-budget independent film that became successful worldwide. His other film appearances include '' ...

. Set in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

during the 1960s, the show focuses on the Public Morals Division of the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

and its officers' attempts to deal with

vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

in the city, while managing their personal lives as

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

s. The series aired from August 25 to October 20, 2015, on

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

. The network collaborated with

Amblin Television Storyteller TV Distribution Co., LLC, doing business as Amblin Television, is the television production division of Amblin Partners. It was established in 1984 by Amblin Entertainment as a small-screen production arm for Steven Spielberg's ''Am ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, and Aaron Lubin as producers. On December 15, 2015, TNT canceled the series after one season.

Cast and characters

as Officer Terry Muldoon *

Michael Rapaport Michael David Rapaport (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and podcast host. Beginning his career in the early 1990s, he has made over 100 appearances in film and television. His film roles include ''Zebrahead'' (1992), '' ...

as Officer Charlie Bullman, Terry's partner *Elizabeth Masucci as Christine Muldoon, Terry's wife *

Katrina Bowden Katrina Bowden (born September 19, 1988) is an American actress. After a two-episode arc on the ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live'' (2006), she received mainstream recognition for her recurring, later main, role as Cerie on the NBC sitcom ''30 ...

as Fortune *

Ruben Santiago-Hudson Ruben Santiago-Hudson (born Ruben Santiago Jr., November 24, 1956) is an American actor, playwright, and director who has won national awards for his work in all three categories. He is best known for his role of Captain Roy Montgomery from 2009 ...

as Lt. King *Wass Stevens as Officer Vince Latucci *

Keith Nobbs Keith Nobbs (born April 9, 1979) is an American stage, television, and film actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Joey "Ice Cream" in the TV series ''The Black Donnellys''. Life and career A graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High Scho ...

as Pat Duffy *

Austin Stowell Austin Miles Stowell (born December 24, 1984) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Dolphin Tale'' (2011), its sequel '' Dolphin Tale 2'' (2014), '' Love and Honor'' (2013), '' Whiplash'' (2014), as Francis Gary Powers in Steven S ...

as Officer Sean O'Bannon *

Patrick Murney Patrick Murney (born 1987) is an American actor known for his recurring roles in ''Seven Seconds'', ''Mare of Easttown'', '' Law & Order: Organized Crime'' and others. Early life and education Born in New York City in 1987, Murney is the son ...

as Officer Petey "Mac" MacGuinness *

Lyndon Smith Jennifer Lyndon Smith is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Natalie in the NBC drama '' Parenthood'' (2013–2015) and Deirdre in the TNT police drama '' Public Morals'' (2015). Personal life and education Smith is from Pensaco ...

as Deirdre *Brian Wiles as Officer Jimmy Shea *Cormac Cullinane as James Muldoon

Recurring

Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn Compton, Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney ...

as Rusty Patton *

Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles i ...

as Joe Patton *

Timothy Hutton Timothy Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees#Youngest winners 4, youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he ...

as Mr. O'Bannon *

Anita Gillette Anita Gillette ( Luebben; born August 16, 1936) is an American actress and singer. She has performed numerous roles on Broadway, American television, and in feature films. Her Broadway credits include performing in musical productions of '' ...

as Eileen *

Robert Knepper Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series ''Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series '' Heroes'' ...

as Capt. Johanson *

Fredric Lehne Fredric Lehne (born February 3, 1959) (sometimes credited as Fredric Lane) is an American actor of film, stage, voice and television. Acting since 1978, he has appeared in more than 200 films, miniseries, and television episodes, as well as st ...

as Tommy Red *

Kevin Corrigan Kevin Corrigan (born March 27, 1969) is an American character actor. He has appeared mostly in independent films and television since the 1990s, including as Uncle Eddie on the sitcom '' Grounded for Life'' (2001–2005). His film appearances i ...

as Smitty *

Peter Gerety Peter Gerety is an American actor. He played officer, later detective, Stuart Gharty on '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1996–1999), and Judge Daniel Phelan in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008). Early years Gerety was born in Providence, Rhode I ...

as Sgt. Mike Muldoon *Aaron Dean Eisenberg as Richie Kane *Ray Wiederhold as Monk *

Corey Cott Corey Michael Cott (born March 30, 1990) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for playing Jack Kelly in the Broadway musical ''Newsies,'' replacing Jeremy Jordan, and for originating the role of Donny Novitski in the Broadway music ...

as Ryan *

Audrey Esparza Audrey Esparza (born March 4, 1986) is an American actress best known for her role as FBI agent Tasha Zapata on the American television series ''Blindspot (TV series), Blindspot'', and more recently as Liliana on ''Power (TV series), Power'' and ...

as Theresa *

Gus Halper Gus Halper (born July 2, 1992) is an American actor best known for his roles in the series ''Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders'' (2017), ''Fear the Walking Dead'' (2021), and '' Law & Order: Organized Crime'' (2022–2023), and in th ...

as Sergio Tedesco

Episodes

Production

Creator

began working on film scripts about Irish-American New York City police officers and Irish-American gangsters when executive producer

suggested he write a script about his father's experience on the NYPD, while on the set of ''

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller ( Tom Hanks) ...

''. Though ''Public Morals'' did not draw from those scripts, Burns' research for them helped establish a foundation for the television series. In May 2015, TNT placed a 10-episode order for the series. While producing the series, Burns incorporated references to some of his favorite police and gangster films, including references to ''

The Hustler ''The Hustler'' is a 1961 American sports drama film, directed by Robert Rossen. It tells the story of small-time pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges legendary pool player " Minnesota Fats". The film, which was based on the 195 ...

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

, The French Connection'', and ''

Mean Streets ''Mean Streets'' is a 1973 American crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin, and starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. It is produced by Warner Bros. The film premiered at the New York Fil ...

'', among other films.

Release

The series premiered on TNT on August 25, 2015. All other episodes were released on demand before they were broadcast on TV: episodes 2–4 on August 26, and the remaining episodes on September 5, 2015.

Reception

''Public Morals'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the series holds an approval rating of 82% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.06/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''Public Morals'' is a worthy mob crime drama, with a strong leading man and a talented supporting cast counterbalancing cliché-ridden dialogue." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the series has a score of 69 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * {{TNTShows 2015 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American police procedural television series American English-language television shows Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Television shows set in New York City Television series set in the 1960s Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios TNT (American TV network) original programming Works about Irish-American organized crime