Southland. You NEED to watch this show.

"Yeah, you're gonna love me."

I know this is two posts in a row that are all “Watch this thing!” but I would feel like a total hog if I kept Southland to myself. I love you people and want you to have access to good TV.

Okay, here’s the thing. The promos for this show sucked. It looked self-important. It looked poorly written. It looked bad. What can I say? Fire the ad department because this show rocks the Kasbah! Watch it. Watch it NOW.

I originally had no plans to watch this show, but Michael Cudlitz is in it and I’m, like, biologically wired to check out the projects of the entire cast of Band of Brothers, with the exception of David Schwimmer and, even taking him out of the mix, it’s still a huge cast so this can be rather exhausting, especially with some of the film choices Neal McDonough has made lately, but it has brought me into the Southland fold so I can be thankful for that. And it’s only right that Cudlitz is the one to lure me in because he is the standout of an outstanding cast. Sorry for anyone who has to share a scene with him because he steals every single one of them, just like the thieves that these LAPD cops hunt down. I can’t say enough about his performance. Someone bring me more adjectives!

Also in this awesome cast? Ben McKenzie. Unfortunately for him, he has to share most of Cudlitz’s scenes, but he actually does a great job of holding his own. I did not know of this actor before this show. Apparently he was quite famous from that Fox show The O.C., which I did not watch previously, but now I’m considering Netflixing it because this guy is really very good. I mean, think about that. This guy is so good on Southland that I’m actually considering Netflixing four seasons of a Fox teen soap opera starring the unbearable Mischa Barton. Clearly he impressed me.

Also witness the awesomeness of Regina King (Yep. Brenda from 227. She rocks.), Kevin Alejandro (the beloved and much-missed Santos from Ugly Betty, but hardcore Alias fans will remember him as the smokin’ evil Cesar from that episode that flashes back to Nadia’s past in Argentina) and Shawn Hatosy, who hasn’t really been in anything I’ve seen but is wonderful in his role nonetheless.

For my fellow children of the 80s, C. Thomas Howell is also in the show, playing Officer Dewey. It took me about three episodes to realize it was him. I kept saying, “Man, this Dewey character is annoying. And where the heck is C. Thomas Howell?” Tom Everett Scott (Guy Patterson from That Thing You Do!) is pretty much wasted in his role, but who even cares because I just want more scenes with Michael Cudlitz.

The show is about 5 episodes into its run right now, so I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner, but go to Hulu.com and watch them and then email me to tell me how right I was in insisting that you watch this show. And then we can want more scenes with Michael Cudlitz together.