User Reviews

The last episode is not really a finale but it does clear up the main question everyone was wondering all along. At least it won't leave you mad like some one season shows. I watched one a while back that ended with a cop facing an impossible moral decision and the screen goes to black and you hear a gun shot.

I always liked Dean Winters with his wise cracking attitude and he was the best thing about this show. It is worth the time to watch. They don't overdo the comedy angle. It's not a comedy show about cops; it's a cop show with some pretty funny moments at times. It also limits the blood and gore to fairly brief shots.

There are so many networks producing original programming that even decent shows like this one gets pulled at the first sign of a ratings drop. In the days when there were just 3 and 4 networks they would consider the quality of the program before canceling. A lot of the greatest classic series had poor ratings in the beginning. Now they think a season is 13 or even 10 episodes. They will kill the show without even airing episodes they have already taped. Or else they burn them off Saturday evening two at a time when most other channels are showing sports.

I have seen other cop shows about the same quality last several years. Too many series that have real potential like this are not given a chance.

Though all the initial episodes were fine, they were not special by any means. With each episode, as we get to know the characters, the show seems to be growing on me. The friction between the two main characters has been played out well and with each episode dealing with past secrets or personal lives, the show gets interesting and promises to be special. The supporting characters have not yet been fully involved and some of them seem promising enough. The performances of most of the cast is fine. But, Dean Winters and Josh Duhamel have been very good along with the girl who plays Holly. I like the way the show does not limit itself to being only a comedy or drama.

"Battle Creek" is a new show starring Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters. Duhamel plays an FBI agent who becomes part of a police department in Battle Creek, Michigan, where the methods are a little old-fashioned. His bitter partner (Winters) resents Duhamel's perfection and popularity with the ladies.

So far the plots have been very imaginative and funny. In the first show, a baby monitor had to be used to pick up a conversation. In the second, the guys went after a maple syrup cartel after someone drowned in maple syrup. Discussing the sting operation, one of the guys said, "I'll get a bottle of Log Cabin. We can use those as tasting samplers and then just deliver water." When they deliver the syrup (which Duhamel insists be pure and the best on the market), the tasting -- using a crepe - was like a scene out of Breaking Bad, except with syrup instead of meth.

As far as this show taking place in Battle Creek, if a show took place in my home town and wasn't filmed there, I'd be unhappy too; also, it's presented as a back woods place, which I'm sure isn't true. Hollywood does this all the time -- Boston Legal, Provincetown - and it's just to make the locale different from L.A. or NY. Meanwhile, there's no indication at all that the characters really live and work in that city.

I hope it lasts. A nice cast, including Janet McTeer and Aubrey Dollar.

This show feels a lot more like "Castle" than like "Breaking Bad," and just about anyone who has watched "Castle" should recognize its formula by now. Rather than slow developments designed to build lots of tension, this show has so many twists and turns of plot in one episode, that you may not even have time to think much about what is happening. So there is very little tension in it because everything goes by fast, and over all, that makes for very light viewing. Moreover, despite its setting and some of its characters, its grittiness is mild, and instead of the boundary-pushing edginess of "Breaking Bad," it has moments when it is even a bit campy. Yet the quality of the stories and the acting are pretty good, probably better than we had with "Castle." And in sum, it is kind of like television's equivalent to comfort food: Not challenging, but easy and familiar.

I absolutely love Dean Winters in this show and it is one of the best show on TV, I wish it wasn't cancelled. needs to be given another chance with the viewers, I am sure its good enough. Come on don't cancel!!! Please don't cancel! its up beat and not like all those other silly shows out there, its has real people and it down to earth. I love seeing dean winters in this show I have missed him since Oz!! it is totally worthy of his own show. needs to come back next season. I will be really sad if this show isn't on TV and will miss the people in this show on Sunday night. so I wish the CBS would really reconsider this decision

I don't know why in the Genre it doesn't say Comedy ,

with a cast like Josh Duhamel, Dean Winters, Kal Penn and Grapevine !! they're all amazingly funny.

The storyline is amazing ,, the tension between "Special Agent Milton" and "Detective Russ Agnew" is hilarious ,, one with this perfect life ,,FBI .. and the the other just lives in "Battle Creek" and trying to prove that his methods of dealing with people are better that the fancy ones by the Bureau.

The Pilot was really good,, the crime writing was also unexpectedly good,, i hope it stays on that track..

P.S : CBS last year was done with "How i met your mother" and "two and a half men" along with the cancellation of many comedy shows like "The McCarthys, The Millers and The Crazy Ones for Robin Williams "they have "Scorpion" running with good ratings where the have the Thriller factor and some comedy,, but still this show is a nice step up in the comedy bits ,, i think it might get it's place on CBS even better than "Scorpion",, who knows ! ;).

I enjoyed the show recently on Netflix. Halfway through the episodes I realized it was only one season. So disappointed, I almost stopped watching the rest of the episodes because I knew I won't be able to see what will happen in the lives of the characters. I loved the subtle humor and the personality of Russ. The two main characters played off each other well. It wasn't always realistic, but that's not what the show was going for. It was supposed to be entertaining and I think they nailed it.

This is an average effort from famous producers and director. Maybe they want to cash in their good names while they are still hot.

This is a dramedy, and fail at both. There are some funny moments in pilot episodes but they all bank on the odd-couple formula and it run out of steam midway through second episode. The drama part is treated with little care and limited thought. You might get few laughs here and there, but the story and drama will not hold your interest after pilot.

I like cop dramas and they are ample of opportunities for humor even in serious drama. But that requires good storyline and serious effort to build tense moments around characters we care.

I fell asleep during the first episode but stayed up to watch the second episode. It has a lot of twists and turns, including some dubious plots, that are not always funny. The writing could show some improvement, particularly with local Michigan knowledge. At one point, the actors were upset that the department was too cheap to provide rain gear "even though it rains every other day in Michigan" but are later seen driving in a Cadillac SUV. Michigan is a great place to live -- especially if you enjoy fashion: one day it can be hot, the next day freezing, the next day sunny and warm, then go back to freezing, sleeting or raining, sometimes we even get hail. It was negative 5 this weekend and today it was 45 degrees. It definitely is great if you have a wide variety of clothes. Battlecreek is known for a lot of things including its cereal makers, the trains, the college, the festival of lights, world's longest breakfast table, hosts many state sport championships and lots of other stuff including the cold case murder of Maggie Hume. There is great diversity in the neighborhoods and local hot spots. Hopefully, the writers and show will bring some of this background into the series.

The pilot shows a lot of promise. There are 2 likable leads and a good mix of unexpected comedy. A big city FBI agent played by Josh Duhamel who seems to do all the right things, joins a small town Michigan police department and partners with a slightly down trodden bitter detective there (Dean Winters). Sweet looking Aubrey Dollar has a supporting role. Janet McTeer seems a little out of place as Chief. It's funny to see the FBI technology and advances versus small town cop methods.

A couple of Breaking Bad references Vince Gilligan fans will notice. It feels more procedural and less intense.

Worth watching. High quality television.

Milt Chamberlain (Josh Duhamel) is a charming smart FBI agent set up in the small town of Battle Creek. Russ Agnew (Dean Winters) is a world-weary local cop. He distrusts the slick FBI agent and reluctantly teams up with him. He is secretly in love with the office manager Holly Dale (Aubrey Dollar). Along with his Commander Kim Guziewicz and an assorted rag tag team, they solve local crimes.

Created by Vince Gilligan and David Shore, I can certainly see where they were going with this concept. Gilligan quickly left after cashing the cheques. The team never really found the right chemistry. With Russ being such a grump, I think Milt needed to be much happier and funnier. Russ is getting softer which helps a little. The rest of the group is a reasonable fun lot. This needs something special to break it out of its rut and I don't think it found it yet. It's one half season and out.

This show makes me laugh. It fills a role in that it is unique enough & attracts an audience that hates those shows with the fake laugh track that aren't even funny. My husband and I look forward to it every week. They are doing a good job of developing the characters. I think it is on too late; not for me but it is light hearted and should come on earlier. I really hope CBS keeps it going & gives it a chance. We hardly watch any TV shows. We watch mostly sports on TV as most shows are not entertaining like this one. The stories are quite creative and downright corny. I mean corny in a good way. TV needs this show to continue. Battle Creek needs more advertising to attract the right viewers.

We had high expectations for the pilot. Both Vince Gilligan and David Shore were involved and the pilot was directed by Bran Singer. So a show done by the guys who gave us Breaking Bad, House and X-men movies should be awesome. Sadly, that is not the case. Duhamel, while eye candy for the ladies ( and likely some guys ) was stiff through out with his acting (much better in Vegas) while his character was boring. Winters was good but let's be honest; he isn't that great of an actor. All his roles he has played over the years are the same....because he has so little acting range. The story itself was boring. Nothing seemed original nor caught our attention. We were hoping for a huge hit here ala Breaking Bad/House but what we got was just another CBS procedural cop drama. It won't last 6 episodes.

I'm just finding this in 2018 and I'm sorry this only lasted one season. The characters were great, believable and well developed so aim not sure what happened. Maybe just one too many cop shows?? Josh is great and didn't realize what a good actor he is. Love how they play around his looks. That's believable. Good looking peole do get treated better yet they have complicated lives...

I was initially ho-hum when this came on network tv because I am not a fan of either of the male leads. But I do like Kal Pen so I watched it. My natural cynicism kept me rolling my eyes about the bro-mance angle and the obvious disaster of a Kelly and Russ couple then one day I realized that I freakin' LOVE this show. Then the evil-doers in corporate canceled it. My heart dropped and I went back to being cynical again. THEN it shows up on Netflix and I watched it AGAIN only to realize that my heart is going to be broken again. After the trauma of Firefly's cancelation, I don't know how much more of this insanity the networks can wreak on my emotions. Neither of the male leads in this show have done anything of any merit ever since or before aside from silly insurance commercials or marrying Fergie. Hire them back and reboot this damn show instead of all the stupid Chicago med shows or the sappy puke worthy Bachelor series and I might just subscribe to cable again.

My husband and I absolutely loved the show. After watching #13 and researching to find when the next would be aired, we were very disappointed to learn it was canceled. I sincerely hope the director/producer considers bringing it back.

We would gladly pay for a DVD for the current shows because we absolutely loved the humor and the cast. It was very well done and directed. I hope you sincerely think about filming again, this is a brilliant show, mixed with the right amount of humor, great story lines; with each scene being orchestrated wonderfully. Acting from all characters was flawless and well done.

Vince Gilligan: Your staff and you did wonderfully and I sincerely hope you reconsider filming. I doubt many people have seen this show but I am quite sure once people learn of it, they will ask the same question – why cancel? BRING IT BACK!

I just finished watching all of the far, far, far too few episodes of Battle Creek. I don't bother to write many reviews on things, but in this case I decided that I should alert people to how good this series actually was.

Don't be put off by the fact that it only was around for one season: Battle Creek is excellent. In fact, it is just about as good as I have ever seen TV get.

Great premise, great writing, great characters, great acting. Did I mention it was hilarious too?

What an terrible shame this show didn't get more than the all-too brief run it did.

Unfortunately, I didn't see it on TV: Instead I watched the series on Netflix. I say that is unfortunate because I would have made a point of watching this, even on regular TV with commercials. One of those shows that I would have happily supported.

Longmire and The Killing had some extra episodes done by Netflix after they got cancelled on regular network TV. I hope that the same happens to Battle Creek.

I highly, highly recommend watching Battle Creek.

I found Battle Creek on Netflix, I was doubtful at first but after the first few episodes I love it! The rough and tough Russ is the perfect opposite to the clean cut Milt, it works really well. I love that Russ is processes so much through 'old fashion' police work, observation and deduction while Milt is the tech savvy of the two, always using the FBI's newest gizmo, gadget, or app. Neither of them upstage the other and the mystery surrounding why Milt is in Battle Creek comes up just enough to keep my interest peaked. I really like the way the writers took an attractive and charismatic man and gave him the attention he'd have in real life but wrote the character to have a humble attitude with all the ladies batting their eyes at him, his integrity and character makes him that much more endearing. The relationship build between Russ and Holly is so ... real life. I mean, how many of us have worked with someone we had interest in and felt like Russ or Holly. I hope the series continues because there are so few decent series out there and I really enjoy this one.

I spent the first 20 years of my life in Battle Creek, Michigan. I grew up there. It's my hometown. Breaking Bad is my favorite crime series of all time. It goes without saying that I had high expectations for a TV series that would combine my hometown with the creative pen of Vince Gilligan. I have also liked Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters in previous roles.

I was hoping for greatness as episode 01 unfolded. I anxiously awaited a gritty, edgy, unexpected story line and unforgettably quirky characters like those of Breaking Bad. What I got was a slow, boring, run-of-the-mill detective show filled with lackluster characters and devoid of any real suspense or thrills.

As for Battle Creek, there was very little content connecting the actual town to its television namesake. Most of the series is filmed in California, and you could pretty much tell that from the look and feel. A few Battle Creek landmarks flashed by car windows once or twice. That was it. "Battle Creek" could take place in any small northern town.

Vince Gilligan needs to research some of Battle Creek's real-life cold case files if he needs some edgy stories. He'll find several that are stranger than fiction dating back to the 1940s and 50s.

I'll watch two more episodes in the hope that some innovation and inspiration may appear. If not, I'll catch the next train leaving the "Battle Creek" station.

Am so happy with this show. It's funny the actors can act and there are twists and turns that keep your interest unlike most of the other simplistic idiot violent shoot-em-up and show as much sex between Barbie & Ken like non actors. I hope it lasts. This and The Good Wife are the only two non-cable shows I will watch (except for old re- runs of shows when networks actually hired WRITERS who could write!!!)

Today most of the "hit" shows promote violence and hatred or concentrate on a world gone wrong where desolation and war are everywhere. A few try to recreate the old "family" morals of past years (fake of course as they never existed that way in real life) and kind of preach to the viewer as in some of the newer police shows. It's nice to watch something where the people are diverse not heroes, but not necessarily monsters either. I'm so sick of serial killers and pedophiles being portrayed in black and white cowboy vs. Indians pseudo dramas where there is no question as to who must win and that the ends justify all the means.

Just finished binge-watching this series on Netflix and I gotta say that I bloody loved it. I know, i know, cop shows are hardly a new genre and there are a 1000 fish in the sea "like" this.

BUT.

They're not really like this particular buddy-cop show at all. Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters are bloody awesome in their portrayal of these seemingly very different tempered officers of the law. Gotta love this duo: Russ' sometimes ill-tempered behaviour and his somewhat cynical approach at life (while at heart being a secret romantic) and Milt, the do-gooder FBI agent who seems to have some skeletons of his own. Both characters have depth, are totally interesting and. I'm just totally in love with this new series by cbs.

And I was like: Oh man, can't wait for season 2!

Until I had to find out that they already canceled this show again??? WHY? Seriously, people? Why the bloody hell do always -- at least in the last 1-2 years -- the promising, and you know, the awesome new series get canceled?! Totally disappointed right now. Damn.

As everyone puts it now in my opinion the premise sounded silly however,it's a very funny show that doesn't need a stupid laugh track to cue you when to laugh,is not trying to make a point and they don't make of fun of anyone for a cheap shot. Come on people have you all forgotten what a sense of humor is. I hope CBS brings it back. An while I'm at Stalker was good too. Why do people find it so difficult to except a show that isn't like a series as in law & order, NCIS,CSI. Many of them are basically the same show just different cities so much thinking to that. Since there's not suppose to be winners or losers in today's society and no one's feelings can get hurt. Keeping in mind everyone's feelings I hope I did not hurt any. Caution if you are going to write a review keep in mind you have to write a book so it can be edited so prepare to dummy down.

I was sorry to see this was canceled. The stories were light but interesting and the writing was tight.

I read the other two reviews before writing this and wonder - were we watching the same show? Perhaps I'm not the demographic the producers and creators want to attract, but I'd like to be entertained or challenged when I spend forty-five minutes to an hour of my life watching a television show. This accomplished neither. The acting was okay, although I've seen the principals do better. After all of the advertising hype, it was an overall disappointment. Not funny enough to be a comedy, not serious enough to be a drama - what's that new genre? A combination of drama and comedy - dramedy? Maybe that's what they were going for. And even then, I'm not sure they hit the mark.