City on a Hill

Wow. Really disappointing. I was excited for this series for two promised attractions: "The Boston Miracle" of 1990s fame; and Kevin Bacon. There is nothing at all related to the Harvard based research and problem-oriented policing project (also known as Operation Ceasefire or Boston Gun Project) that reduced group youth related gun homicides by as much as 40% in large cities across America in the 1990s—and cleaning up corruption. While I can never completely hate Kevin Bacon, his wit and talent are wasted in **_City on a Hill_**—although not completely unwatchable. The Jackie Rohr role has Bacon riding the anti-hero wave of so-called "golden age of television," ushered in by **_Breaking Bad's_** Walter White (Bryan Cranston). Yet most characters in _**City**_ are witless rehashes of old era television stereotypes, making Bacon's charmingly charmless Rohr comes off merely as an _**SNL**_ish cartoon sketch. Btw, who is Chuck MacLean (creator)—he doesn't even rate a wikipedia page? _**City on a Hill**_ has all the hallmarks of the worst of Ben Affleck (story/producer).. which is a shame because one out of every ten Affleck projects is really gorgeous for all the right reasons. The other nine come across like they were made on a bender between dry outs. In the end _**City on a Hill**_ is a middling crime serial with dumbed down talent.