It was 2010. Detroit was in the middle of a massive identity crisis. The city was bleeding residents, the auto industry was on life support, and the national media wouldn't stop talking about "ruin porn." Then came Detroit 1-8-7.
When ABC first announced a high-budget police procedural set in the Motor City, locals were skeptical. We’d seen this before. Usually, Hollywood just uses Detroit as a backdrop for urban decay, shoots the whole thing in Toronto or Los Angeles, and calls it a day. But this show was different. Mostly.
What Really Happened With Detroit 1-8-7?
The show centered on an elite homicide unit. It was led by Michael Imperioli, who was still riding high from his Sopranos fame. He played Detective Louis Fitch, a guy so intense and socially awkward he made most of his colleagues nervous. Honestly, he felt like the anti-Christopher Moltisanti.
One of the weirdest things about the show's birth was its format. It was originally supposed to be a mockumentary. Think The Office but with more dead bodies and less Jim Halpert. The pilot even features the characters talking directly to a "film crew." But then reality got in the way.
The Real-Life Tragedy That Changed Everything
While the show was in development, a real-life tragedy struck. During the filming of an A&E documentary called The First 48, a young girl named Aiyana Stanley-Jones was killed during a police raid. The city was heartbroken and furious.
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The Detroit Police Department immediately shut down all documentary access. ABC realized their "mockumentary" style was suddenly in very poor taste. They scrambled. They cut the talking-head interviews and shifted to a traditional cinematic drama, though you can still see the shaky-cam "cinema vérité" style in those early episodes.
Why the Keywords Detroit 1-8-7 Are a Little Confusing
If you live in Michigan, you know that "187" isn't a thing here.
That’s a California Penal Code for murder. It’s legendary in West Coast rap and movies, but in Detroit? We use different codes entirely. People noticed. The show's creator, Jason Richman, took some heat for it, but the name stuck because it had that "gritty" brand recognition.
Despite the name snafu, the show did something almost no other network drama had done: it actually filmed here. Except for the pilot (which was mostly Atlanta with some Detroit reshoots), the entire 18-episode run was shot on the streets of Detroit. They used the old Michigan Bell building on Cass Avenue as their precinct. They filmed at the GM Renaissance Center and the Detroit Princess Riverboat.
A Cast That Actually Worked
The ensemble was surprisingly solid. You had:
- Michael Imperioli as the mysterious Det. Fitch.
- James McDaniel (of NYPD Blue fame) as Sgt. Jesse Longford.
- Jon Michael Hill as the rookie, Det. Damon Washington.
- Natalie Martinez as Det. Ariana Sanchez.
- Aisha Hinds as Lt. Maureen Mason.
McDaniel's character was great because he felt like a real Detroiter. He played a guy who’d been on the force for 30 years and spoke fluent Italian because his late wife was from Italy. It gave the show a weird, lovely texture that you don't usually get in "tough guy" cop shows.
The "Soda" vs. "Pop" Debacle
You can't write a show about Detroit and have characters ask for a "soda."
Locals caught that mistake immediately in the early episodes. It’s a cardinal sin in the Midwest. Eventually, the writers leaned into it. In the series finale, Fitch’s son (played by Imperioli’s real-life son, Vadim) actually corrects his dad, telling him that in Detroit, it’s called "pop."
It was a small olive branch to a city that felt protective of its culture. The show also tackled real Detroit issues, like the "white flight" history and the tension between the city and the suburbs.
Why Was It Cancelled?
Ratings, basically. And taxes.
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Detroit 1-8-7 was expensive to produce. It premiered to over 9 million viewers—a huge number by today’s standards—but it slowly bled out. By the time the finale aired in March 2011, only about 4.6 million people were tuning in.
Then the political winds shifted. Michigan’s film tax credits, which were some of the best in the country at the time, got slashed by the state government. Without those credits, the math didn't work for ABC. They pulled the plug after just one season.
The Legacy of a One-Season Wonder
Even though it’s been over a decade, the show still has a cult following. It didn’t treat Detroit like a punchline. It showed the city’s beauty alongside its scars. It captured a very specific moment in the city’s history—the "Comeback City" era before the bankruptcy of 2013.
If you’re a fan of police procedurals that actually care about character development, it’s worth a revisit. It wasn't perfect, but it was authentic. It was the first time a major network took a gamble on filming an entire series in Detroit, and that paved the way for later shows like Detroiters or Low Winter Sun.
Actionable Steps for Fans and Researchers
If you want to dive deeper into the world of Detroit 1-8-7 or explore its impact on the city, here is what you should do next:
- Check the Streaming Status: The show isn't always easy to find on the big platforms like Netflix. Check Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video, where it is often available for purchase or through specific channel subscriptions.
- Take a DIY Locations Tour: If you’re in the city, visit the Marquette Building (243 West Congress St) or the Renaissance Center. Many of the iconic backdrops are still standing and look exactly like they did in the show.
- Look for the DVD Sets: Because of music licensing and the show's short life, physical media is sometimes the only way to see the original edits. You can usually find the complete series on eBay for under $20.
- Research the Michigan Film Office: If you're interested in the business side, look up the history of the 2010-2011 film incentive cuts. It’s a fascinating case study in how state politics directly affects what you see on your TV screen.
The show might be gone, but for 18 episodes, it gave Detroit a national stage that felt real, raw, and surprisingly hopeful.