Memphis Beat has a bit of everything--charm, emotion, a decent police case--but unfortunately, nothing is done particularly well, leaving a bland show which struggles to find exactly what it is. The tone goes from somewhat funny with Earl playing around with a little girl to somewhat emotional as Dwight catches the criminal and interrogates him.
As far as cop shows go, Memphis Beat is very average and there's not much that sets it apart from the rest other than Jason Lee, who I kept expecting to turn into Earl and do something wacky. It was obvious the writers tried to inject the "Memphis" part of the title into various nooks and crannies with Elvis impersonators, accents, but the overall tone of the show didn't reflect any of that. The physical objects the writers can do, but tone--definitely not.
Score: 8.0/10
