Created, written, executive-produced and directed by Edward Burns, Public Morals is a police drama TV series which aired for the first time in August 2015 on TNT. The series revolves around NYPD special division and its officers who are trying to deal with vice in the city and manage their personal lives at the same time.
Set in New York City in the 1960s, the series focuses on the officer Terry Muldoon and his colleagues’ everyday temptations as they inevitably get in touch with all kinds of vices. They live and constantly work “walking the line between morality and criminality.”
It is important to mention that Edward Burns, in addition to creating, writing and producing the series, takes on the lead role, as well. The rest of the cast include Michael Rapaport as Officer Charlie Bullman, Terry’s partner, Elizabeth Masucci as Christine Muldoon, Terry’s wife, Wass Stevens as Officer Vince Latucci, Austin Stowell as Officer Sean O’Bannon, together with Neal McDonough, Brian Dennehy, Timothy Hutton and others who play some of the recurring characters.
The drama received positive reviews from critics, and it was mostly well-received by the audience, as well. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a score of 7.1 out of 10, while on IMDb this number is somewhat lower at 6.8/10. Metacritic suggests that the series has “generally favorable reviews,” as it has a score of 69 out of 100. Finally, the critical consensus reads “Public Morals is a worthy mob crime drama, with a strong leading man and a talented supporting cast counterbalancing cliché-ridden dialogue.”
Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that the first season of Public Morals was well-received and that it seemed promising when released, TNT gave up the idea of making the sequel and canceled the series after only one season.
