Get this: a drama about 4 female cops will be called Broad Squad. Horrible name, right? Except that it was the name given to the female cops in the first graduating class in Boston Police Academy in 1978. At the time, the local press dubbed the graduating females “the broad squad” and that’s where the name originated. The show is set in 1978 in Boston and is loosely based on that class of grads.
Cast announcements for the female cops featured in this drama include Rutina Wesley, Charlotte Spencer, and Cody Horn. I can’t find any word on who the 4th cop will be yet.
Rutina Wesley’s character is Joanne, a lesbian, described as “strong, strict and reserved, who prefers to keep her personal life private, in large part because she’s gay. She’s also a hard worker – a character trait that’s influenced by the fact that she’s black and a woman, and believes that, given her skin color and gender, she will have to work 10 times as hard as her fellow squad members, in order to be recognized and move up the proverbial ladder.”
Information on the characters to be played by Horn and Spencer isn’t available yet. When the Boston Globe published a story about the real graduating class in 1978, it was noted that the class contained six black females, one Hispanic female, and seven white females. Perhaps the fourth character will be Hispanic.
There are women in the background on this one, including writers and producers.
It will film in Boston. According to The Boston Globe,
Dorchester-born actress and writer Alexandra Lydon (“24”), who comes from a family of police officers, developed the idea and will serve as a producer. Inspiration came from the real-life stories of Lydon’s family members and family friends who were among the first women to patrol the city’s streets during the 1970s.
Bess Wohl will write the pilot. The show is a “put pilot” on ABC, which means it will probably make it into the line-up for a whole season.