So, earlier tonight, I watched the first episode Lucifer.  Lucifer is the new cop show on Fox.  It’s about an eccentric crime solver who uses unorthodox methods to solve crimes and his partner, with whom he shares sexual tension and the occasional sardonic aside.  It sounds a lot like Elementary, Castle, the X-Files revival, and a whole lot of other TV shows of the past, present, and future as well.

The main difference between Lucifer and those other shows is that the title character is the Devil.  That’s right.  The Devil has gone from starring in Milton’s Paradise Lost to working with the LAPD to solve crimes.

(In high school, one of my best friends read Paradise Lost and ended up getting a huge crush on Satan.  I wonder if she watched Lucifer tonight.)

From what I understand, Lucifer is loosely based on a comic book series in which Lucifer gets bored with ruling Hell and comes to Los Angeles, where he runs a piano bar and spends a lot of time considering whether or not there really is such a thing as free will.  And that actually sounds pretty interesting.  That sounds like it would make for an edgy, thought-provoking series.

What is not particularly interesting is the idea that Lucifer would come to Los Angeles, open a piano bar, and then decide to spend his time helping the LAPD solve crimes.  It really sounds like the punchline to an overtold joke, doesn’t it?  “She’s a non-nonsense detective.  He’s the Prince of Darkness.  Together, they fight crime.”

There were a few things that I did like about the pilot.  I liked the fact that it opened and closed with No Rest For The Wicked, even though that song’s going to be stuck in my head for the next few days.  I thought Lauren German did a pretty good job as Detective Chloe Dancer.  There were a few scenes — mostly the ones that featured Lucifer hanging out at his piano bar — that were shot and acted in a entertainingly over-the-top style.  I like the idea that Lucifer can terrify people whenever he feels like it.  I think Tom Ellis could be really good in the title role but not if the series insists on straight-jacketing him into a typical “eccentric detective” role.

My advice to this show?  Get Chloe Dancer out of the LAPD as quickly as possible.  The character has potential and I can easily imagine Lauren German and Tom Ellis developing a really amazing chemistry but having to deal with a case-a-week format is going to rob this show of everything that could potentially make it special.  So, get Chloe off of the LAPD.  Have her work as a head of security for Lucifer’s bar or something.  Keep them together but forget about solving crimes.  Instead, allow Lucifer to truly explore the philosophical and theological concepts that were merely hinted at in the pilot.  It might not win the show a huge audience but it will win it a loyal and intelligent audience.  At the very least, it should be enough to score 6 seasons and a movie.

Lucifer has potential but not as a cop show.