TV Reviews : These Cops Are ‘True Blue’ and Plenty Familiar

It’s hard to envision anything hokier or more cliched than “True Blue,” the NBC series premiering at 9 p.m. Sunday on Channels 4, 36 and 39.

After beginning life as a two-hour movie, “True Blue” will be seen Fridays at 9 p.m.

Stop me if this sounds vaguely familiar, but these are the cases of the elite Emergency Services Unit of the New York City Police Department. The ensemble cast is led by Tony LoBianco, who plays one of the a veteran members of the ESU team of specialists.

They’re brave. They’re tough. They’re public-spirited. They’re compassionate. They’re accompanied by hot music when on the job. And on Sunday they’re on the trail of “big-time international terrorists” who, in TV’s grand tradition of political and cultural stereotypes, appear to be from the Middle East. How many more stories about Middle East terrorists can TV tolerate? This menacing group threatens to blow up a school bus carrying children of United Nations officials unless certain jailed “freedom fighters” are released and flown to Libya.

What really needs exploding is the script.