I want to like 'Robbery Homicide Division' something fierce. I admire its gritty-cool urban edge and the gruff charisma of the lead, Tom Sizemore. The show is produced by Michael Mann, of 'Miami Vice' fame, and 'RHD' often resembles 'Vice' in its emphasis on atmosphere and style. The show is shot in high-tech digital video, so there is a grainy resonance in the image quality that makes the show a pleasing view, and like 'Vice' again, it relies on at least one or two music-video type vignettes that help define a stylish mood, and make the viewer think they're witnessing something cool and hip.

Way back when in my formative years, 'Miami Vice' was a passion of mine. A passion as alluring as a beautiful woman beckoning me into her bed, a big, beautiful woman dressed in a pastel sports jacket and with five o'clock shadow. Wherever I was on Friday night (ok, let's face it, it's that obvious, I know; I was home alone most Friday nights) I made sure to watch Crockett and Tubbs kick ass, take names, and then go on to pursue embarrassing musical careers.

'Robbery Homicide Division' has yet to affect me in the same way. The cops on the show favor low-key apparel: standard dark suits and shoes, etc. They also aren't nearly as easy on the eyes as Don Johnson, Phillip Michael Thomas, or Saundra Santiago. In fact, if the actors on the show were in the same league in looks as any actor on 'Vice" it would have to be Edward James Olmos. Not exactly beefcake territory, you follow me?

'RHD' is basically a vehicle for the intensity and quick-mumble of the newly svelte Tom Sizemore, who plays Sam Cole, the lead Lieutenant of the squad. The best moments are when he's arrived at a crime scene and reenacts his theory as to how a crime occurred. Sizemore has great eyes: shifty, piercing, and magnetic. He uses them to great effect in these scenes as they dart from one piece of evidence to another. His eyes also come in handy when interrogating witnesses and suspects, as his penetrating gaze dresses down even the most hostile tough guy. Sizemore does rush his lines at times, and that combined with his predilection for mumbling puts the rewind button on my Tivo in overdrive. Still, Sizemore's performance is captivating, and I haven't seen any other acting outside of Vincent D'Onofrio's on 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' that matches it.