“New Amsterdam” – new Fox series starting March 4.

I knew I’d love this show even before I saw the previews. It’s about three of my favorite subjects for a good TV show or movie: Homicide, New York City, and NYPD detectives. What could be a better basis for a show? And I sure wasn’t disappointed!

The premise of the show is way out there in that it covers hundreds of years. You see the star, John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who is Danish and began his career in Denmark and is also incredibly cute, is actually many, many years old. He is a brilliant NY homicide detective with a huge secret – he’s immortal. In 1642, he was a Dutch soldier in New Amsterdam which later became New York City. He stepped in front of a sword to save a Native American girl during a massacre of her indigenous tribe. So she rescued Amsterdam and wove an ancient spell that gave him immortality, meaning he would never age until he found his one true love. Only then would he become whole and ready for mortality.

John’s one true friend is Omar (Stephen Henderson) who owns a jazz club and knows John’s secret – he also has secrets of his own. John has a partner, Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson), who is strong willed and doesn’t take crap from anyone. John has a unique perspective on crime fighting in New York City. Since he has lived there many years, he runs into people from years past. There are many flashbacks which show his connections with different individuals, and when it skips back to the present, you see how those connections tie in with what’s happening in the present. I don’t mean like 20, 30 years ago, I mean maybe a hundred years ago . . . or even more. All this information, to which he has access as he goes on his way, makes him very valuable to the NYPD. He is certainly one of a kind. I wish there were more like him . . . but I guess I forgot – this is all make believe.

John has a heart attack on a subway platform and is saved by a woman getting off a train. She just happens to be an ER doctor – surprise, surprise – and she gets him to a hospital and brings him back to life. It is then that he thinks maybe the Indian girl knew what she was talking about. He had a pain in his heart which meant that maybe he had found his soul mate and could finally be ready for mortality. But now he has to find the pretty doctor who saved his life. If the prophesy is true, does that mean he’ll get old, with gray hair and wrinkles like the rest of us do? I hope not while the series is going. The show has excitement and humor and is very touching at times. As the second episode ended, I had tears in my eyes. Now that’s what I call a good show.