‘My Partner Is a Female Cyborg’: NBC Introduces Police Show

In David Andrews’ last television series, “The Antagonists,” he played a defense attorney. When he was cast, the producers were unaware that Andrews is a former lawyer. He was practicing law in San Diego when, at the age of 25, he experienced what he said was a “midlife crisis.” He quit, divorced his wife, sold his car and decided to become an actor.

Andrews, who stars in NBC’s new series “Mann & Machine,” attended Louisiana State University, Duke and Stanford, but didn’t think about acting until he “made a 90-degree turn at 150 mph.” His only prior contact with an audience was delivering a speech to 1,400 students while running for a student government office in high school.

“I got rid of everything,” he says. “I had a very difficult time. I drove a limo, tended bar, did landscape work, and worked in the oil fields and a refinery in Louisiana. I struggled four years trying to get an agent. One night I got fired in the middle of my shift as a bartender. I had $35 to my name.

“I went with a friend while he ran some errands and I ran into the person who became my agent. I was ready to slash my wrists, and the same night I got fired I got an agent.”

It clearly was the right thing to do as “Mann & Machine” is the third series for Andrews, who played an American actor who becomes a detective in the British show “Pulaski,” which was shown in the United States on A&E.;

He also played Paul LeMat’s brother in “The Burning Bed” and Don Johnson’s cousin in an episode of “Miami Vice.” He co-starred in the miniseries “Blind Faith,” several TV movies and appeared in a number of series.

Andrews explains the setup for “Mann & Machine,” a police drama premiering Sunday: “My partner is a female cyborg.” Andrews plays tough city detective Bobby Mann; Yancy Butler plays Eve, a super-intelligent cyborg.

“It’s a male-female role reversal,” Andrews adds. “He’s more emotional than she is.

“A detective’s partner is the most important person in his life. He spends more time with his partner than anyone else. They depend on each other for their lives. I think he’s amused by her. Her straightforwardness and innocence are endearing.”

“This is a pure entertainment show with a real twist,” says Dick Wolf, creator and co-executive producer of “Mann & Machine.” Wolf is a former writer and producer of such shows as “Hill Street Blues” and “Miami Vice” and creator and executive producer of NBC’s “Law and Order.”

Of “Mann & Machine,” he says, “I would say a lot of the rhythms are more ‘Moonlighting’ than ‘Hill Street Blues.’ It’s really a male-female role reversal. The male cop is intuitive and acts from his gut, and his partner is the one who is completely logical and doesn’t understand emotions. She’s trying to learn what emotions are. It’s a show in which the battle of the sexes is explored from a totally new angle. Hopefully.”

“It’s set in Los Angeles in the near future, maybe next week or next year,” says Andrews. “I think my character is a bit of a stranger in a strange land. He hates machines, he thinks life is too complicated, yet here he is partnered with a cyborg. He knows there’s always a flaw, and when his partner nearly gets him killed he demands a new partner--with a temperature of 98.6.”

His new partner is Eve, but his captain doesn’t tell him at first she’s an improved cyborg.

“Mann & Machine” premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. on NBC.