‘Ryan Caulfield’: An Idealistic, Likable Teen Cop

A drunk vomits on him. A fugitive is shot dead at point-blank range right before his eyes.

After just one day on the job, rookie Philadelphia cop Ryan Caulfield is such an emotional mess that you wonder how he’ll get through the week, let alone a career.

“It’s not like you see in the movies,” says Ryan (Sean Maher), who at age 19 looks like fresh meat in the “badlands” section of the inner city where he and his veteran partner (Michael Rispoli) operate from their squad car on Fox’s watchable new “Ryan Caulfield: Year One.”

It remains to be seen whether a year two or even an entire season is in store for a series whose premiere epitomizes so many stock elements of TV copdom, even though its protagonist lives at home with his hand-wringing mom and socializes with his goofy pals (James Roday and Chad Lindberg) at college parties.

In fact, the best thing this drama has going for it may be Maher, whose earnestness as the sensitive, idealistic, introspective Ryan appears so genuine that you can’t help liking him and rooting for him to pull himself together.

Sure enough, by the end of tonight’s episode, in which Ryan sees more action and gunplay than most beat cops probably do in a month, he is less tenuous and has not only his first collar but a romantic bead on fellow rookie Kim Veras (Roselyn Sanchez) as a potential replacement for his coed girlfriend.

A key for Ryan will be his ability to retain his boyish innocence and sidestep the cynicism that typifies his older colleagues. Of course, unlike Ryan, none of them has ever had a mud fight with 19-year-old friends while wearing his uniform.

* “Ryan Caulfield: Year One” will be shown tonight at 8 on Fox. The network has rated it TV-14-DLV (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14 with special advisories for suggestive dialogue, coarse language and violence).