A police drama broke new ground by centering on a gay male protagonist
In short: When CBS launched the procedural series Instinct in 2018, it achieved a television milestone. The show featured a lead character who was not only gay but also married to another man, marking the first time a network drama of this length had placed such a figure at the center of its story.
The series, which debuted on March 18, 2018, was adapted from the 2017 novel Murder Games by James Patterson. It follows Dylan Reinhart, portrayed by Alan Cumming, a former CIA operative turned university professor. Reinhart is pulled back into the world of high-stakes investigation by NYPD detective Elizabeth Needham, played by Bojana Novakovic, after a serial killer begins using his own writing as a blueprint for crimes.
Beyond the central partnership, the show explores a diverse cast of characters, including Reinhart’s husband, Andy Wilson, a former lawyer turned bar owner. The narrative structure relies on the expertise of various specialists, such as Julian Cousins, a freelance information retrieval expert with ties to Reinhart’s intelligence past. The production process was swift, with the pilot picked up in January 2017 and the series order following in May of that same year.
Despite its historical significance regarding character representation, the show received a lukewarm reception from critics. Aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic noted that the series struggled to distinguish itself within the crowded police procedural genre, ultimately earning mixed reviews. Following a renewal after its initial run, the network cancelled the program near the conclusion of its second season in August 2019.
The legacy of the show remains tied to its casting choices and the specific nature of its lead. By placing a married gay man in the role of a consultant solving bizarre cases, the series challenged traditional norms of network television leads. While the show itself concluded after two seasons, its arrival signaled a shift in how major American networks approached character development in hour-long dramas.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Instinct (American TV series)
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