• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, March 10, 2015

In its first two episodes, the CBS cop show “Battle Creek” has made no references to Kellogg’s cereals, although an upcoming episode is reportedly titled “Cereal Killer.”

This past Sunday’s episode was titled “Syruptitious” and it was about maple syrup -- a breakfast condiment but not a breakfast cereal.

Why bring this up? Because for many people, the city of Battle Creek, Mich. is synonymous with Kellogg’s, which is headquartered there. And while most people cannot reliably reel off the headquarters cities of most large American companies, many people of a certain age know Kellogg’s is in Battle Creek because years ago, the location was an integral part of the company’s advertising.

In its TV commercials, it was never just “Kellogg’s” -- it was “Kellogg’s of Battle Creek.” When I was a child, I would hear this phrase over and over again on the company’s cereal commercials that ran during the kiddie shows I watched in the 1960s. As a result, the phrase was ingrained indelibly in my memory, although I had no idea where this place called Battle Creek was, nor do I ever remember caring enough to ask a grownup or to try in some other way to find out where it was.

Years later (and many years ago), on my way to somewhere else, I paid a visit to Battle Creek, which included a drive by the Kellogg’s headquarters, in front of which was a statue of Tony the Tiger and Little Tony. This local landmark was not spied in the first two episodes of “Battle Creek” either.

The fact is, like other TV dramas supposedly located somewhere other than New York or Los Angeles, most of “Battle Creek” is filmed in Los Angeles. Cast and crew may have gone up to Battle Creek for a few days at some point to film some exteriors to splice into the show, but you’d have to be a Battle Creek native and/or Kellogg’s employee to really recognize the real Battle Creek.

Whether it’s filmed in Los Angeles or not, this show’s locale in this mid-sized Midwestern industrial city is a welcome change from the usual locales for TV cop shows -- L.A., New York or Chicago. I look forward to future storylines that take advantage of the unique characteristics of Battle Creek and its people (whatever those characteristics, and whoever those people, might be).

“Battle Creek” premiered Sunday, March 1, at 10 p.m. Eastern on CBS. The premiere drew 7.92 million viewers following “The Good Wife” (9.09 million). This past Sunday (March 8), the total audience for “Battle Creek” had dipped a bit, to 6.996 million, according to the Nielsen overnights. “The Good Wife” (which is supposed to take place in Chicago, but is filmed in New York) had 9.059 million.

“Battle Creek” is about two mismatched police detectives -- one (played by Dean Winters) a grizzled veteran of the Battle Creek PD and the other (played by the ridiculously handsome Josh Duhamel) a square-jawed FBI agent from Detroit who is reassigned to the smaller Battle Creek office (in which he’s basically the only agent) for reasons unknown.

The co-producers who have collaborated to develop and produce “Battle Creek” are Vince Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad” and its sequel “Better Call Saul,” and David Shore, long-time executive producer of “House M.D.” As it happens, “Battle Creek” feels more like “House” than “Breaking Bad,” which makes sense, since “Battle Creek” is a middle-of-the-road show developed for network television, in this case CBS.

That means it’s easy to take and simple to understand, with characters who aren’t too edgy and never wholly unlikable.

One is tempted at this point to invoke all sorts of well-remembered cereal slogans in an effort to come across as clever in this blog post about a TV show called “Battle Creek.” For example, I could write something like: “ ‘Battle Creek’ -- it stays crunchy even in milk!” (as the old Cap’n Crunch slogan used to go). Or I could write: “ ‘Battle Creek’ on CBS – the best to you each morning!” (a Kellogg’s slogan, if memory serves).

Of course, these slogans, when applied to this TV show, make no sense. So maybe I’ll make up a new one. How about this: “Unlike Grape Nuts, I know exactly what 'Battle Creek' is: A likable, quirky cop show that might not be very nutritious, but goes down easy.”