Look! A crime-solver newly paired with a prickly partner of the opposite gender! Have they ever done this on TV before? They have? Nevermind!
Fox describes “Rosewood” thusly:
Meet the Beethoven of private pathologists... From executive producer Todd Harthan ("Psych," "Dominion"), ROSEWOOD is the story of DR. BEAUMONT ROSEWOOD, JR. (Morris Chestnut, "Nurse Jackie," "The Best Man" franchise), the most brilliant private pathologist in Miami.Using his wildly sophisticated autopsy lab, he performs for-hire autopsies to uncover clues that the Miami PD can't see.
His new partner-in-crime is Detective VILLA (Jaina Lee Ortiz, "The After"), a Miami PD detective with attitude and demons to spare. While she's impressed by Rosewood's incredible abilities, his constant optimism is more annoying than it is infectious. But somehow, week-to-week, this unlikely tag team will solve many crimes together.
Joining Rosewood in his practice are his sister and "toxicology queen," PIPPY (Gabrielle Dennis, "The Game"); and DNA specialist TARA MILLY IZIKOFF aka TMI (Anna Konkle, "Man Seeking Woman," "Betas"), who is Pippy's fiancée. Plagued with his own set of medical ailments, Rosewood sees that every moment of life should be embraced and lived to the fullest. And those moments of victims' lives that will never be are what drive him the most.
… brings nothing distinctive or memorable to the formula, aside from the welcome diversity of its cast. “Rosewood” is a prime example of the broadcast networks’ retreat into predictability and characters and relationships that fail to supply reasons to return.
... Even viewers looking for a low-attention-required procedural may find “Rosewood” played-out and mediocre. …
... Possessing CBS-style powers of investigatory super-sleuthing, Rosewood turns out to be a man of little if any self-awareness, even when he’s trying to have an honest moment. There’s hardly a crack in his veneer or any ironic punch line to his act — we’re just meant to accept him as the coolest man in Miami. As such, he’s just another dull, pretty detective who solves his cases too quickly. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The show has a certain sunny Miami gloss, but that doesn’t blind us to the generally perfunctory script, the flat pacing and the adequate but unremarkable dialogue. Everyone involved really deserves better, including the audience. …
... If only the show Fox decided to build were less rickety than Rosewood (* 1/2 stars out of four), and the character they'd given Chestnut to play were less ridiculously annoying. Because goodness, is Dr. Beaumont Rosewood a grating piece of work. …
... “Rosewood” seems designed to test the question, “So just exactly how willing are Fox viewers to watch anything adjacent to ‘Empire?’” If the answer is “Too spent to operate a remote control,” this beyond-thin vehicle for Morris Chestnut might have a chance. …
... the pilot for Rosewood fails to set itself apart from the herd at all, but it's an effective distraction from a murder investigation that left no impression despite multiple viewings of the pilot. Mediocrity distracting from mediocrity is not a good recipe for success. …
8 p.m. Wednesday. Fox.
