Raines is an American crime drama television series created by Graham Yost and developed by NBC Universal Television which focuses on Michael Raines, a 'mentally-haunted' LAPD detective, who interacts with imaginary manifestations of dead crime victims in order to solve criminal cases.
Raines must deal with his unique, unintentional method, as it causes problems with his co-workers and in his personal life.
The series aired in the USA on NBC from 15 March to 27 April, 2007. Only seven episodes were filmed before the series was cancelled.
Raines premiered in South Africa on SABC3 on Sunday 5 April 2009, at 20h00.
Synopsis
Raines is a police drama that blends traditional noir storytelling with humour and intrigue.
Eccentric LAPD Detective Michael Raines (Jeff Goldblum) uses his unique imagination to focus on every murder case in such a way that the murder victims actually begin to take shape in front of him.
At first, he thinks he's losing his mind, but he then uses the constantly evolving hallucinations - which are figments of his imagination and not ghosts - to help him discover the victims' killers.
Raines struggles to accept this peculiar gift - or burden - and reconcile it with his daily life.
Also prominent in Raines' life are his understanding boss, Captain Daniel Lewis (Matt Craven); an antagonistic uniformed officer, Remi Boyer (Dov Davidoff); Boyer's long-suffering partner, Officer Michelle Lance (Linda Park); sharp-tongued civilian employee, Carolyn Crumley (Nicole Sullivan); his former partner, Charlie Lincoln (Malik Yoba); and therapist, Samantha Kohl (Madeleine Stowe).
Graham Yost, creator of the critically-acclaimed Boomtown and the writer of the mega action hit Speed, teamed with Frank Darabont, the Academy-Award nominated director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, to create this unusual police procedural.