John Amsterdam is a New York homicide detective who has seen a lot in his life time, and since he has been alive since the 1600s that is saying a lot. New Amsterdam is a new show on Fox that might be too smart for TV and is definitely too smart for the Fox network (yes I am still bitter about Firefly).

NEW AMSTERDAM centers on a brilliant and enigmatic New York homicide detective unlike any other. And he has a profound secret — he is immortal.

In 1642, JOHN AMSTERDAM (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), then a Dutch solider in the colony of New Amsterdam – later to become New York City — stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native American girl during a massacre of her indigenous tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam, weaving an ancient spell that conferred immortality upon him. Amsterdam will not age, she told him, until he finds his one true love. Only then will he become whole and ready for mortality.

Amsterdam has found this to be a mixed blessing. Over the course of three centuries, he’s experienced endless adventure and honed his many talents. But everyone Amsterdam meets must leave him in time; friends, lovers and children grow old and eventually die, while he remains young. The exhilaration of eternal life has given way to emotional isolation and loneliness; the blessing has become a curse. His sole confidant and current lifelong friend is the sage jazz club owner OMAR (Stephen Henderson), the keeper of Amsterdam’s secret, as well as a few of his own.

The idea is not new. The plot bears a strong resemblance to the show Forever Knight that was on from 1989 – 1996. That show also followed an immortal NYPD detective, although in that case a vampire. This is the second show on TV right now that centers around an immortal character, but unlike Captain Jack Harness of BBC’s Torchwood John Amsterdam has the decency to live his life chronologically. So the plot is not exactly new, but based on the first two episodes New Amsterdam is worth watching.