Veteran cop, played by a big-name actor, working in a downtrodden Pennsylvania town for decades, bending the rules when necessary. It worked really well for HBO with Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown. It works well here, too, with Jeff Daniels (and co-star Maura Tierney) in Showtime’s American Rust, from the novel by Philipp Meyer. 

Daniels is Del Harris, an aging Army combat veteran and police officer in fictional Buell, Pennsylvania, home to rusted-out former steel mills and foreclosure auctions. Del, who is a little on edge due to weaning himself off PTSD meds, is romantically interested in Grace (Tierney), a divorced single mom who works a sewing machine at a dressmaker shop and is trying to bring in a labor union, Norma Rae style. Del is gruff but can be funny: I counted more humorous lines in the first 10 minutes of episode one than were in all of Mare. 

A homicide happens in those first 10 minutes, too, one that might involve Tierney’s son, Billy. That presents problems for Del because Billy is a good kid who unfortunately already has a criminal record for assault over a fight he tried to avoid — and because Del is in love with his mom. Another subplot involves Billy and his high-school sweetheart, Lee, who left “the Valley” but returned to help out with her abusive dad. Daniels and Tierney are at their usual excellent levels, and other solid performances come from Alex Neustaedter as Billy, Julia Mayorga as Lee and Rob Yang as Steve Park, Del’s deputy.

Showtime has set a Sept. 12 date for its new dramas series American Rust, the network said Wednesday.

The nine-episode series, starring Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) and Maura Tierney (Your Honor), follows a compromised chief of police of a Pennsylvania Rust Belt town investigating a murder who has to decide what lengths he is willing to take to protect the son of the woman he loves, according to network executives. 

Also Read: Showtime Picks Up 'American Gigolo' Series

American Rust also stars Bill Camp, David Alvarez, Alex Neustaedter, Julia Mayorga and Rob Yang. Daniels and Dan Futterman (Capote) serve as executive producers of the series, which is based on a Philipp Meyer novel.

Netflix took the Golden Globes nominations title with eight, one better than HBO’s seven, and seeks to convert that into the most trophies in Beverly Hills Sunday night.

Starz was next with six nominations and Amazon Prime Video and FX with five, then ABC, Fox and PBS at four.

Netflix will seek to reverse a rough Emmys in September, when the streaming service went home from the Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles with just one trophy while watching HBO claim 14.

UPDATE: The first TV award of the night went to Maura Tierney (pictured above in the group) as best supporting actress in a series, limited series or TV movie, for her portrayal of Helen Solloway in Showtime's The Affair.

--The second TV award, for best performance by an actress in a TV musical or comedy, went to Rachel Bloom for The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

--The third TV Globe, for best TV series, musical or comedy, went to Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle.

--The Globe for best limited series or TV movie went to Wolf Hall on PBS (which starred Mark Rylance and the above pictured Damian Lewis).

--Best performance by an actor in a limited series or TV movie was claimed by Oscar Isaac in HBO's Show Me a Hero.

--Christian Slater claimed the Globe for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for a series, limited series or TV movie for USA's Mr. Robot.

--Mad Men's Jon Hamm won for best performance by an actor in a television series -- drama.

--Best performance by an actor in a TV series, musical or comedy, went to Gael Garcia Bernal for Mozart in the Jungle. (Nominee Asiz Ansari, of Netflix's Master of None, was spotted reading a hardcover book entitled "Losing to [Transparent's] Jeffrey Tambor With Dignity," subtitled There's no shame in being second best; from the best-selling author of "Losing to Bryan Cranston With Dignity.")

--The Globe for an actress in a limited series or TV movie went to Lady Gaga for playing The Countess in FX's American Horror Story: Hotel; she declared it was "one of the greatest moments of my life."

--Another big win for USA's Mr. Robot as it claims the Globe for best TV series, drama. Creator Sam Esmail gives credit to USA's Alex Sepiol and Jackie De Crinis who "really backed this show from the beginning."

--Empire's Taraji Henson won for best performance by an actress in a TV series, drama. She credited numerous Fox executives and pleaded for more speech time. 

Read more at B&C.

Pictured: Showtime Networks chairman Matthew C. Blank, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), Maura Tierney (The Affair), Damian Lewis (Billions), Showtime president and CEO David Nevins at Showtime Golden Globe dinner in Beverly Hills on Jan. 9. Eric Charbonneau/Showtime