New Amsterdam (2008 TV series)

""You will not grow old. You will not die. This is the gift we give.""

John Amsterdam is a New York homicide detective. He's also an immortal. He uses his 400 years of experience to solve crime, all the while looking for his true love (who's also the only one that can cure him of his immortality).

A short-lived (8 episodes) series on FOX that aired in 2008. It was Cancelled just as it received an Emmy nomination.

Compare the Highlander franchise, Forever Knight and Forever.

"Eva: He has a really weird sense of humor."
 * The Alcoholic: John was one in the past, but at the start of the series he'd been sober for 50+ years.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Everyone thinks Amsterdam is one.
 * Cassandra Truth: Amsterdam usually answers questions about his past honestly, but understandably, no one takes him seriously.

"John: The Army three times, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard; not the Air Force, don't like heights."
 * Cursed with Awesome
 * Expansion Pack Past: Amsterdam has been a history teacher, furniture maker, painter, battlefield medic, coachman, lawyer, comedian, and a soldier multiple times.


 * Fake American: Justified in universe example in John Amsterdam, who was born in the Netherlands. Before there were any Americans in the modern sense.
 * Real Life example in Englishwoman Zuleikha Robinson, who played Eva Marquez.
 * Fake Nationality: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, a Dane, plays a Dutchman.
 * Fan Service: John's penchant for nude swims.
 * Flash Back
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: John wants to find his true love, so he can finally be able to grow old and die.
 * Immortal Procreation Clause: Totally averted; Amsterdam's had kids all over the place. Likely part of the above. After all, outliving any children sucks. Being cursed to outlive ALL your children...
 * In the Past Everyone Will Be Famous: Amsterdam had a relationship with Emily Dickinson and knew Walt Whitman, Sarah Bernhardt, and John Coltrane.
 * Magical Native American
 * Mayfly-December Romance
 * Off the Wagon: After John, he shows up at Omar's and pours himself a drink
 * Reading Lips: Yet another skill that John has picked up over his long life.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old
 * Screwed by the Network: Fox changed their minds about the show after ads had already been out for months and several episodes made, and it never would have aired at all if the writer's strike hadn't left them desperate for material.
 * It's Fox. Nobody should be surprised at this.
 * Secret Keeper: Omar.
 * The Netherlands: John's original home, back in the 17th century.
 * The War on Terror: John took his current name and joined the NYPD because of 9/11.
 * Vampire Detective Series: Except for the vampire factor, fits this trope perfectly.
 * Waking Up At the Morgue
 * Who Dunnit to Me?
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?