‘Ryan Caulfield: Year One’ has natural drama

“Ryan Caulfield: Year One,” which debuts at 8 tonight on Fox, is a show about choices.

The titular character, like many 19-year-olds, is at a crossroads. He feels like he’s losing touch with his friends, who have headed off either to college or dead-end menial jobs. He instead has joined the Philadelphia Police Department as a beat cop in the “Badlands” area.

To say Ryan’s life is in a state of flux is a bit of an understatement. His friends, especially his girlfriend, don’t understand his career choice, and think he’s crazy. His mother is fearful, but tries to support him. His fellow cops look askance at such a young rookie.

Ryan, played by Sean Maher, has his own reasons for becoming a cop, although he can’t voice them even to himself. He’s always enjoyed policemen in movies. Also, without admitting it, he’s trying to make amends for a violent crime by his father. Yet he finds that the police academy didn’t really prepare him for the streets.

So Ryan must find his way in a new environment, while trying to keep in touch with his past. Yet he finds it’s hard to enjoy the college formal the same day as he sees a suspect blown away on the job.

The show’s young characters generally seem callow, except for Maher himself, but the veteran cast, led by Michael Rispoli as Ryan’s partner and Brenda Bakke as his mother, helps to redeem the show.

Fortunately the series is remarkably light on the angst that’s the mainstay of far too many of the teen and young adult dramas this season. That lends the drama, created by Kevin Fox and James DeMonaco (“The Negotiator”), a naturalness that many of those shows lack. “Ryan Caulfield: Year One” isn’t one of the better new dramas, but it’s the best thing on in an incredibly vacuous time slot.