For ‘Wire’ Obsessives
January 12, 2010 Comments Off
Son of The Wire
Matt Yglesias says:
What’s really depressing to me about the current TV landscape isn’t so much that we haven’t seen another Wire-quality show as it is that we haven’t even seen a serious effort to produce another show that’d be as good. The aesthetic message of the The Wire is that it’s possible to create TV shows with much higher aspirations than what you typically see—long, densely structured plot arcs with sprawling casts of characters that allow you to go beyond what’s possible in movies. But the business message is that being near-universally celebrated as the best TV show doesn’t bring with it any particular financial rewards.
Consequently, if you watch Dexter or True Blood you don’t say to yourself “this is every bit is ambitious as The Wire but doesn’t quite hit the mark.” Instead, you’re looking at shows that have constrained their ambitions.
To some extent, this complaint rings true. Shows like Dexter and True Blood borrow the superficial appeal of gritty cable dramas – the sex, the drugs, the gory violence – and dumb down/sex up the premise for a broader, less discerning audience. A series about sex-crazed vampires or a charming serial killer simply isn’t built for deep social commentary.
But the scope and ambition of other reasonably successful cable dramas like Mad Men and Big Love clearly owe a lot to The Wire’s example, even if they haven’t achieved comparable levels of critical acclaim. Big Love is a surprisingly rich look at family life through the lens of Mormon polygamists. Despite the occasional bout of ham-handedness, the drama of Mad Men owes a lot to conflict over identity and cultural change. That neither show has matched The Wire’s track record with critics isn’t evidence of a lack of ambition. It’s a testament to The Wire’s singular awesomeness.
November 18, 2009 6 Comments
“deep thoughts” on television shows I watch or used to watch
The Simpsons via last.fm
1. Deadwood, aside from being far too foul-mouthed for my taste (and a bad influence on me) was pretty good the first season. After that it totally fell apart. I think this was because of the producers’ (and especially David Milch’s) urge to cast Ian McShane’s character, Al Swearengen, as a “good guy” in the final seasons rather than the more villainous role he plays in the first season.
2. I like The Tudors for its historical qualities. The English reformation is a fascinating period. But I get awfully tired of King Henry. At first I kind of liked how he was played, but he’s become entirely too flat.
3. Weeds lost me after the second season. Why does every episode need to end with some huge, dramatic cliff-hanger disaster? Why can’t some episodes just be funny?
4. Is The Wire really that good? I’ve seen one, maybe two episodes. Didn’t really capture my attention.
5. I almost stopped watching The Office after the third season. I’m glad I didn’t.
6. I’ll take The Simpsons over the Family Guy any day of the week.
7. I like South Park but I really, really don’t get this whole “generation Y conservatism” thing. What – are we basing the next generation of conservatives off of some potty-mouthed cartoon? (I know, South Park is very good at lampooning liberals. But remember, when asked, the creators said “I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals.” Okay. But they hate conservatives, too. Is generation Y conservatism actually…libertarianism?)
8. If you have a toddler in the house you should introduce them to The Wiggles. Not for your own sake. Australian kids music is not the most enjoyable thing for adults. But kids seem to love it, or at least my kid does. And it’s not Barney, so….
9. I’m still debating whether to continue watching Mad Men or not. What say you?
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November 4, 2009 42 Comments
David Simon, call your office
September 30, 2009 1 Comment
Putting the Community Back In Policing
This morning while taking the opportunity to have a late breakfast on a patio with a friend, we both happened to spot a police officer walking his beat. My friend commented that that was a sight you didn’t see very often these days and we got to talking about how much more effective it was, at least on the face of it, to have police officers actually out on the streets interacting with the inhabitants of the areas they are supposed to be policing and providing a more stable and human presence than a patrol car driving by every now and again.
I commented in particular that it just made a lot more sense to me as regards the act of trying to protect a given area. That having a police officer out walking around gave him or her the ability to actually get a feel for a community and places the very notion of community back front and centre in the process of police work. The cop walking the beat is able to actually be a part of the community making him or her much better able to do their work as a result of that re-integration. [Read more →]
July 24, 2009 26 Comments
