I've actually had some time to watch some shows this week.
Best New Show of the Season
Life on Mars - ABC
This is an American version of a BBC hit that made it two seasons and had one spin-off. The premise seems far-fetched, of course, but that makes it interesting. In our version, an NYPD detective is hunting a serial killer that has kidnapped the cop's co-worker/lover. In the process he gets clocked by a car and somehow is transported back to 1973, where he has a pre-fab life as an.....NYPD detective.
The usual gimmickry (e.g. "Where is my cell phone?" "What phone are you selling?") is kept to a minimum and instead he goes to work solving cases. Police work is different....warrants aren't necessarily required and his co-workers like to beat up on witnesses. His boss is Harvey Keitel, which makes the show that much cooler. He has been getting some communication from 2008, but that has thus far been all one-way....adding an element of suspense beyond the police work aspect.
Honorable Mention: Fringe - caught the first couple of episodes. It is good, but I wish they would have called it the New X-Files and been done with it.
Best Returning Show
Heroes
Season 3 is MUCH better than the strike-shortened season 2. I wish they would hurry up and bring the muscle mimic from New Orleans back, and yeah it is freaky that Sylar and Peter are brothers....but still the plot twists and the time travel element has been outstanding.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Your Best Show of the New TV Season
1 comment:
Nothing amuses cops more than the portrayal of our department on TEEVEE. I don't think most guys on the job would admit to having watched Life On Mars, let alone give you a decent or honest opinion. Nothing inspires more good natured ribbing and derision from fellow officers than knowing a cop comes home from work to spend free time watching a fictionalized portrayal of what he does all day long at work.
Having said that, I'll admit I rushed home Thursday from an engagement in the city to watch the first episode of this show. I really had high hopes for this going in. I saw the spot ads with the detective shield reminiscent of NYPD Blue, and I was really hoping for a really non CSI type of show that focused mainly on the gritty details of police work.
I was a little disappointed. I think the show did focus too much on the gimmick of being transported to the 1970s. The cell phone gag. The "It's amazing what we can do these days" gag. The hippies in every other shot. But whatever. I guess it was establishing tone or something. Having said that, I really like the cast. Harvey Keitel's first scene and he's beating the shit out of his new detective. Michael Imperioli shagging it up as a hard ass detective. These are a big plus. The stuff with the main character contemplating murdering the little kid was what saved it for me. That was pretty heavy shit.
I'm gonna keep watching though because I see a lot of potential here. I don't want another lesson about the parallels of Iraq and Vietnam. I don't want a show about corruption in the NYPD. And I don't want to just tune in for a show with a Who-heavy score intercut with scenes of the cop speeding around in his bad ass Camaro. I want to see gritty police drama, Harvey Keitel kicking people in the ribs and Lisa Bonet naked. That's a fuckin show.
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