One thing that doesn’t slow down when I’m in a stressed-out funk is my TV addiction — if anything, it speeds up! The other day I realized I’ve polished off a bunch of TV seasons over the past couple of months, without even noticing. These shows have been bubbling along like pop culture background radiation [...]
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Funny how a severe decrease in writing corresponds with an increase of television marathoning…lots of shows crossing my path lately, and for some reason, most of them involve cops and robbers. I’ve become quickly, hopelessly addicted to Homicide: Life in the Street, the gritty 1990’s police procedural about crime-solving detectives in Baltimore. This ensemble drama [...]
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And now, from the Department of TV Designed Specifically for Chris East, comes the Canadian series Intelligence (2005-2007), a subdued, smart, intrigue-fueled drama set in Vancouver, British Columbia. I was lured to this one by an article describing it as “the Canadian Wire,” which for me is lofty praise indeed. While I don’t think it [...]
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Anybody who’s interested in the current state of TV, and the programming strategies of the cable and network channels, will find a lot to chew on in this article by Todd VanDerWerff at the Onion AV Club. This passage in particular got me thinking: “The networks have tried a variety of series about people trying [...]
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Brotherhood’s eleven-episode first season is a broody, slow-building drama about family ties and the collision of politics and crime. Helmed by Blake Masters and Henry Brommell, the series is modestly produced, but smartly written and well acted. It’s not quite as compulsively watchable as certain shows it resembles – notably The Sopranos and The Wire [...]
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I’m exactly four episodes into two new shows similar in their focus on the intersection of politics and crime, and both starring an actor I’ve only just heard of: Jason Clarke. On DVD, I’m just getting into season one of Brotherhood, which ran for three seasons on Showtime. So far it strikes me as a [...]
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The Riches (2007-2008) has everything I like in a good TV show: a strong premise, effective writing, terrific acting, realistic language, edgy themes, and the odd surprise along the way. Even so, as I reached the end of the first season DVD set — which took an uncharacteristically long time for me to get through [...]
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