It's the end of the year, and we are into ubiquitous "top 10 ten of the year" lists for tv shows. So I thought I would respond to one in lieu of writing my own, which would just rehash some of the things I have already said here. I have chosen to go with Time magazine's list, even though Time is not really my source for entertainment news, ever, but I was traveling this week and thus read a lot, I mean a LOT of mags in airports and on planes. And I was intrigued by the "You" are the person of the year mylar mirror concept, so that's how I found Time's list.
Off the top, let me say this: I am distressed that 4 of the top 10 shows are on pay cable stations. In an age of increasing commercialism and distance between the haves and the have nots, it distresses me that 40% of what Time considers good out there in tv-land isn't available to the general public or at least to the general public who can afford basic cable or can get antennas to work, and even that segment of the public is decreasing rapidly. On principle, I don't subscribe to more than basic, not because we can't afford it but because I don't think we should have to. So what I know about these shows is limited, though, of course, I have my sources and I do keep up and watch occasionally. But, given that caveat, here are my one line (with one exception) responses to the "elite" 40%:
The Wire: Stephen King loves it, and I love Stephen King's take on television.
Deadwood: Not as good as Firefly. Period.
Dexter: Serial killer vigilante sleuth? It's the end of the world as we know it.
Big Love: To review, I am a Mormon. So, of course, I have some feelings about this show. I have only seen snippets, but I read every single page of every single detailed synopsis on Television Without Pity, mainly for academic purposes but also to cover myself in case people started asking me all kinds of questions (ala Julie's stint on Real World). And I must say this: no, real Mormons do not practice polygamy, do not live in compounds, are not on the lam, etc, etc, etc. And while this show seems to have a bevy of talented actresses, at base it's a silly premise, meant only, solely, to titillate, and as far as I can tell, it doesn't really even do a good job of that. So the argument goes "but what a heroic demonstration of the real rigors of a polygamous household." To which I have to say, umm, not so much, because real polygamists are not so urbane and wordly and upstanding as the main family and only some are as retched and vile as the evil in-laws. BUT, and this is a big but, some really, really are retched and vile. And they are not fundamentalist Mormons. They are simply fundamentally confused.
But enough soapbox. Please forgive the rant; I have had this conversation oh so many, many sad times! On with the list!
Friday Night Lights: In the interest of journalistic integrity (or, as the husband's boss puts it, due diligence) I have to say that until this very day, today, I had not watched more than a few minutes of this program. However, lucky, lucky me, I was flipping channels and found that Bravo was playing a Friday marathon. (I love big media synergy, where we just throw off the facade that various channels aren't owned by the same folks and are competing with each other in favor of handy co-programming like this!) So now I have watched the entire season up to this point (it was a very, very long day of football). This show uses that choppy hand held camera work that makes me dizzy, so no points there. However, it does, to its credit (I suppose) capture the complete insanity of rah rah rah high school football. Which makes me wonder how much of the cliched dialogue is really cliched and how much is just what people say who are die-hard Texas football fans. I think it's the latter, and my mother's lifelong commitment to the Longhorns and her conversations with her family in Texas about them bears this out. But as far as the show as a whole goes, it's a little weak for me. My father has a strange obsession with movies about teachers/coaches molding young (usually) boys into something great so I have seen every movie of this ilk, including Friday Night Lights, the movie, which had more, to use appropriate vernacular, intensity. We Are Marshall (saw it while visiting dad last week, of course!) had more tears. Remember the Titans had more moves. Rudy had more heart. And Hoosiers (yes, I know it's a different sport, but I'm making a point) just had more. So thumbs down on Friday Night Lights. (One point of note: one of the kids is Matt Damon's younger semi-albino brother. He's the spitting image, I tell you, right down to the voice. It's spooky! I keep looking for Casey Affleck.)
Next up, the second half of the list and all the really good shows.
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