Ultimate Case: The Wire

Browsing Instant Watch, I’ve found that I have effectively strip-mined the notable works available. I don’t think I could muster much to say about, say, Prison Break, no matter how much Netflix insists, yes, insists it is along the parameters of my test preference paradigm. Along the way of this project, some of my favorites came up. But three shows, three peerless shows, remained unmentioned. Before putting the project behind me, I’d like to discuss these three, shows which, to me, represent the height of the medium, the three to which I aspire in my own writing. The last, the definitive statement on living in urban America in the early days of the 21^st century. David Simon and Ed Burns’ The Wire.

Ultimate Case: The Prisoner

Browsing Instant Watch, I’ve found that I have effectively strip-mined the notable works available. I don’t think I could muster much to say about, say, The Catherine Tate Show, no matter how much Netflix insists, yes, insists it is along the parameters of my test preference paradigm. Along the way of this project, some of my favorites came up. But three shows, three peerless shows, remained unmentioned. Before putting the project behind me, I’d like to discuss these three, shows which, to me, represent the height of the medium, the three to which I aspire in my own writing. The second, a furious, skeptical tale of Cold War paranoia’s end result that speaks with terrible strength to our modern times. Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner. 

Ultimate Case: Deadwood

Browsing Instant Watch, I’ve found that I have effectively strip-mined the notable works available. I don’t think I could muster much to say about, say, Bones, no matter how much Netflix insists, yes, insists it is along the parameters of my test preference paradigm. Along the way, some of my favorites came up. But three shows, three peerless shows, remained unmentioned. Before putting the project behind me, I’d like to discuss these three, shows which, to me, represent the height of the medium, the three to which I aspire in my own writing. The first, a Western so Revisionist the genre needs no more revising. David Milch’s Deadwood.

Compliment Case 10: Breaking Bad

Originally, I’d conceived of two Complimentary Cases for Weeds, to reflect its difficulty in balancing its moods—anything-goes hilarity, and cutting satire. My choices were It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for the former, and The Riches for the latter. But that was before a show rocketed out of the sky like a meteor riding a lightning bolt and struck me dead between the eyes, despite having only watched the first, truncated season and the beginning of the second. It may be obvious, but the reply to Nancy Botwin is Walter White, and the compliment to Weeds can only be Breaking Bad.

Compliment Case 9: Farscape

It’s sad that Doctor Who feels to special and fresh by doing exactly what sci-fi is supposed to—show us something amazing. But it’s true—space-travelling shows, when they do come around, try to be cool these days. Rip off Starcraft, but only the human backstory. Don’t do anything outlandish, just put the pretty young cast in flight gear for the promo shot. Sends the signal that we’re for grown-ups. But, you know what, I’m a grown-up, and I still want my alien freaks, dammit. I want crazy aliens with blue skin and 8 foot long tongues, but maybe they can be reformed terrorists, or have unreasonable expectations for their estranged, mixed heritage sons. And maybe they can have freaky alien sex. Thank God for Farscape.

Case 9: Doctor Who

One of the United Kingdom’s great contributions to pop culture, The Doctor is nothing less than a modern icon. Can this geek ur-text with a 40 year history win me over, or will I be compelled to ex-ter-minate ex-ter-minate EX-TER-MINATE! 

Compliment Case 8: Cowboy Bebop

Aeon Flux was one of the earliest American animated shows to wear its anime influence on its sleeve—fluidity, sexuality, mature themes, cyber-punk, bargain-basement philosophizing. Culture, though, is a two-way street. What does it look like when the Japanese take from us?

Case 8: Aeon Flux

Back on my journey of the lamest self-discovery ever, we come to a herald of the American animation for grown-ups that I and so many dorm-dwellers have been ravenously devouring since the late 90's, Aeon Flux has some big hurdles between us, though. Did I clear them?

Compliment Case 7: The X-Files

I was a pretty precocious kid, but I don’t think in 1990, at the age of 11, I would have really appreciated a soap opera/50’s teen movie parody about an unconventional FBI agent investigating the murder of a prom queen/teen prostitute, and becoming increasingly enmeshed in her town’s gothic mythos. I’m sure I’d have said I liked it, and would have believed I did, but I don’t think I would have gotten it. Three years later, though, at 14, when a sci-fi show about an unconventional FBI agent and his smart, capable, super hot red-head partner investigating strange events covered up by shadowy government men connected to the highest levels of power, well, I got that immediately.

Counter Cases to #6: Chuck/24

A case of epic failure on the scale of Heroes demands not a compliment, but an alternative. In this case, two of them. The scenario is this: You have a story to tell, and you tell it, and tell it well. Your show isn’t done, however. So what do you do?

Case 6: Heroes

The first show to try for Lost's crown, and fail. Did it fail for just or unjust reasons?

Compliment Case 5: Terriers

A whip-smart, cleverly written SoCal noir about plucky low-rent PIs, that has struggled with low ratings. Yeah, obvious.

Case 5: Veronica Mars

When teen soap meets crime drama, which side carries the day? Or does it matter?

Compliment Case 4: The Venture Bros.

The current crown of the adult swim line-up, the world of Hank and Dean Venture, and their father, Dr. Thaddeus S. Venture, provides a stark warning to Avatar Aang.

Compliment Case 3: Community

Though not a ratings success, Arrested Development was part of a beachhead of single camera comedies, and Community is one of its successors.

Case 3: Arrested Development

This? Really?

Compliment Case 2: The Shield

We all love a good bad-ass, don’t we? Sure we do. Someone capable, always on top of things, unflappable, supremely confident. Dexter fits this mold in a very uncomfortable way—we like him for his bad-assness, but we shouldn’t. He’s part of an anti-hero wave that Tony Soprano began. Vic Mackey of The Shield is another.

Case 2: Dexter

Police procedurals. YAWN! But if you make the cop super-scientist a murderous psycho, will that spark my interest?

Case 1: Lost

Lost is the most successful sci-fi show since The X-Files, but notorious for it's dragged out, inconclusive mysteries with answers that may not satisfy. How'd it go?

The "You'll Love This" Project

“You don’t watch Show X?” I hear it often, and not necessarily in connection to something I obviously won’t like. Usually, it’s something I would like, or even, dare I say, love. I understand the impulse and the shock completely—the desire to share, the hope of finding a kindred spirit—and I’m a well-established, indeed even infamous prophet of my favorites, The Wire, Deadwood, Futurama, Farscape, and so on. But I’m only human, I couldn’t keep with everything. At least until Netflix brought streaming to my PS3.