Post by caitlen on Dec 27, 2008 7:07:16 GMT -5
TV's top cops
By Tim Goodman
San Francisco Chronicle
Dec 2008
It will take amazing police work to fill void left by 'Wire,' 'Shield'
We may look back on 2008 as the year when two of the greatest cop series ever ended their run: "The Wire" and "The Shield." The former is perhaps the best series that has ever been on television, regardless of genre, and the latter represented a landmark redirection of police mythology and a coming-of-age for basic-cable dramas.
In their absence, there's only one question to ask. What now?
It's entirely possible that a bar has been set that won't be equaled any time soon. The odds are certainly against another police procedural of their magnitude. "The Wire" was a work of art on multiple levels, from writing to acting to ideas and pitch-perfect execution of each of those elements. "The Shield" redefined brutality and corruption and situational ethics while giving the small screen a riveting anti-hero whom we witnessed via unconventional cinematic methods.
But the departure of these two gems doesn't just bring up the issue of what will replace them, it also puts the spotlight on what existing cop shows are left. And that's a discouraging examination.
Law & Order" now is television's truest cop series. A show that has only periodically been better than good and reliable, but has long been predictable and lackluster, is now at the head of the class.
If all we are left with is a discussion of which replaceable part in the "Law & Order" machine—"Special Victims Unit" or "Criminal Intent"—is as good as the original, then the argument lacks enough energy to even start.
Perhaps this is the place to restate a truism: We're living in a renaissance for TV dramas. The crime-and-punishment procedural is now being executed with gifted elan across all broadcast networks and even a couple of basic-cable channels.
Well-crafted, high-quality dramas are the norm. The only problem is that really good is not good enough in comparison to brilliant. "Law & Order" is not "The Wire." None of the variations on crime solving we find in the microscope-and-laboratory subgenre—meaning all the versions of "CSI" you can think of—matches "The Shield" in quality.
Now that the pacesetters are gone, look what we have on the schedule. First, there's the "Law & Order" franchise, including "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," all originally on NBC ("Criminal Intent" now airs on USA Network). Beyond the rote nature of this franchise, there's the issue of the original's emphasis on the legal ramifications of crime. A good cop show doesn't worry about the courtroom. It worries about solving murders, etc., then returning to the station to do more of the same.
"CSI" (plus " CSI: Miami," " CSI: NY," all on CBS) actually makes a more damning case for where the cop series has detoured. Through the history of television, three of the most dominant genres have been cops, lawyers and doctors. Because each has had so many iterations, there's always the urge to tweak them in ever more creative ways. An argument could be made that by the time television had seen the glorious heights of "The Wire" and "The Shield," the urge to follow the same path was too daunting. And so we get these subgenres such as "CSI," in which lab work tends to be the focus.
Or, in the multiple examples of CBS' " Cold Case," " Criminal Minds," " Without a Trace" and " Numb3rs," you see further specialization in the world of law enforcement. Dead cases. Brilliant profilers. Missing children. And math. Apparently the dress blues of the street cop became too boring, and writers in Hollywood became fascinated with the FBI, CIA and various other divisions (right up to Fox's counterterrorism unit on "24"). Where does this specialization end?
This season CBS—the network most addicted to closed-ended procedurals—offered " Eleventh Hour," a remake of a British series in which the FBI leans heavily (too heavily, perhaps) on the contributions of a "biophysicist and special science adviser." And it scored the fall's biggest hit with " The Mentalist," in which a former fake TV psychic who has impressive "razor-sharp skills of observation" helps put bad guys behind bars. And who does he do this for? The CBI—the California Bureau of Investigation.
Coming to television in less than a month is "Lie to Me" on Fox, in which a "deception expert"—who can "read clues embedded in the human face, body and voice to expose the truth behind the lies in criminal investigations"—has his services employed by the FBI.
If you start throwing sci-fi or paranormal elements into crime fighting, you can add shows such as Fox's " Fringe," NBC's " Medium" and CBS' " Ghost Whisperer" to this growing list. ABC's new fall series " Life on Mars" (another Brit import) is a wonderful addition and gets viewers back into a traditional precinct, which is a very welcome turn. But the core of the show is about time travel. And, one could argue, nostalgia. Both of those conceits somehow lessen the show's importance as a player in the traditional genre.
As we document these side excursions, let's not forget the extremely popular military versions of the genre in CBS' "NCIS" and " The Unit." The ratings are certainly there. There's quality. But they don't resonate or inspire.
All told, too much tinkering with a trusty formula. But it does bring up a valid question: Where is the street cop?
The good news is there are still detectives working relatively normal cases. The bad news is that a series such as "Life" on NBC is pretty mediocre. "Monk" on TNT is little more than "Murder, She Wrote" with obsessive-compulsive disorder. And " The Closer," also on TNT and cable's most popular series, is formulaic candy. There's nothing wrong with that other than the lack of creative ambition.
And really, that's the problem here. Other than British cop and detective series you might catch on BBC America, the offerings on American basic-cable channels are mostly average. The aforementioned broadcast procedurals are of a much higher quality, but they've all but abandoned the police-workplace situations of seminal series such as "Hill Street Blues," "Homicide: Life on the Street" and " NYPD Blue."
Those three are classics for a reason. From multiple moving cameras to overlapping dialogue to a more emotionally scarred force, "Hill Street Blues" changed the look, sound and character of the cop show. "Homicide" increased the grit, got more involved in both the arcane and humdrum workaday issues of police officers and detectives while also elevating the quality of the writing. "NYPD Blues" took yet another step in those directions and was able to add some soap while keeping the bubbles dirty.
The logical extension of the latter two series had to be played out on cable, where there were fewer content restrictions, allowing for a more adult, harder-edged tone, and where the ratings game wasn't in play.
The result? "The Wire" and "The Shield." As we inch closer to 2009 with both of those series having turned, in the parlance of "Homicide," from red to black, the questions at hand are these: When will we see the next great cop series? Where will it come from? How long will writers be enamored with more elite units within law enforcement instead of street cops and common detectives? Who will save us—or more charitably, elevate us—from "Law & Order"?
www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-cop-shows-1202dec02,0,3216000.story
By Tim Goodman
San Francisco Chronicle
Dec 2008
It will take amazing police work to fill void left by 'Wire,' 'Shield'
We may look back on 2008 as the year when two of the greatest cop series ever ended their run: "The Wire" and "The Shield." The former is perhaps the best series that has ever been on television, regardless of genre, and the latter represented a landmark redirection of police mythology and a coming-of-age for basic-cable dramas.
In their absence, there's only one question to ask. What now?
It's entirely possible that a bar has been set that won't be equaled any time soon. The odds are certainly against another police procedural of their magnitude. "The Wire" was a work of art on multiple levels, from writing to acting to ideas and pitch-perfect execution of each of those elements. "The Shield" redefined brutality and corruption and situational ethics while giving the small screen a riveting anti-hero whom we witnessed via unconventional cinematic methods.
But the departure of these two gems doesn't just bring up the issue of what will replace them, it also puts the spotlight on what existing cop shows are left. And that's a discouraging examination.
Law & Order" now is television's truest cop series. A show that has only periodically been better than good and reliable, but has long been predictable and lackluster, is now at the head of the class.
If all we are left with is a discussion of which replaceable part in the "Law & Order" machine—"Special Victims Unit" or "Criminal Intent"—is as good as the original, then the argument lacks enough energy to even start.
Perhaps this is the place to restate a truism: We're living in a renaissance for TV dramas. The crime-and-punishment procedural is now being executed with gifted elan across all broadcast networks and even a couple of basic-cable channels.
Well-crafted, high-quality dramas are the norm. The only problem is that really good is not good enough in comparison to brilliant. "Law & Order" is not "The Wire." None of the variations on crime solving we find in the microscope-and-laboratory subgenre—meaning all the versions of "CSI" you can think of—matches "The Shield" in quality.
Now that the pacesetters are gone, look what we have on the schedule. First, there's the "Law & Order" franchise, including "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," all originally on NBC ("Criminal Intent" now airs on USA Network). Beyond the rote nature of this franchise, there's the issue of the original's emphasis on the legal ramifications of crime. A good cop show doesn't worry about the courtroom. It worries about solving murders, etc., then returning to the station to do more of the same.
"CSI" (plus " CSI: Miami," " CSI: NY," all on CBS) actually makes a more damning case for where the cop series has detoured. Through the history of television, three of the most dominant genres have been cops, lawyers and doctors. Because each has had so many iterations, there's always the urge to tweak them in ever more creative ways. An argument could be made that by the time television had seen the glorious heights of "The Wire" and "The Shield," the urge to follow the same path was too daunting. And so we get these subgenres such as "CSI," in which lab work tends to be the focus.
Or, in the multiple examples of CBS' " Cold Case," " Criminal Minds," " Without a Trace" and " Numb3rs," you see further specialization in the world of law enforcement. Dead cases. Brilliant profilers. Missing children. And math. Apparently the dress blues of the street cop became too boring, and writers in Hollywood became fascinated with the FBI, CIA and various other divisions (right up to Fox's counterterrorism unit on "24"). Where does this specialization end?
This season CBS—the network most addicted to closed-ended procedurals—offered " Eleventh Hour," a remake of a British series in which the FBI leans heavily (too heavily, perhaps) on the contributions of a "biophysicist and special science adviser." And it scored the fall's biggest hit with " The Mentalist," in which a former fake TV psychic who has impressive "razor-sharp skills of observation" helps put bad guys behind bars. And who does he do this for? The CBI—the California Bureau of Investigation.
Coming to television in less than a month is "Lie to Me" on Fox, in which a "deception expert"—who can "read clues embedded in the human face, body and voice to expose the truth behind the lies in criminal investigations"—has his services employed by the FBI.
If you start throwing sci-fi or paranormal elements into crime fighting, you can add shows such as Fox's " Fringe," NBC's " Medium" and CBS' " Ghost Whisperer" to this growing list. ABC's new fall series " Life on Mars" (another Brit import) is a wonderful addition and gets viewers back into a traditional precinct, which is a very welcome turn. But the core of the show is about time travel. And, one could argue, nostalgia. Both of those conceits somehow lessen the show's importance as a player in the traditional genre.
As we document these side excursions, let's not forget the extremely popular military versions of the genre in CBS' "NCIS" and " The Unit." The ratings are certainly there. There's quality. But they don't resonate or inspire.
All told, too much tinkering with a trusty formula. But it does bring up a valid question: Where is the street cop?
The good news is there are still detectives working relatively normal cases. The bad news is that a series such as "Life" on NBC is pretty mediocre. "Monk" on TNT is little more than "Murder, She Wrote" with obsessive-compulsive disorder. And " The Closer," also on TNT and cable's most popular series, is formulaic candy. There's nothing wrong with that other than the lack of creative ambition.
And really, that's the problem here. Other than British cop and detective series you might catch on BBC America, the offerings on American basic-cable channels are mostly average. The aforementioned broadcast procedurals are of a much higher quality, but they've all but abandoned the police-workplace situations of seminal series such as "Hill Street Blues," "Homicide: Life on the Street" and " NYPD Blue."
Those three are classics for a reason. From multiple moving cameras to overlapping dialogue to a more emotionally scarred force, "Hill Street Blues" changed the look, sound and character of the cop show. "Homicide" increased the grit, got more involved in both the arcane and humdrum workaday issues of police officers and detectives while also elevating the quality of the writing. "NYPD Blues" took yet another step in those directions and was able to add some soap while keeping the bubbles dirty.
The logical extension of the latter two series had to be played out on cable, where there were fewer content restrictions, allowing for a more adult, harder-edged tone, and where the ratings game wasn't in play.
The result? "The Wire" and "The Shield." As we inch closer to 2009 with both of those series having turned, in the parlance of "Homicide," from red to black, the questions at hand are these: When will we see the next great cop series? Where will it come from? How long will writers be enamored with more elite units within law enforcement instead of street cops and common detectives? Who will save us—or more charitably, elevate us—from "Law & Order"?
www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-cop-shows-1202dec02,0,3216000.story