I love television. I think even more than movies, because I
rarely go and see movies anymore. I will wait for them to come to VUDU or
Netflix. And I won’t deny that over the years there has been some truly amazing
television both of the weekly series and mini-series variety. But, it seems to
me that in the last 5 to 8 years, I have noticed a Renaissance of sorts
happening on the small screen. There seems to be a glut of excellent television
the like I have never quite seen before. It started with HBO and Showtime
realizing that they can do original programming as good if not better than its
commercial counterparts, mainly because they didn’t have to watch their
language or nudity. Out of this came shows like Deadwood, The Sopranos,
Six-Feet Under, etc…This was only the beginning though once it was realized
what this format could do. I didn’t
watch many of these shows when they were on, but they were universally praised
and earned lots of awards. For me, the cable shows first grabbed my attention
with the introduction in 2006 of the lovable serial killer Dexter on Showtime. Wow,
I loved this show and never missed an episode. Then 2008 rolled around and I
was enthralled all over again with the adventures of a telepathic waitress and
the vampire who loved her in True Blood. For a while, I could not get enough of
this series and would watch the DVD’s on loop. It is not as good as it once was
but the first 2 seasons are fan-fucking-tastic!! So much so that I will
continue to watch and find myself looking forward to the next season coming up
here in just a couple of months. Then it seemed that everywhere I looked there
were these amazing shows. Mad Men is one of the most compelling dramas I’ve
ever had the good fortune to watch. This season has taken such a dark and
discordant turn that watching it makes me feel off-kilter and uneasy although
this show is not violent. It is just that well-written that it strikes these
internal chords that can leave you breathless and thinking about it long after
it is over. Network television threw in Fringe, who owes a serious debt to The
X-Files, but has found its own voice and every season shocks and amazes me and
seriously, somebody give John Noble an award already.
