It really does. For each one of the handful of shows that I watch on a regular basis, there's a vast wasteland of bullshit out there on the dial. For every Smallville, there's a 7th Heaven. For every Veronica Mars, there's an OC. For every Bones, there's a CSI: Hoboken. For every Lost, there's a Survivor 47: Guam. And for every one of the handful of shows that I enjoy that have played out their run in its entirety, there's a fuck-ton of great shows that have been mercilessly cut down in their prime.
I could run down the list of fantastic shows that Fox alone has cancelled, but we could be here a while. Instead, I'll talk a bit about two of Fox's newest shows that I really like, but probably aren't going to make it into their sophomore years.
1. Prison Break. Sure, the plot holes are big enough to drive a truck through, but who gives a shit? It's fucking entertaining, as long as you don't think about it logically. And it was doing real well for Fox on Monday nights. So what do they do? 13 episodes in, it's done until March. That's 4 months with no new episodes. 4 months? Americans would forget about their own kids if they didn't see them in 4 months, they're damn sure going to forget about a TV show. Why does Prison Break have to go on a 4 month long hiatus? So Fox can make room for "Ice Skating with the Stars."
2. Bones. Certainly the best crime drama I've seen, and that's not just because David Boreanaz is in it. Fox recognizes that they've got a hit with this show, but what are they doing? After a month long "winter hiatus" coming up at the end of this month, they're moving it from a prime spot Tuesdays at 8 to a murderous slot on Wednesdays at 9. Why is Wednesdays at 9 murderous? Because that's Lost's timeslot, not to mention Veronica Mars, who's no lightweight. And why, pray tell, would Fox do this? To make room for American Idol, that's why. American Idol has to take up two, count em, two prime slots: Tuesday and Wednesday at 8, one hour for performances, and one hour for results. I'll give you one guess why they're not putting the results show on Wednesday at 9, like they used to. That's right, so it doesn't go up against Lost. As if enough people didn't already get the results straight from the internet, they want to give everybody the opportunity to watch it on TV for a whole fucking hour, and let Bones deal with Lost.
Fan-fucking-tastic, Fox. Let me get this straight: you're intentionally killing (or at least, throwing to the dogs) two breakout hit shows so you can....put on more reality TV? People love the American Idol, they gotta have their Idol. But what the fuck is Ice Skating with the Stars? Who the hell watches this horseshit? I certainly don't. And why the hell is Survivor still on? I don't fucking care if it's not a Fox show. Did you know that piece of excrement is in its 11th season? It premiered in 2000, and has never not been on TV since for more than a 5 month stretch of time. That's enough proof for me that there is no god.
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5 comments:
Bones is the best crime drama you've seen?
I guess you're too young to have seen Hill Street Blues. Law & Order? CSI?
Yeah, sure, both of those have spawned inumerable spin-offs but that's a rant of a different color.
That's not to say I don't like Bones or that it doesn't have potential to be pretty good. But it has to work a little harder for me to consider among "the best I've seen."
Nope, nope, and nope. Never even heard of Hill Street Blues. And the other two don't look even remotely interesting, so I've never bothered to watch an episode.
No, I take that back. I was flipping through channels once and landed on Law & Order. I think it was the original, anyway. There was some Islamic guy on the stand talking about Allah and why he killed his girlfriend or something (this had to have been shortly after 9/11), and I changed the channel.
As for CSI, I read a review that mentioned something about the removal of a fetus from a badly charred corpse. No thanks.
Not only do the other crime dramas on TV not interest me, it's almost as if they're trying to piss me off. I saw an advertisement a few weeks ago for one of them (maybe it was Law & Order: SUV, or CSI: Montana, it doesn't really matter), with that deep voice announcer guy who says, "Ripped from the headlines. Kids are playing violent video games. On America's streets." I almost kicked my television screen in.
So yeah, Bones is the best crime drama I've ever seen.
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It probably looks dated by today's standard, but back in the day Hill Street Blues was the cop show to watch. According to the link, HSB was something of the Buffy of it's day. (Loosely.) It wasn't a big ratings grabber but the audience was very loyal.
Another crime drama that only a select few seemed to enjoy was Homicide: Life on the Street. I think that's available on DVD and I personally recommend it. (Not every single show, but in general.)
I won't defend the spin off CSI shows (New York and Miami) as I think they're crap. The original is still entertaining, most of the time. I enjoy the nuts and bolts of what they do, even if they're more like Quincy (the original medical examiner's drama) in that they're not just taking bodies apart, but taking part in other parts of the investigation which smacks of unrealism personally. But I forgive it.
The thing I don't like about all of the Law & Order shows is that it's a bit saturating. I find they all have their own value in the spectrum, even though combined they take up a lot of television time. (But who cares? Just about every other damn show out there is crap.) I like Law & Order because it gives an overview of the whole proceeding. Complete with closed door deals and what not. For the most part, you'll find every view portrayed on a given subject. There are the namby pamby liberals and the hard nosed conservatives. I can't honestly speak to the even handedness of the views, but they're there.
I occassionally watch SVU because it focuses more on the police work of a case. Same goes for Criminal Intent. But I like CI because Vincent D'Onofrio makes an interesting character. Kind of a cross between Columbo and Monk, but an individual character from both.
But, finally, there's no accounting for taste. I do like Bones and while I don't believe it has legs, I hope that it does continue. It does have the potential to carve its own niche in the criminal investigation genre. Hopefully it can do that without going too Dawson on us.
The main thing is that the whole cop show/crime drama genre just doesn't appeal to me. Whether it be Hill Street Blues, In the Heat of the Night, 21 Jump Street, LA Law, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Homicide, or CSI, they don't say to me, "This is a show you must watch."
In fact, the only shows in that genre that did interest me are The Inside and Bones, mostly because of their connections to the Joss-verse, not the subject matter.
That said, I might have to check out Homicide since it gets your personal recommendation. Unless I find out that was the one with that stupid fucking "blame video games" plotline.
Shit, man, shows you how much I pay attention to these cop shows. Homicide's been off the air for 6 years. D'oh!
But some checking at TV.com turned up that it was CSI: Miami that did that fucking video game violence episode. So fuck you, CSI: Miami.
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