Jun 20, 2008 0
Studio 60 and other lost shows.
How did I miss this show!?
Honestly, I was reading Matthew Perry’s page on wikipedia and saw that he was in this show, then I vaguely remembered it being advertised on Channel 5 or E4 or something and that I thought that it looked interesting, but in my mind the “show within a show” idea was still bruised from that ITV disaster Echo Beach (remember that? no? the only reason I do is because it featured Echo Beach – the song – as it’s theme) so I gave it a miss.
After reading about it I did what any internet literate 20 something does with TV shows these days and I downloaded a couple of episodes. I was completely hooked within 10 minutes of the first episode. As soon as the show within a shows initial host Wes starts his anti-network rant I knew I wanted to keep watching. The characters are engaging, the script is witty and intelligent and the casting is spot on, it doesn’t pull any punches politically, socially or morally (a recovering coke user taking the moral high ground over someone who got a drunk driving charge is not something you hear everyday) and so in the now proud tradition of US television, it was cancelled after it’s first season.
Awesome.
It’s infuriating that so many truly intelligent or genuinely funny shows that hail from the other side of the pond are cancelled – because there have been loads in recent years. Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me (both Bryan Fuller creations), Firefly and Jericho and there are others that I can’t think of right now because it’s half past one in the morning. They challenge conceptions and chose the path less travelled with their stories and got canned as a result.
And yes, I know both Dead Like Me and Jericho actually got two seasons, but it was only after a concerted effort on the part of the viewers that Jericho was able to see the light of day again. As for Dead Like Me, I just really think it was cancelled before it’s time.
My point is this: Yes I know they’re American shows, produced for American audiences with American money so that American ads can me sold but damn it if you’re going to dare to be different, sometimes you need to take a little time and run with it for more than 4 eps (Wonderfalls), let the creator fulfill their creative image (Dead Like Me), show the damn episodes in order (Firefly) or – and I know this is an unpopular view stateside – be prepared to have a show there the US gets it’s arse well and truly kicked…and not by a band of Muslim extremists with an axe to grind but by some home grown greedy sonsofbitches who care about the almighty greenback. (Jericho)
If you can’t stomach the idea of intelligent TV then stop trying to make it and leave it to nations who’s cultural identities are not dependent entirely on how much they’re worth financially.
I’m finished now, you can do back to watching whatever formulaic reality TV crap is popular this week.
