Science Fiction Authors Say Smart Things: Sagan on TV
Over on his blog science fiction writer Nick Sagan (author of fun books Idlewild, Edenborn, and forthcoming Everfree) has a post about his favourite TV shows.
Now, while all five shows he lists are good shows, his numbers 5, 4, 3, and 2 would not make my list of “all time best” shows. (How can you make a list of all time best shows and not include Sandbaggers?)
However, we agree on what the all time best television show ever is, which means that Sagan is saying smart things. (Yes, I think that agreeing with me in matters of subjective taste is a sign of raw intelligence. Check out the ego on me.)
1: Cracker (1993-1996)
First off, do not confuse this amazing U.K. show with the ill-fated U.S. show of the same name. This is the original Cracker, starring Robbie Coltrane. If you only know Coltrane as Hagrid from the Harry Potter films, you really haven’t seen what the man can do. This is the role that won him three BAFTA awards–1994, 1995 & 1996–for best actor in a TV series. He plays Eddie “Fitz” Fitzgerald, expert in criminal behavior. Fitz cracks cases, punctures alibis and catches criminals–a well-honed, natural talent, which almost makes up for his vast assortment of character flaws.Many shows are centered around detectives profiling violent criminals, getting into the mind of serial killers, rapists, etc. Cracker is the show those shows aspire to be. The cast deserves massive credit, but it’s the storytelling that’s off the scale. Jimmy McGovern is an incredible talent, something of a magician as far as I’m concerned.
Kira
April 5th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Agreed, Cracker was top-notch. Besides Robbie Coltrane, it also introduced me to Christopher Eccleston. (And Robert Carlyle, too.)
And it’s good to see that The Shield is on his list. I don’t know why more people aren’t watching that show.
April 5th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
I often find myself playing “spot the Cracker alum” when watching almost anything that has British actors:
“Hey, that whore in From Hell–the one that was the pig farmer’s wife in Waking Ned Devine?–she was one of the criminals in Cracker”.
“Hey, check it out: Harry Potter’s mum is Panhandle!” (or, alternately, when watching Gosford Park: “Oi!, that ginger with the flapper hair–it’s Panhandle!”)
“Oh my God! Erastes Fulmen is Jimmy Beck with hair!”
Eccleston’s turn as The Doctor was weird to me because I kept expecting him to make a dying declaration: “this is evidence”.
I like The Shield (although I am currently only up to the end of S3–I’ve got the S4 box sitting here waiting for me to have some time, too) but I’m fairly certain it wouldn’t make it into my top five. It has a structural flaw in that Vic’s character, as you see it over the first few seasons, is inconsistent with his shocking action in the first episode.
Anyway, there are certainly other shows, even if we restrict ourselves to currently running dramatic shows, that I would rank higher. Off the top of my head I would say Deadwood, The Wire, and Huff for certain.
And if you’re doing all time best? Well, there are certainly a lot of other contenders there too, not least of which is the previously mentioned Sandbaggers.
April 6th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
It’s true, the worst thing Vic ever does is what we see him do in the first episode. I assume that was a deliberate decision to draw viewers in, to shock them out of thinking the show was simply “Dirty Harry” turned into a TV series. I think it was successful in those terms (it certainly made me sit up and take notice). Plus, I don’t think it was so big an inconsistency as to constitute a flaw with the series overall.
In the first season, Vic and the Strike Team were confident that they could get away with anything, but things changed. In the second season, they were definitely on the defensive, being pushed back on from all sides, and that started a trend which has continued through the rest of the series. Vic and the others have been forced to realize what they can’t get away with, because of both external and internal forces. And their previous excesses really come back to haunt them in the fifth season. I think the series tagline “Conscience is a killer” reverberates throughout the show.
I haven’t seen Huff, but I’m definitely a fan of Deadwood and The Wire. I personally don’t feel comfortable picking a top five list of TV shows, because I think that involves unfair comparisons even with a category. (Cable series have a lot more freedom than network series, for example, and obviously different shows have different goals.)