Why?

I'm still wondering why I spend £30 on The Shield and why I wasted 10 hours of my life this week watching it.

But more than that I'm wondering why Franka Potente wanted to be in this show?

She appeared for two episodes at the end of this series as the daughter of an Armenian gang boss. She was very good. She is a good actress. But I don't understand why she would want to do it. Perhaps her indie credentials from Run Lola Run are behind her since appearing in the Bourne films, but really they weren't as bad as this mindless dross.

I suppose the same question could be asked of Forest Whittaker and Glenn Close too.

I hope it paid well.

Reading the Detectives, Part 2

A year ago I wrote about my reading in the crime genre, which hadn’t really been much. Recently I’ve been reading a lot. In fact I’ve been reading manically as it is the only thing that seems to soothe the feelings of angst from which I’ve been suffering.

This reading has included some more crime novels. Firstly, I got back into the Rebus series and read the final two books in the set. I especially enjoyed End Music and thought it was a good farewell to Rebus, who I shall miss.

Next I borrowed a George P Pelecanos book from the OH, the first in his Washington series “The Big Blowdown”. It took me a little while to get into it, but I enjoyed. Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of the next instalment “King Suckerman”, can’t get a swap for it on “Read It Swap It” and my library doesn’t have it. I will probably crack soon and buy it but at the moment I’m loathe to pay full price for it.

Then I read "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" the book by Jeff Lindsay on which the television series was based. It was similar to the programme but there seemed to be one plot difference, so there was still some suspense there for me.

Last weekend I read “The Shape of Water” by Andrea Camillieri, the first of the Inspector Montalbano books which are set amongst the corrupt officials and gangster in Sicily. It had a decent plot but wasn’t too heavy-going. It is the perfect sort of read when I don’t want to think too much.

Yesterday, I started “The Return of the Dancing Master” by Henning Mankell, This time my reading has taken me to Sweden, and it’s a much darker journey than the one to Sicily. Its quite graphic, but I like the characters in it so far. The thing I don’t like about, and I realised is what puts me off a lot of crime novels, is the book itself. It is one of those squat books, that implies low-brow. At least it doesn’t have a black cover with blood-soaked dagger on it and the author’s name in a huge font. I like my crime books to look just like any other books, to look like they might be good literature too.

And the prize for the Worst Character goes to...

In a universe populated by gangs, drug barons, murderous cops and corrupt politicians, it is perhaps strange that the character I hate the most in The Shield is a nurse!

But it is true. The character that aggrieves me the most is Vic’s estranged wife, Corrine, an emergency room nurse. It isn’t so much that she is a despicable person, but that this is the worst written part in direly written show (a show that I’m still watching though).

If there is ever a scene in the hospital, you can guarantee that Corrine will be the nurse on duty. This is a mother of three children, yet she is always on duty whatever the emergency. Is Farmington’s hospital so bad that they can only employ one nurse?

This is what separates The Shield from something like The Wire. The Wire across its 5 seasons must have close to a hundred characters and even small parts are fully formed. The Shield may have a high body count, but beyond that it doesn’t seem to pay for extras and every plot involves the same few characters. So if there is any nursing to be done, Corrine Mackay is going to do it.

Last night though her character annoyed me beyond the omnipresent nursing. Last night she had a dream. It was a dream about Lem and burgers. She gathered together the Strike Team (her estranged hardman husband and two hardmen cops) to tell them about her dream. It was supposed to be symbolic, but it was the symbolism of the worst teenage poetry.

They would have been justified to have laughed in her face. I would have. In fact I did. Another night of laughing at The Shield (except for the bit were someone was whipped with chains - nobody laughed at that.)

Return of the Angry Baked Bean

The Olympics are over, there is still nothing on the television and I refuse to pay £40 for the first season of Ironside on DVD. This leaves me with no choice other than to buy the sixth season of The Shield instead.

And thus my love-hate relationship with The Shield continues.

Last night we watched two episodes of it. I laughed through most of the first episode, vowed to try to take it more seriously, then had to chide the OH for laughing.

Lem (the blonde one who looked more like a surfer than a cop) was killed at the end of the previous series. This one opens with Vic (the Angry Baked Bean) vowing to find his killer and “make them die in the same way….but slower”.

This is the standard of the dialogue throughout so it is no wonder we are struggling not to laugh.

Heaven

Unless it had magically appeared like the shop Mr Ben visits, I must have walked past it a hundred times before, but I didn't notice it until yesterday.

Murder One Bookshop on Charing Cross Road.

Perhaps its window display had previously been crime books so I hadn't paid it so much attention. But yesterday, the display was a glorious selection of DVDs.


I never thought a stack of Bergerac DVDs would make my pulse quicken. Actually, until yesterday I didn't know there were any Bergerac DVDs. And there at the bottom, Ironside Season 2, presumably a USA import.


So many detectives, but alas I've so little money. Next month I will return with my wages, but until then is there any harm in browsing?

Song of the Week: Echo and the Bunnymen "The Killing Moon"

Another tenuous choice - nowt to do with detectives, but it has the word "killing" in the title and was used in the film "Grosse Point Blank" which is about a hitman According to Wikipedia, Ian McCulloch told Smash Hits magazine that the song was about "a moon with a machine gun".

Actually it doesn't seem quite to tenuous a choice at all now.

Also I have a bit of thing for Ian McCulloch. I think its the arrogance.

Lessons learnt from Law & Order

The Hallmark Channel was on a Law and Order marathon on Saturday, showing episodes from the Benjamin Bratt era. I’ve not seen too many of these and actually I quite like the pairing of him and Jerry Orbach.

The first episode “Encore” was about a man who had been suspected of murdering his first wife and then his second wife was murdered too, with some similarities. The next episode, “Saviour” has a family man suspected of killing his wife and son, being labelled a “family annihilator”. The characters and conclusions in these episodes were very different, but in both suspicion fell on the husbands due to insurance policies on their wives. This made me think that it perhaps isn’t such a good idea to take insurance out on your wife because either a) it will fill you with an uncontrollable urge to murder her or b) she is bound to get murdered and you will automatically be the prime suspect.

Next up was an episode called “Deceit” about gay lawyers. Not one of the best episodes, but a chilling ending. Then there was “Atonement” about a murdered model, which featured Michale Imperioli (Christopher from the Sopranos who I find quite attractive even though he resembled Gonzo from the Muppets). The model was a shallow coke addict which led to her being murdered. This episode reminded me that all photographers are sleazy. I’ve yet to see an episode of any murder show featuring models and photographers where the photographer isn’t a callous sleaze.

Some detectives

When my OH hasn’t been watching cricket or the Olympics, I’ve watched a couple of detective shows in the last week.

I’ve seen a bit more of Medium. I’m surprised the couple have three children as I’ve never seen two people wear so many clothes to go to bed. Is it a family show so we can’t see man’s bare chest?

I attempted to watch a couple of episodes of SVU but they seemed to be particularly gruesome episodes (I know sex crimes are never a barrel of laughs, but these seemed particularly vicious) and I found myself not having the stomach for it.

Saturday morning, I enjoyed an episode of Randall and Hopkirk deceased, which featured a great moment when Randall was nearly drowned and for a moment he appeared next Hopkirk, wearing a white suit too.

I’ve also watched a bit of Law & Order too but that will be a separate post.

Quote of the Week: Woody Allen

Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television.

Woody Allen

Medium Dark

I think I'd got the wrong impression of Medium from the couple of episodes I'd seen on the BBC. I've seen a few episodes (or bits of episodes) on the Sci-Fi channel recently and it really is a lot darker than I'd thought. It has a real ambience of foreboding and makes me feel a bit uncomfortable at times.

The last couple of episodes I've seen weren't so much about her solving crimes but the difficulties of living with her special powers, her moral obligations and how it conflicts with family life.

It is a more interesting show than I had thought and I'm keen to watch more of it. The middle child, who may have the same powers, is so adorable and a brilliant little actress too.

Song of the Week: Bob Marley "I Shot the Sheriff"

I was in Spain the week before last and the poolside bar played a lot of Bob Marley. Not the political stuff (I've cleared a pub in the past by putting "Redemption Song" on the jukebox) but the more poppy ones. Which reminded me that I hadn't picked this obvious choice for my Song of the Week.

According to Wikipedia, Marley had wanted the lyrics to say "I shot the Police" but feared the reaction from the Government. The song didn't attract any controversy but there is an interesting article here about why it didn't when compared to "Cop Killer", although it does focus on the Eric Clapton version rather than the Marley original.

Obama loves The Wire

The final series of The Wire is starting in the UK, but we have already seen it on DVD obtained over the internet. I'm envious of people who still haven't finished watching it and whilst there is still joy to be had from re-watching it, nothing beats that first thrill of discovery.

As part of a feature on The Wire in the London Paper yesterday, they had a quote from Barack Obama, as The Wire is apparently his favourite television show. The quote was about his favourite character being Omar Little, the gay stick-up artist.

That’s not an endorsement. He’s not my favorite person, but he’s a fascinating
character

I can't imagine David Cameron watching The Wire, although I could imagine him claiming to watch Hollyoaks or Skins to appear to be "down with the kids".

I found this interesting feature about it here.

Cold Turkey

I've really not watched much at all in the last few weeks.

Apart from:
Two episodes of Medium that I fell asleep in before the end
Two episodes of the first series of Cold Case
An episode of Diagnosis Murder that I started to watch whilst in Spain, but it turned out it was one I'd already seen.

I'm away again this weekend so I doubt I'll get to watch anything for a while yet. Bother.

That man Lynley again

Having been disappointed by the final Inspector Lynley two weeks ago, I was confused by his return this Sunday. But it turned out to be a repeat.

I’ve no idea why the BBC choose to repeat this particularly episode on this day. It wasn’t a particularly good episode and it involved the death of a cricketer. Considering how exciting Kevin Pietersen was playing at the weekend, for once I think I’d have chosen cricket over detectives!

Song of the Week: Radiohead "Karma Police"

I'll confess here and now. I don't like Radiohead as much as everyone else does. For a while I was convinced they were the most over-rated band in the world.

But then I'll here certain songs, and realise that actually they are pretty good and I can see what all the fuss is about. "Fake Plastic Trees" is my favourite Radiohead song, but even I can't pretend that it is detective related, so instead, here is my second or third favourite, "Karma Police".

Nothing but Ironside

Between going away for work, the Apprentice final and the football, I haven't had much time for detectives this week. That, and the fact that the schedules still seem pretty empty of crime shows.

Except for Ironside on ITV3 early in the morning.

Yesterday, I actually got up at 6.30 to join the Ironside-athon from the beginning. Five episodes (although I only ended up watching three as it turned out I'd already seen the last two). Then another three this morning, although I only got up in time for the latter two. There are another two episodes on in the small hours and if I didn't need sleep I'd be tempted.

Whilst I appreciate the extra Ironside, there doesn't seem to be any logic in the scheduling with episodes now skipping about between series without reason. I prefer the earlier series with Eve. I don't mind Fran so much, but I'm not keen on the later episodes device of showing you what is going to happen in the episode before it starts (it was a common device, but not one I like). Also everyone's hair is bigger in the later shows. Mark has a huge afro and mustache, Ironside looks like he's had a blow-dry and even Ed has more hair. Because the fashions are so obviously from the Seventies in these episodes, they look more dated than the Sixties' episodes where the main characters were more staid looking.

The topics covered in this weekend's episodes included; defection from the Soviet Union, vigilantes, witchcraft, and remorse over shooting a young armed robber, but the best episode was one where Ed had to bring a hitman back to San Francisco on a flight from Chicago. More screen time from the delectable Don Galloway is always welcome (he is surely the best-looking fictional policeman ever), but it was also another beautifully constructed episode. There was an urgency to get the hitman back to San Francisco as Ironside believed whoever hired him would now in turn want him killed. Sure enough this turns out to be true and Ed's task is complicated when the flight is re-directed to Reno and he is left to protect the prisoner, never really being sure who he can trust. Actually, the twist in the tale was pretty obvious but it was still well worked and there was more suspense than in your average show.

Unfortunately, this Ironside-fest won't last. It continues for the next few days, but will be over before next weekend, when there is no more Ironside at all. Next up it looks like a run on The Rockford files.

Cold Case, Cold Case, Cold Case

Today, I wasn't watching "Waking the Dead" nor "New Tricks", but that other show about cold cases, the imaginatively titled "Cold Case".

I've seen an episode or two of it before, but this afternoon I came across a new "on demand" channel that included Season 4 of Cold Case.

As I didn't have much else to do (I'd already been to the shops, repotted my tomatoes, read the newspaper and done lots of walking) I watched three episodes of it on the trot.

The first case involved high school kids in a mall massacre, the second a female Iraq war veteran and the third an urban miner. Each time the team interviewed several potential suspects, before eventually find their culprit, who each time was someone they'd already interviewed earlier.

I'm pleased I've found this series as there doesn't seem to be much else on at the moment and it is easily watchable. As the fact that I've just watched three episodes in one session illustrates.

Out with Whimper, Not a Bang: Inspector Lynley

I wasn't going to bother Inspector Lynley after the previous week's dull episode, but then I read that this was the final one. I felt compelled to watch it on the playback service. I couldn't let it finish without knowing what happened in the end.

The episode was called "Know Thine Enemy" and it involved abduction, rape and power games between husband and wife. It was mile better than the previous episode, but somehow I couldn't help feel that I'd seen it all before, probably on Law & Order SVU.

I had wondered how it would end, the show more than the actual plot. Before watching it I wondered if he might die, but as the episode progressed I thought being fired or resigning would be more likely. Then it just ended. They solved the case, justice would be served and he gave some reassuring words to Havers.

I feel cheated. I want closure as much as an American in therapy. Apparently, the BBC were getting rid of it to clear space in their schedules, although I shudder to think what new reality television torture that might be.

How TV Changed Cops

I can’t remember the last time I watched anything on Channel 4, so I was intrigued to find a documentary there last night of particular interest to this blog. It was the first in a new series on How TV Changed Britain and this episode was about cop shows.

It started with a section on Life on Mars and how many people believe a return to the Gene Hunt style of policing is what this country needs. From there, it went back through the history of the depiction of police on British television, how that affected the public’s perception of the police and what the police themselves thought of each show.

It wasn’t anything particularly intellectual and some of it wasn’t particularly accurate even (incorrectly saying Gene Hunt policed Hyde, calling Cracker a policeman and claiming Silent Witness was responsible for the rise in interest in forensics, which surely must be more down to CSI?). But it was still an interesting little history of British police shows.

Whilst Dixon of Dock Green obviously looks tame and idealistic by today’s standards, it did briefly raise an interesting point that I’d never really considered before relating to class. Being a police officer back then was very much a working class occupation and the standard portrayal of cops was largely comic, showing them as bungling. Dixon was the first wholly positive portrayal of this working class type, so although it doesn’t look particularly exceptional now, it was quite a change back then. This hadn’t occurred to me before but thinking just of Agatha Christie plots, the amateur detective (Poirot or Miss Marple) is an upper-class amateur, always getting on up on the working class police man. I would have liked the documentary to have explored this more, but it didn’t.

I also found out about a programme I’d never heard of before but that goes by the same name as later US show, Law and Order! The UK Law and Order was from the 1970s and was controversial in showing wide-spread police corruption. The real police hated it and demanded the BBC withdraw it, which they didn’t and then real life cases of corruption hit the headlines. This programme claimed that the show hit such a nerve that it forced the police to look internally and make changes.

Another interesting artefact was Police, a fly-on-wall documentary series with Thames Valley Police, again from the BBC. The police were obviously confident that they could be held up to close scrutiny and the show was initially popular with police and public alike. Then there came an episode about a rape where the interview technique the victim was subjected to was horrific - questions about whether she was on the game or (bizarrely) whether her periods were normal. This rightly caused outrage and apparently led to the police changing how they dealt with rape reports.

It was good to see the positive impact that television shows have had in the past, outside of just providing entertainment. Sadly, I feel this is happening less and less as the BBC is more concerned these days with chasing viewer figures than changing society.

Career Cases

Some actors' whole careers are defined by one role. Peter Falk has played other parts, but he is Columbo. Richard Belzer is John Munch, in a record breaking number of programmes. Others are celebrated for two roles; John Thaw was Jack Regan in The Sweeney then Morse and Raymond Burr was just as much Perry Mason as he was Ironside.

As I've mentioned before I love it when someone famous from one show turns up in another. But then there are those minor players who have appeared in a staggering number shows.

Take Richard Anderson, who appear as the father of drug-using niece in today's Ironside. He may have found success in the Bionic Woman and Six Million Dollar Man series, but his crime show CV comprises:

• Columbo
• Hawaii 5-0
• The Streets of San Francisco
• Perry Mason
• Barnaby Jones
• Charlie's Angels
• Nero Wolfe
• Knight Rider
• A Team
• Hardcastle and McCormick
• Simon & Simon
• Murder She Wrote
• and five episodes of Ironside, each time as a different character.

Then there is Robert Lipton, who played the would-be murderer in the episode "One Hour to Kill". He has appeared in the following:

• The D.A.
• The Mod Squad
• Police Story
• 21 Jump Street
• Murder She Wrote (in three episodes as different characters)
• LA Law
• The District
• Without a Trace
• and two episodes of Ironside (again as different characters)

Just by following the careers of these minor characters, I could fill up my schedule for months (if only I had access to all those old shows).