Top 5: TV Shows (after The Wire)…
If you’ve not yet recovered from finishing the final series of The Wire, Gentry have come up with the best known cure… more TV!
For those of us who are suffering serious pangs of withdrawal now that the last DVD of The Wire has been watched, the last commentary listened to, and the final effusive eulogies read about this monumental TV series – there is hope. There are a number of other entertaining, challenging TV drama series out there that have a great deal to offer the post-Wire viewer in recovery… they may not surpass the achievements of David Simon’s deliciously Dickensian gander through the Baltimore underworld, but they’re the very best of the rest.
The Wire helped change modern perceptions of what TV can be and do. It helped slay TV snobbery, as critics and reluctant viewers alike finally realized the uniquely engrossing powers of the contemporary serial narrative.
So Gentry have put together your rehabilitating course of viewing. The Sopranos has been omitted for the reason that everyone has seen it by now. Once you’ve worked your way through this lot, you might not even remember the names McNulty, Omar and Prop Joe…
5. FRINGE
The latest creation from the fertile mind of Lost and Cloverfield creator JJ Abrams, Fringe is best described as “X-Files meets The Twilight Zone”. Starring the widely underappreciated Joshua Jackson, the schlocky sense of alien trickery and conspiracy makes for an inventive and compelling series. Much fun.
4. STATE OF PLAY
Probably the most thrilling British TV show of the last ten years. This gripping drama, focusing on conspiracy and murder within Parliament, is somewhat reminiscent of All the President’s Men. With a stellar cast (John Simm, Bill Nighy, David Morrissey, James McAvoy, Kelly Macdonald) – not to mention expert plotting from Shameless genius Paul Abbott – it’s a genuinely masterful piece of work. Soon to be a film starring Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe.
3. FIREFLY
From the popular culture doyen Joss Whedon (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer), Firefly is a brilliant mix of science-fiction and wild-western that follows the exploits of a small freighter crew through the badlands of the future. Led by the gorgeously charismatic Nathan Fillion, the show manages the hardest-of-all trick of being both hilarious and frightening in equal measure. It spawned the marvelous feature film Serenity in 2005.
2. MAD MEN
Deliciously dry and perfectly poised, Mad Men is the slow burning masterpiece that might one day even surpass The Wire in the amount of critical drool it has inspired. Centred firmly around the battle of the sexes and the gender issues of the 50’s, the sumptuous dialogue, period design and inherently fascinating world of the Madison Avenue advertising universe makes this a stone cold marvel.
1. EDGE OF DARKNESS
This brilliant, paranoid, masterpiece from the BBC is, in my book, right up there with The Wire as one of the all time great pieces of dramatic work across film, literature or television. Think of this wonderful series as a British version of The Parallax View and you’re part of the way toward understanding how ingenious this anxiety-ridden nuclear conspiracy drama really is. Produced in 1985, the BBC has never again reached the highs achieved here. Absolutely essential viewing.
Honourable mentions have to also go to Joss Whedon’s new venture, Dollhouse; the brilliant first two series of Deadwood; and the re-issue of oddball futuristic thriller Wild Palms…
Can you think of any better post-Wire TV show remedies? Let us know…
Paolo Cabrelli
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