Brace yourselves: The new American network TV season is filled with stories of dread and fear, but it's not all anxiety, all the time. Some of it is enormous fun.
U.S. network TV (the Canadian TV season, which starts later, will be surveyed at that time) is at once fixed and extremely elastic. It is fixed in its formats -- cop shows, lawyer shows, medical dramas, workplace sitcoms and family-based sitcoms. At the same time, competition from cable and the success of two hard-to-categorize series, Desperate Housewives and Lost, have forced the networks to be more creative in devising genre-bending concepts to hook viewers.
This season, there are new series that qualify as cop shows, medical shows and legal dramas but in almost every case, the shows don't look, sound or feel like a traditional drama of the genre. The elasticity of American TV allows it respond quickly to changes in the American culture, to new anxieties, worries and obsessions -- for example, to the war in Iraq, which cable channel Showtime has taken on in the grim army series Over There.
The truly dominant genre this season is the paranoid thriller. Three of the four major networks will air new dramas about the United States under attack from outside forces. ABC's Invasion, CBS's Threshold and NBC's Surface are about aliens -- or something icky from another sphere -- invading Planet Earth. Of course, "Earth" means the United States, so these shows are really about the U.S. under attack.
This is hardly surprising. The U.S. feels that it is, in the most authentic manner, under attack. Terrorists attacked it once and it could happen again. Travel to the U.S. these days and anyone can see the new level of anxiety and fear.
Just as the 1950s, that era of Cold War paranoia about communism and Soviet spies, produced a rash of movies about "other" beings -- Martians and zombies, mostly -- this period of fear is producing its own rash of TV dramas that reflect War on Terror paranoia. Just as "Martian" equalled "Russian" in those movies, the current threatening creatures from some other place equal terrorists. Interestingly, in all three network dramas about invasion fears, the invaders lurk beneath the water. They are not far away in space, waiting to invade. Instead they are close by, close to home and more insidious.
Of the three, Invasion is by far the most subtle and incisive about what fear does to family and community. It is written and created by the least likely figure -- ex-Hardy Boy Shaun Cassidy. But the former teen idol has emerged as one of the most thoughtful and literary-minded TV writers. Years ago, Cassidy decided to give himself the university education he had missed and devoted his time to reading his way through Columbia University's "Great Book" course. It shows in everything he has created for television, from the remarkable American Gothic series to this new series.
Invasion is about a small community and a family living through the aftermath of a hurricane and an invasion by strange, malicious forces. It's about the U.S. after 9/11, and dealing with daily fears and a combative, oppressive authority.
At a press conference in L.A. last month, Cassidy said of Invasion. "We're living in a society where a lot of things are being taken away from us for our own protection. There's divisiveness -- very, very clearly drawn lines of divisiveness in the world, and who's an alien is kind of a subjective thing.
"I'm not making a political statement with the show, but it is certainly in the air and it's in my head and my heart so it's going to come out on the page."
While Cassidy will acknowledge a political and social context, few other creators will do the same. Nobody wants to tell viewers that the show is an allegory. But that is what's going on.
Even those shows that are not obviously about predatory "others," are about anxiety. Several cop shows present a United States in which criminals lurk everywhere and are especially vicious and demonic. Some are right-wing fantasies about lax, liberal laws allowing the most dangerous criminals to prey on nice, decent families. On these shows, women who are single and sexually active usually come to a very bad end.
Several shows about cops or aliens are expertly made -- gripping, slick and with compelling characters. As entertainment, they're cathartic. But, over all, this TV season is about everything the American audience fears and loathes. All that remains is to see what shows the audience adores.
Eight essential shows to watch Prison Break (Fox, Global, starts Monday) is about a guy who goes to prison to get his brother out. He's got the blueprint of the prison's design tattooed on his body. That's the gist. Fast-paced, kinetic, moody and filled with characters either brutal or beatific, it grabs you by the throat and takes you on a wild ride. Michael (Wentworth Miller) is the hero. His brother, Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), is on death row and scheduled to die in a few months. As Michael sees it, Lincoln has been framed for the murder of the brother of the vice-president of the United States. There's been a cover-up and, in some way, the Catholic Church is involved. The prison setting is dangerous and filled with foreboding. The warden (played by Stacy Keach, who did time in prison in England in the 1980s) is well-meaning but wary of Michael and Lincoln. Heavily promoted by Fox, the series gets a jump-start by launching this week. With little else new to watch, it could get viewers instantly hooked.
Rome (TMN, Movie Central, starts tomorrow) is lavishly made, vigorously compelling, violent and sexy. It's all about ancient Rome and the rise to power of Julius Caesar. Ciaran Hinds plays Caesar as a cunning, ruthless mob boss, a guy who knows how to use his goons and keep several women competing for his attention. Cleverly, it works on several levels -- as a serious study of political power and as a soap opera about family life, marriage and romance. Rome is big, broad and bloody, but superbly calculated and paced to keep your attention.
My Name Is Earl (CH, NBC, starts Sept. 20) is the freshest sitcom of the new season. It has the feel of a country-music song -- a jaunty cautionary tale. Earl (Jason Lee) is a low-life who has treated most everyone with contempt. He's a bully, a boozer and a thief. One day, Earl scratches an instant-win lottery ticket and wins big. Then bad things happen. Earl decides to cure his bad luck by fixing all the wrongs he's done. It's a long list. Jason Lee is exceptionally engaging here as a lovable dope, surrounded by a motley crew of hosers.
The Closer (Global, starts Sept. 21) was made for cable channel TNT in the U.S. and it shows. Aimed more at grown-ups than a network drama usually is, it's a marvellous vehicle for Kyra Sedgwick, who dominates. She plays Brenda, an expert interviewer, famous for closing cases by extracting confessions. She's brought in to join an elite L.A. homicide squad. Brenda's a wacky Southern belle type and deeply distrusted by her new colleagues. There is also a hint of an old relationship with her new boss, played by J. K. Simmons from Oz. The crime stories are mundane in The Closer but Brenda is one hell of a mesmerizing character and Sedgwick is gloriously loose and lovely as a mature, assured manipulator.
Invasion (ABC, CTV, starts Sept. 21) is easily the best of the alien-invasion shows. When another hurricane hits Florida, in one small community things get very weird. Strange lights appear in the water. Only a young child senses the changes. A mother (Kari Matchett) goes missing and is found, naked, but with no memory of what happened. The town sheriff (William Fichtner, who is great) seems less benign than he used to be. Its ominousness is very nicely developed without pandering to the audience.
Everybody Hates Chris (UPN/Chum stations, starts Sept. 22) is the season's cutest comedy. Narrated by and based on the childhood of Chris Rock, it has a little Chris (Tyler Williams) coping with demanding parents, siblings and a school that's too far away from home. The picture of family life is sweet without being sugary and little Chris is one quick-witted kid.
Over There (History Television, starts Sept. 6) is one of the most talked-about and heavily scrutinized American dramas in years. It's Steven Bochco's series about a unit of American soldiers on duty in the current Iraq conflict. Most are raw young men and women who haven't a clue about what they've landed in. Bochco (who created Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue) has said the show is "resolutely non-political" but in focusing on the horror of the day-to-day duties of the soldiers, the series is definitely political. The Iraq we see is a terrifying place. The soldiers have failed to bring peace and stability. Nothing is glossed over in the depiction of the horror of war. Sometimes the graphic images are hard to watch. This is about the Iraq war, but asks the question "why" with subtlety.
Commander in Chief (ABC, CTV, starts Sept. 27) is more than The West Wing with a woman as U.S. president. For a start, it's better lit, and Geena Davis is the best-looking fictional character in the White House since Rob Lowe. And it's not so much about Democrats and Republicans, because Mackenzie Allen (Davis) is an Independent and she becomes president after the death of the man who made her his running mate as a gimmick. Nobody seems to want her in office, but she's one determined woman. That's the point. Her great enemy is the Speaker of the House (Donald Sutherland), a man who is sly and vicious. Sutherland almost steals the entire show in the pilot episode. He adds muscle to a flabby drama. If it weren't for Davis's spectacular lipstick, it would be his domain.
Seven shows worth a glance
Bones (Fox, Global, starts Sept. 13) is CSI-ish. Apparently inspired by the work of forensic anthropologist and novelist Kathy Reichs, it's about Temperance (Emily Deschanel), who studies bones at the Jeffersonian Institution and is brilliant. The cops and other law-enforcement types use her skills often, especially if a victim's remains are so badly decomposed or burned that the cops are flummoxed. Deschanel is very good, adding a twinkle in the eye to the rather grating Temperance. The special effects are eye-popping and ahead of CSI.
Head Cases (Fox, Global, starts Sept. 14) bears a resemblance to the CBC's This Is Wonderland -- an uncanny resemblance, at times. It's a crazy-lawyers show. A big-shot corporate attorney (Jason Payne) has a breakdown. After he recuperates, he's jobless, homeless and wife-less. Along comes a buddy from the mental home, one Shultz (Adam Goldberg), a lawyer with the sort of disorders that terrify opposing counsel. They bond and begin representing "deviants and petty criminals." Some hilarity ensues.
Close to Home (CBS, CTV, starts Oct. 4) is a Jerry Bruckheimer production, which means it has visual panache and pacing. But unlike Bruckheimer's CSI shows, this is about a mom and suburban crime. Annabeth Chase (Canadian Jennifer Finnigan) is a prickly prosecutor driven by her sense of being a mom. When the show begins, she's returning to work after maternity leave. The pilot is manipulative, overblown trash, but it could get a lot better if it calms down.
Kitchen Confidential (Fox, Global, starts Sept. 19) is a favourite of many U.S. critics. Created by Darren Star ( Sex and the City) and based on the bestseller Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain, it's a wacky workplace comedy. Chef Jack (Bradley Cooper) had a fancy, successful restaurant, but lost it all to drugs, booze, gals, that kind of thing. Now sober, he's invited by a rich guy to open a new restaurant and he quickly hires some real oddballs. The pilot is droll, but hardly hilarious.
Surface (NBC, Starts Sept. 19) is about icky critters from under the sea. It seems they're everywhere. They look beautiful but are menacing. Lake Bell plays the science-whiz/single mom on the case. The pilot is nice but hokey.
Threshold (CBS, Global, starts Sept. 16) is also about icky critters from under the sea. This time, they're on an extraterrestrial craft. Are they benign? No way, Jose. Carla Gugino plays Molly Anne Caffrey, the science whiz/tough gal recruited to lead the team that tackles the crisis. Like Surface, it's glossy but predictable.
Ghost Whisperer (CBC, CTV, starts Sept. 23) is Medium-lite. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a newlywed who can communicate with the dead. Based on the life and work of psychic James Van Praagh, it is unnervingly earnest and limp in the pilot episode. It needs to get in touch with the spirit of drama.
Three that made us scream: What were they thinking?
Twins (WB, Chum stations, starts Sept. 16) is the work of idiots. A comedy about twins running a lingerie company (Melanie Griffith is the mom), the pilot relies on jokes about a garment called "the butt-pucker."
Inconceivable (NBC, CTV, starts Sept. 23) is set in a fertility clinic. The pilot presented to the press featured the song Mama Told Me Not to Come on the soundtrack. As if that were funny. It isn't and neither is this comedy-drama.
Just Legal (WB, Chum stations, starts Sept. 19) features Don Johnson as a sad-sack lawyer reinvigorated by a young sidekick (Canadian Jay Baruchel). Lazily made and clichéd, Just Legal just stinks.
DOYLE'S PICKS
8 ESSENTIAL
Prison Break, Rome, My Name Is Earl, The Closer, Invasion, Everybody Hates Chris, Over There, Commander in Chief
7 NON-ESSENTIAL
Bones, Head Cases, Close to Home, Kitchen Confidential, Surface, Threshold, Ghost Whisperer
3 ESSENTIAL TO MISS
Twins, Inconceivable, Just Legal