For the first blog it seems fitting to create an appraisal of 2009, if not a great year for telly then certainly, well, a year at least. Here we have a rather boring looking rundown of my top three, and a runner up, telly drama series appearing on your UK picture boxes last year.
No. 3
*Misfits (Series 1)* (Channel 4)
Unfortunately for dear old blighty, it's been rather a slow year for home-grown drama, this being the only non-American product on my list. Off to a rather high concept start, Misfits begins with a group of Skins-like teen stereotypes, twatting about on their first day of community service, when a freak storm turns them all into superheroes. But, being a British program, this is no Heroes: and the powers turn out to be much more of a curse than a blessing.
The powers that the characters get are all fairly tame, I mean, no one can fly or has super strength or anything. Some seem genuinely useless, as prissy annoying Alisha's power makes people want to have sex with her when they touch her skin. Less of a super-power, more of an 'anti-power', like poison vomit or amazing growing teeth.
But hold on, there's a message here. The teens powers are blatantly metaphorical: invisibility, the ability to turn back time, hearing others thoughts etc, and it makes an interesting allegory as we get each character's episode in turn. The dialog varies from rather hokey Skins "written by adults about kids" stuff, to genuinely fun and energetic work that surpasses any other teen drama this year, and certainly giving Misfits enough good stuff in it to make it one of my TV choices.
No. 2
*True Blood (Season 1)* (Channel 4)
Vampires have been done to death. We know it, you know it, and the creators of sexy brutal adult vampire romp True Blood most certainly knew it. It seems odd then that when watching the first few episodes, one would think that that they hadn't learnt their lesson. The blossoming romance between Sookie Stackhouse (waitress and dippy blonde with on/off telepathic abilities) and Bill Compton (Hunky Vampire prick) is at first extraordinarily Twilight, despite the amount of sex, and it takes the series at least five episodes to get going. After that point, however, it never lets go.
The characters are interesting, the setting, far from traditional vampire haunted houses etc, or even more Buffy-like suburbia, is dark and scarily real; set in a deep south America plastered with signs that read 'GOD HATES FANGS' in a biting (ho ho) political satire. Themes of racism, sexism and homophobia are covered along with the mainstays of Vampire Lore; sexually transmitted diseases, sex and death and the great void between men and women. True Blood started out cliche, but ended up bringing a whole new dimension to a rather tired genre; making it number two on my TV of 2009 list.
No. 1
*Generation Kill (Mini-Series)* (Channel 4)
Short at only seven episodes long, Generation Kill represents possibly the finest achievement in television this year. Based on the the book of the same name, initially serialised, in the very gonzo tradition, in Rolling Stone Magazine, Generation Kill follows the Second Platoon of the First Reconnaissance Battalion's Bravo Company: a humvee infantry platoon during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Reporter Evan Wright gets thrown into an entirely hostile battleground with main players Sergeant Brad 'Iceman' Colbert, Corporal Josh Ray Person and Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley; the soldiers who make up the humvee with which he is stationed. From the get-go Generation Kill is at the same time harrowing, scary, hilarious, portentous, unbelievably sweary and completely unforgettable. It creates great empathy in the viewer for the good soldiers of the group, and complete hatred for the bumbling, idiotic Captain Dave 'Captain America' McGraw, whose moronic choices and gung-ho attitude are distressing to say the least. Critical and satirical at its heart, Generation Kill comes to us from the team that brought us the critically acclaimed 'The Wire'. For the short time that it was on screen it grabbed your balls, twisted them and turned them until by the end you were completely exhausted, if not a little aroused. Generation Kill is by far one of the greatest events of television drama of the noughties, and that is why it takes the top spot in my greatest TV of 2009.
Runner Up
*Dollhouse (Season 2)* (Sci-Fi Channel)
An Ode to Joss Whedon
Joss, oh how I love thee. Creator of classic 90's teen vampire fun Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hunky spin off Angel, and greatest television series ever Firefly, Joss Whedon has been having a rather bad time connecting with his public of late. After the runaway success of Buffy (Joss Whedon admits that it lasted three series after he initially wanted it to end), Angel was suddenly not renewed and Firefly only lasted a gloriouss 14 episodes.
Dollhouse was meant to be Joss's fated comeback, returning to the network that cancelled his greatest achievement way before its time (not before he had created superb action sci-fi thriller Serenity to create some closure for those fans who missed Firefly), a Dollhouse pilot was created for American entertainment network Fox. Fox butchered it and didn't air it, just as they had done with Firefly and ordered a new pilot; which was boring and samey and said nothing of the series like the lost pilot had set out to do. Because of this false start, many were put off by the boring first episodes (each consisting of Eliza Dusku in a new costume, as she plays the part of an 'active' within the 'Dollhouse', an agency for creating personalities for hire and placing them upon the unaware childlike 'actives'), and the first series had terrible ratings, despite the second half of the first series which contained some of Whedon's finest work in many people's eyes.
Despite this, a second series was commissioned; this time on a lower budget, to compensate Joss for his past losses and to give the series another chance. It was cancelled and only 13 episodes were produced, the first half airing before Christmas, the final half airing in January 2010. The second series was reasonably disappointing until the final episode of the the pre-Christmas break, which made me sad that the next few episodes would be the last. Here's hoping for Joss Whedon's career to be more lucky, and hopefully we'll be seeing more of the crew of the Serenity in the not too distant future.
Written by
Alastair
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