tv- american style

i am happy to introduce dawn as our newest contributor. she hails from the mean streets of new york city and has the arduous task of raising 3 sons, 2 dogs and a husband. but she handles that and more- and blogs about it at ‘my crazy life.’ welcome dawn! — betmo

This is my first post so please bear with me; I thought I’d write on the subject of great television.

Recently, I have been watching reruns of a crime show called “Homicide: Life on The Streets”. After seeing this show again, I decided it was a pioneer of all crime shows to follow. The intense cases, realistic settings and characters made this a must watch show. You may ask, “how can she say that?”- well, one original character from Homicide is still on TV to this day. The character of Detective Munch started on this show and is now on Law and Order SVU due to his popularity. The character has also crossed over to the Law and Order series and appeared on the X files.

The writer David Chase and the producer Tom Fontana were visionaries and they have written and produced some of the greatest series ever to run. Homicide is only one- most recently, they developed “The Corner”, “The Wire, “ and “Oz.” Now, I know Oz is not everyone’s cup of tea, with the over-the-top violence and realism, but it is sooo good!

The Wire (which on a side note is the most well written, intense and suspenseful show ever) started out about a drug cartel in Baltimore; switched to Union Politics, and then a year in the life of 5 children and how they may or may not overcome their environment. All of the seasons tie to each other and it’s just fascinating. The new season is starting soon and it will be the last. It is on HBO but reruns of the old seasons are on The USA network and definitely worth the watch.

I love crime dramas, especially when they are intelligent and well written- and Homicide and The Wire are the 2 best show to make you think!!!

tags:television crime dramas, culture