Other Stuff
What Would Larry Do?
by John Romano
My last post was a discussion of “Lie To Me” on FOX. Episode 3 turned out to be pretty much what I expected. White upper class villains, caucasians willing to kill for better grades, astro-wives doping their depressed husbands. Life is hard in those neatly-hedged suburbs, folks. Yawn.
It got me thinking. What shows have really knocked me out? The three best shows this decade, in my opinion, are “The Shield,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and “Arrested Development.”
Each of the shows has a couple of things in common (besides being set in southern California): the ability to surprise and to occasionally go way, way outside the box. Who expected Shane to kill Lemonhead on “The Shield?” How about Buster losing his hand to a seal when he finally goes in the ocean on “Arrested Development?” Great stuff indeed. Apologies to those who have never seen either show. If that is you, get ye to a Netflickery and rent thy Shield at once!
Perhaps liberal bias in entertainment is more about laziness and lack of ideas. Maybe it’s the fear of going against the left mob of Hollywood. It is a lot easier to play it safe and write the same six crime show plots, get a producer credit, and buy a fleet of Priuses than it is to take a risk and defy convention. There could be writers right now working on an NBC or CBS show that are just dying to voice an opinion about media bias in the 2008 election. Who knows?
It may simply be that shows without a strong driving force like Larry David on “Curb” or Shawn Ryan on “The Shield” are hostage to the funding processes and committee think of modern television.
Whatever it is, the “Curb Your Shield Development” shows were/are immune from it all. Larry David has been big in Democrat circles for years, yet when Cheryl Hines protests about the electrical wire in the backyard and implies how it’d be better for the environment if it were underground, Larry is making sure we know she really is talking about her view being blocked. Brilliant.
That brings me back to “Lie To Me.” The producers of “Lie” had a choice, follow convention with the same old L&O order method, (See the book, “Crime Show Writing for Dummies,” just kidding - no book by that title exists, YET!) or take a page from “The Shield” and go for something bold. They chose the L&O model.
I can picture it now, the year is 2015, the ninth stimulus package has just passed in the American Parliament, my Internet connection is down and I’m on the couch watching “Lie To Me: Special Fibs Unit” on USGOVERNMENT TV 4. Ugh!
Originally Posted at bighollywood.breitbart.com