This is not my cultural heritage
So, um.
Thanks entirely to Life on Mars I started watching episodes of The Sweeney.
And god help me, I kind of ship Regan and Carter.
I'll explain.
The Sweeney, for those who don't know, is a British cop show from the seventies based in London and is a pretty strong part of what Life on Mars is based on. It features three main characters.
John, or really Jack Regan, a hardass Mancunian DI who doesn't hesitate to fabricate evidence, enter places illegally, and generally bend the rules to capture the crooks. Gene Hunt is basically him. I'll expand later.
George Carter is...well, as far as I can tell from having watched half of one episode so far, is like a sort of mixture of Sam and Chris. He's a little bit fluffier than Sam, thus, the Chris-ness. He's a DS. Detective Sergeant, fellow Canadians, not a sort of Gameboy.
And lastly there's Frank Haskins, their DCI who seems pretty lawful and like a decent guy.
I watched a few clips from other episodes before I started hardcore watching one and I kind of giggled somewhat. Regan, um... He wears a brown coat in the same style as Gene's, smokes, drinks from a metal flask in his pocket, comes down serious hard on criminals and seriously, guys, it only becomes funnier every time he's clearly more and more Gene's inspiration. I haven't really figured out Carter yet but I hope to as I continue to watch the show. As soon as he starts being as dead awesome as Regan, I'll let you know.
Anyway, the episode I started watching is 'Bad Apple' and it focuses on 'bent' cops. I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding things because of a) poor quality, b) my lack of sleep and c) the fact that apparently I still have difficulties with British accents. But the cops are pretty darn bent. accepting bribes, invading houses to take drug money, stuff like that. So Haskins puts Regan and Carter onto the case. Where I am currently, Carter is pretending to be amenable to bent-ness so that he can get chummy with the bentest cop and Regan is going undercover as a barman. Yes, I did just say that. The two people who read my LJ and have also seen LOM....this is cool, right? Plus, Carter calls Regan "Guv'nor". The fact that it's used in LOM is apparently completely based on The Sweeney, considering as apparently, no real British coppers actually called each other that in the 70's, unless they were copying The Sweeney. Which came out in 1975.
Oh right, and about the shipping? I wasn't trying to, honest. It's only because LOM built me up to like Sam/Gene and so when I see characters vaguely like them in a different show, I'm way more amenable to the pairing. Also, this interaction happened (transcribed to the best of my "holy shit, I thought I could understand British accents but I caaaaan't" ability):
Haskins: "George, haven't you any tea?"
Carter: "No no, I'm... (pats stomach) trying to lose a few pounds."
Haskins: "Not the grapefruit diet!"
Carter: (shaking head) "No no."
Regan: "Listen, if you're really serious about that, you ever tried the onion diet?"
Carter: "I'm trying to lose a few pounds, not all me friends."
Regan: "You e'nt got any friends."
Which in itself sounds pretty harsh, actually, but then Haskins walks around them to continue the conversation properly and Regan darts a glance at Carter who grins at him and then Regan smiles back, and promptly tries to hide it with his tea cup.
I went "Squee!" and then went, "HANG ON WUT?! I don't even really KNOW these characters and ALREADY I'm shipping them?"
'Er' again.
Anyway, I'm trying to get S1 right now and I'll see how it hits me.
Reactions as I watched (that will probably spoiler the episode):
Holy crap, Regan just sneered in the exact same way as Gene. Maybe it's a Manchester thing?
Haha, I think the bad guy is called Gene!
....now they're in a boat. Why are they in a boat?
Oh, sweet. Regan yelled at the guy that he was interrogating earlier and meanwhile, Carter interrogating now is very calm and conversational.
Man, this bent cop (Gene?) is a douchebus. He just threatened Regan with his power for speaking back to him. What a dick! Also, I only just figured out that the term 'Savvy?' comes from 'savez'. I'm sad.
Oh, cripes, the actual owner of the bar Regan is undercover in has a deal with Bent Cop in which he's protecting her (necessary evil?) from unsavoury elements and in return she pays him £50 a week.
Man, the theme tune is rockin'. There are three parts and it plays between them, BTW.
Regan just got into Bent Chief's house by pretending to be there to check the gas! I really do love him already. I did have the buildup from his double, I suppose.
Cripes, he sweettalked his way into searching her house. Bent Chief's wife, I mean.
The Bent Chief booked! And now....a boat chase?
OH NOSE. Bent Chief hit Carter viciously in the stomach with a stick! Okay, my head is fairly certain that Carter is Sam-Chris.
Then Regan ran over to check on Carter. "You all right?" "Yeah" and then he saw Bent Chief booking it and he tossed Carter back on the ground "Ow!" and ran after him. Hahahahah!
And then Regan beat the crap out of him although it busted his drinking hand and Carter had an urge to beat up Bent Chief once he found out their drinking buddy-ness would be on hold.
That was a pretty boss show. I got into it REALLY slow and had to force myself to keep watching it in the first five minutes but I really got into it as it went on.
Did I mention that there was a drag stripper? THERE WAS A DRAG STRIPPER.
I'm definitely watching more.
Thanks entirely to Life on Mars I started watching episodes of The Sweeney.
And god help me, I kind of ship Regan and Carter.
I'll explain.
The Sweeney, for those who don't know, is a British cop show from the seventies based in London and is a pretty strong part of what Life on Mars is based on. It features three main characters.
John, or really Jack Regan, a hardass Mancunian DI who doesn't hesitate to fabricate evidence, enter places illegally, and generally bend the rules to capture the crooks. Gene Hunt is basically him. I'll expand later.
George Carter is...well, as far as I can tell from having watched half of one episode so far, is like a sort of mixture of Sam and Chris. He's a little bit fluffier than Sam, thus, the Chris-ness. He's a DS. Detective Sergeant, fellow Canadians, not a sort of Gameboy.
And lastly there's Frank Haskins, their DCI who seems pretty lawful and like a decent guy.
I watched a few clips from other episodes before I started hardcore watching one and I kind of giggled somewhat. Regan, um... He wears a brown coat in the same style as Gene's, smokes, drinks from a metal flask in his pocket, comes down serious hard on criminals and seriously, guys, it only becomes funnier every time he's clearly more and more Gene's inspiration. I haven't really figured out Carter yet but I hope to as I continue to watch the show. As soon as he starts being as dead awesome as Regan, I'll let you know.
Anyway, the episode I started watching is 'Bad Apple' and it focuses on 'bent' cops. I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding things because of a) poor quality, b) my lack of sleep and c) the fact that apparently I still have difficulties with British accents. But the cops are pretty darn bent. accepting bribes, invading houses to take drug money, stuff like that. So Haskins puts Regan and Carter onto the case. Where I am currently, Carter is pretending to be amenable to bent-ness so that he can get chummy with the bentest cop and Regan is going undercover as a barman. Yes, I did just say that. The two people who read my LJ and have also seen LOM....this is cool, right? Plus, Carter calls Regan "Guv'nor". The fact that it's used in LOM is apparently completely based on The Sweeney, considering as apparently, no real British coppers actually called each other that in the 70's, unless they were copying The Sweeney. Which came out in 1975.
Oh right, and about the shipping? I wasn't trying to, honest. It's only because LOM built me up to like Sam/Gene and so when I see characters vaguely like them in a different show, I'm way more amenable to the pairing. Also, this interaction happened (transcribed to the best of my "holy shit, I thought I could understand British accents but I caaaaan't" ability):
Haskins: "George, haven't you any tea?"
Carter: "No no, I'm... (pats stomach) trying to lose a few pounds."
Haskins: "Not the grapefruit diet!"
Carter: (shaking head) "No no."
Regan: "Listen, if you're really serious about that, you ever tried the onion diet?"
Carter: "I'm trying to lose a few pounds, not all me friends."
Regan: "You e'nt got any friends."
Which in itself sounds pretty harsh, actually, but then Haskins walks around them to continue the conversation properly and Regan darts a glance at Carter who grins at him and then Regan smiles back, and promptly tries to hide it with his tea cup.
I went "Squee!" and then went, "HANG ON WUT?! I don't even really KNOW these characters and ALREADY I'm shipping them?"
'Er' again.
Anyway, I'm trying to get S1 right now and I'll see how it hits me.
Reactions as I watched (that will probably spoiler the episode):
Holy crap, Regan just sneered in the exact same way as Gene. Maybe it's a Manchester thing?
Haha, I think the bad guy is called Gene!
....now they're in a boat. Why are they in a boat?
Oh, sweet. Regan yelled at the guy that he was interrogating earlier and meanwhile, Carter interrogating now is very calm and conversational.
Man, this bent cop (Gene?) is a douchebus. He just threatened Regan with his power for speaking back to him. What a dick! Also, I only just figured out that the term 'Savvy?' comes from 'savez'. I'm sad.
Oh, cripes, the actual owner of the bar Regan is undercover in has a deal with Bent Cop in which he's protecting her (necessary evil?) from unsavoury elements and in return she pays him £50 a week.
Man, the theme tune is rockin'. There are three parts and it plays between them, BTW.
Regan just got into Bent Chief's house by pretending to be there to check the gas! I really do love him already. I did have the buildup from his double, I suppose.
Cripes, he sweettalked his way into searching her house. Bent Chief's wife, I mean.
The Bent Chief booked! And now....a boat chase?
OH NOSE. Bent Chief hit Carter viciously in the stomach with a stick! Okay, my head is fairly certain that Carter is Sam-Chris.
Then Regan ran over to check on Carter. "You all right?" "Yeah" and then he saw Bent Chief booking it and he tossed Carter back on the ground "Ow!" and ran after him. Hahahahah!
And then Regan beat the crap out of him although it busted his drinking hand and Carter had an urge to beat up Bent Chief once he found out their drinking buddy-ness would be on hold.
That was a pretty boss show. I got into it REALLY slow and had to force myself to keep watching it in the first five minutes but I really got into it as it went on.
Did I mention that there was a drag stripper? THERE WAS A DRAG STRIPPER.
I'm definitely watching more.