TV Critic Shales on House
Tom Shales of the Washington Post is probably my favourite TV critic. Maybe it's his Pulitzer-award-winning prose, especially when mercilessly skewering the latest reality retread. Or it could be the fact he's liked virtually all of the dramas I've ever been truly hooked on, including those that were cancelled too soon - RIP Brimstone, Now And Again...
Naturally Shales is also a House fan, having reviewed it kindly when it debuted, and had more praise for the show in his latest post-season TV drama recap. He generally states that the broadcast networks are currently experiencing a rennaissance in the genre, producing the type of quality hour-long series rarely seen since L.A. Law was on.
The whole article can be read on the Post site for free - at least until it's archived - but registration is required. In any case, House is the only current drama Shales discusses at length, and all the relevant text is in the edited version below:
"Prime Time For Drama"
By Tom Shales
Tue 30 May, 2006
Perhaps we have entered the third great era of television drama, partly because the next great era of television comedy simply refuses to begin. None of the broadcast networks can seem to come up with a sitcom to challenge "Seinfeld," which retired undefeated (and prematurely) in 1998 and still haunts the airwaves in reruns. It may have constituted a "great era" all by itself.
Drama is another story. The 2005-06 TV season probably boasted more solid hours of good drama than television has seen in many years.
The networks showed what could be done when they let producers dare to stray from the familiar and formulaic -- from the old cops-and-robbers and doctors-and-nurses templates. You know: the sick and the dead.
There was so much good drama it reminded me of years long ago when I religiously watched every episode of "L.A. Law" and was first struck by something I call the 10:50 syndrome.
The 10:50 syndrome involves anxiety, dread, maybe even a hint of panic, but is by no means a negative state. It's a simple thing: You try hard not to look at the clock during a great show such as "The Sopranos," because you just want to sit there undistracted and enjoy it. You simply don't want it to end.
Anyway, no matter how hard I tried not to, I'd often glance at the clock in the fourth quarter of "L.A. Law" and discover to my dismay that 10:50 had either come or passed. And that meant only a few more minutes, and maybe only one or two more scenes (a bedroom scene was usually among the last few) until the "executive producer" credit appeared on the screen, that immutable signal that another episode was over.
[Edited for content and length]
Whatever the precise or mercurial causes, it does seem that the 10:50 syndrome has returned -- that there are a larger number of 10 o'clock dramas that one hates to see end than there have been in years. And since the Fox network stops programming an hour earlier than its predecessors, there are shows that prompt the 9:50 syndrome as well -- none more proficiently or artfully than "House," perhaps the most recklessly ambitious variation on medical drama ever -- although "Grey's Anatomy," on ABC's Sunday nights, runs a close and provocative second.
"House" is distinguished, elevated and made riveting not only by superior writing and a top-notch supporting class but, especially, by Hugh Laurie in the title role -- no, not that of a building but of a doctor whose last name is House. TV has seen cantankerous antiheroes before, but Laurie's House may be the most uncompromised and least sentimentalized ever. He can have you on the edge of your seat just waiting for a smile, even a half smile, just the merest hint of a twinkle in one eye (of course, that could be the symptom of a disease picked up from a patient).
"House," with its graphic displays of hospital gore, can be difficult viewing, but the show has consistently placed among Nielsen's Top 10 or 20 this season. Of course, a skeptic would be justified in pointing out, it can't hurt "House" that it follows "American Idol," the most talked-about sensation in all of prime-time television (and after five seasons yet!). But the fact that a huge percentage of those who watch "Idol," the epitome of all that's (relatively) bright and shiny in television, stick around for "House" is an awe-inspiring tribute to the power of the show and, particularly, Laurie's ferocious performance.
[End of House references, article continues...]
FT
Naturally Shales is also a House fan, having reviewed it kindly when it debuted, and had more praise for the show in his latest post-season TV drama recap. He generally states that the broadcast networks are currently experiencing a rennaissance in the genre, producing the type of quality hour-long series rarely seen since L.A. Law was on.
The whole article can be read on the Post site for free - at least until it's archived - but registration is required. In any case, House is the only current drama Shales discusses at length, and all the relevant text is in the edited version below:
"Prime Time For Drama"
By Tom Shales
Tue 30 May, 2006
Perhaps we have entered the third great era of television drama, partly because the next great era of television comedy simply refuses to begin. None of the broadcast networks can seem to come up with a sitcom to challenge "Seinfeld," which retired undefeated (and prematurely) in 1998 and still haunts the airwaves in reruns. It may have constituted a "great era" all by itself.
Drama is another story. The 2005-06 TV season probably boasted more solid hours of good drama than television has seen in many years.
The networks showed what could be done when they let producers dare to stray from the familiar and formulaic -- from the old cops-and-robbers and doctors-and-nurses templates. You know: the sick and the dead.
There was so much good drama it reminded me of years long ago when I religiously watched every episode of "L.A. Law" and was first struck by something I call the 10:50 syndrome.
The 10:50 syndrome involves anxiety, dread, maybe even a hint of panic, but is by no means a negative state. It's a simple thing: You try hard not to look at the clock during a great show such as "The Sopranos," because you just want to sit there undistracted and enjoy it. You simply don't want it to end.
Anyway, no matter how hard I tried not to, I'd often glance at the clock in the fourth quarter of "L.A. Law" and discover to my dismay that 10:50 had either come or passed. And that meant only a few more minutes, and maybe only one or two more scenes (a bedroom scene was usually among the last few) until the "executive producer" credit appeared on the screen, that immutable signal that another episode was over.
[Edited for content and length]
Whatever the precise or mercurial causes, it does seem that the 10:50 syndrome has returned -- that there are a larger number of 10 o'clock dramas that one hates to see end than there have been in years. And since the Fox network stops programming an hour earlier than its predecessors, there are shows that prompt the 9:50 syndrome as well -- none more proficiently or artfully than "House," perhaps the most recklessly ambitious variation on medical drama ever -- although "Grey's Anatomy," on ABC's Sunday nights, runs a close and provocative second.
"House" is distinguished, elevated and made riveting not only by superior writing and a top-notch supporting class but, especially, by Hugh Laurie in the title role -- no, not that of a building but of a doctor whose last name is House. TV has seen cantankerous antiheroes before, but Laurie's House may be the most uncompromised and least sentimentalized ever. He can have you on the edge of your seat just waiting for a smile, even a half smile, just the merest hint of a twinkle in one eye (of course, that could be the symptom of a disease picked up from a patient).
"House," with its graphic displays of hospital gore, can be difficult viewing, but the show has consistently placed among Nielsen's Top 10 or 20 this season. Of course, a skeptic would be justified in pointing out, it can't hurt "House" that it follows "American Idol," the most talked-about sensation in all of prime-time television (and after five seasons yet!). But the fact that a huge percentage of those who watch "Idol," the epitome of all that's (relatively) bright and shiny in television, stick around for "House" is an awe-inspiring tribute to the power of the show and, particularly, Laurie's ferocious performance.
[End of House references, article continues...]
FT