Irregular writings
December 2012
Thrills, Anarchy and Neighbours
In 2012 I enjoyed being lost to successive American TV series, HBO or FX mostly, shows that grabbed you and sucked you in and you found yourself watching several episodes at a time. Of course, if you were lucky enough to have a partner to share it all with, it gave the experience an extra kick. Affirmed your thrills and your laughs.
There was Justified which is a vehicle produced and starring Timothy Olyphant, the uptight sheriff from Deadwood. In Justified he is a Federal Marshall in present day Tennessee. Dealing with the local and state levels of police forces as well as the ‘Dixie mafia’ who generally live out in the woods, eat badly and either cook meth or grow weed.
I’m not writing this to tell you what to watch – these shows work really well if you find your own way into them. Some, like Shield were even on free-to-air TV for a while but at such crazily irregular times that it was difficult to catch them. Shield had seven series and the writing and the acting held up for all of it. I mention it because one of the police in that show, Walton Goggins, is a major character in Justified. A terrific player, totally watchable in whatever role he takes on. Sometimes looks a wreck, sometimes looks a star. He even turned up in Sons of Anarchy as a transgender prostitute.
Sons of Anarchy is on my mind at the moment. It has terrible music and one of the lead actors is far too buff and handsome to be (a) an outlaw biker and (b) a consumer of so much weed, booze and cigarettes. But the whole show fairly whizzes along. The show has many flaws but, again, the story and the actors pull it off. Ron Pearlman and Katy Sagall are the King and Queen of the gang. Gradually, all the gang members come into focus: Chips, Juicy, Tigg, Opey, Bobby Elvis, Halfsack and Otto. This show has me in its grip and I am busting a friend’s balls to download the latest episodes for me. I then hand them on to fellow SAMCRO twitchers who are waiting in line. (I don’t do that torrent stuff myself). I feel bad copping it on the street but I am hanging out for the next instalment.
One thing I have noticed is that they are not afraid of killing off very central characters in a lot of these shows. It’s shocking. Probably become a predictable thing. Brought up on regulation storylines and narrative arcs, you never got played like that before now.
A show that hit every note it could in just two seasons was the incredible Rome. Filmed on a purpose-built set in Rome, it again has brilliant actors revelling in roles that give them time and space to wander through the story. This is the story of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony and all those crazy bitches back in the day. Civil war and murder. It is seen from street level with two blue collar (well, blue tunic) centurions and in the palaces with the senators and the nobility. The last episode of this came far too quickly. The actress who plays Cleopatra is not curvaceous or overtly sexual in any modern way but she is so absolutely carnal that it’s other-worldly. Young Octavius is so high in the social strata he might as well have stepped out of a space ship. He is right into the politics and the show of power and thinks nothing of a pleb getting sliced along the way. Doesn’t blink.
Ideal has had almost as many seasons as Shield but I have only ever seen it here on free-to-air TV. At odd hours when I am in the best state to experience it. I mean, I can tune into it best. It stars Johnny Vegas as a pot dealer in a flat in Manchester. The world comes to his door. Psycho Paul and Cartoon Head menace everybody. Barry Adamson turned up in it one night as a nightclub assassin. The gangsters turned away from pot to dealing in human body parts. The gay character bought a penis from them “for best”. Japes ensued. Like many UK comedies, it doesn’t sound like it, but if you are in the right state of mind it is even funnier.
Through the mail I got to see Series Two of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. These last two years have seen Stewart Lee back on British television and he destroys the joint! Anarchy! I had to get it through the mail because Australia is a TV country that has ignored the work of people like Harry Enfield for their entire careers. Only this year have we seen his show with Paul Whitehouse. More please!
Of course there’s great Australian comedy like Lowdown and, even though I’ve only seen the first episode, Sam Simmons Problems. Sam is a freak! (I mean that as a compliment).
The only other free-to-air show that I care for is Neighbours. Paul Robinson has been on fire this year, doing that straight-laced Indian school principal at Lassiter’s while her husband works late at the office. “You want danger! Thrills! I can give you all that stuff!” Paul hissed at her as she fell into his rich, evil arms. Meanwhile, her teen daughter was seeing Kyle’s juvie nephew. How could she tell her daughter what not to do anymore?
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