The Dow Is Up!

Winter break is almost over, which means that TV is finally coming out of reruns. And I couldn't care less. Because the best 2 shows on TV right now have been in hiatus for over 6 months. But they're both coming back in January and I couldn't be more excited.

24 is probably my second favorite show on TV. It's just an amazing adrenaline rush every week. I've been watching reruns of the first 4 seasons on A&E for the last few months. I forget how great that show was, even from the beginning. What makes the show great is that it throws out all the "rules."

One of the rules is that main characters can't die. In the second season, Sara Gilbert (from Roseanne fame) was an obnoxious computer programmer. (Yeah, is there any other type?) She dies about 6 episodes in. In the first season, the bad guy died halfway through the season. And then you find out there's another bad guy who's even worse.

24 also lets bad things happen. In most cop shows, if there's a nuclear threat, you know they're going to stop it in time. The "drama" is how they're going to stop it. Well, in 24, they don't always stop it. In season 3, a deadly toxin is released in a hotel and gets out to the general populace. (Of course, they let you think that they're thisclose to stopping it before it literally blows up in their face.) Then, they have Jack Bauer (the second best cop on TV, played by Keifer Sutherland) execute one of his co-workers simply because the bad guy asked the President to make it so. I know it sounds ridiculous, but at the time, it seems plausible.

24 is amazing to me because I swear that when the show's over, I have to take about an hour to calm down. My adrenaline is just rushing too much. Of course, it does have its drawbacks. My favorite is Jack's interrogation techniques. "Tell me where the bomb is. Tell me where the bomb is! TELL ME WHERE THE BOMB IS OR I'LL SHOOT YOU IN THE HEAD!!!!" At this point, the bad guy inevitably gives up the location of the bomb. (But in true 24 fashion, every once in awhile, Jack will actually shoot the person he's interrogating. The show always keeps you on your toes.)

My absolute favorite show is The Shield, which is showing on FX. The Shield takes everything that was great about NYPD Blue (namely violence, nudity, and swearing), and brings it up another 10 levels. Simply amazing. The Shield is a cop show that focuses on Vic Mackey (played by Michael Chiklis of The Commish and Fantastic 4) and his Strike Team. The Strike Team is a group of seedy cops that deals drugs and various other illegal things.

What makes The Shield great, though, is that they push the lines too. They have cops that do illegal things, but for moral reasons. For example, one reason Vic deals drugs is because he has 2 kids with autism that need special education that he can't afford on his cop salary. The writers of The Shield are amazing in how they're able to craft situations where the Strike Team (or just Vic) get themselves into situations where you know they're dead. But they manage to extricate themselves, only to find themselves in another mess. Just like 24, every show is an adrenaline rush.

Unfortunately, new seasons come out about as often as The Sopranos. I've been dying a slow death for the last year, just waiting for something on TV to actually entertain me. And now that Arrested Development was cancelled by Fox, these are the shows that I desperately need.