Cipherdom (deprecated)

This ain't Little House on the Prairie

Each new Sunday-night drama on HBO is inevitably measured against the Sopranos. Don't believe the person who says any of them compare favorably to it. But damned if some of 'em haven't come close. Where most fall short is in humor; the Sopranos is not only brilliant dramatically, it's the funniest show on tv. The latest series, Deadwood, comes close in terms of comedy, especially scenes with Ian McShane as heartless pimp/murderer/entrepreneur Al Swearingen and the brilliant William Sanderson as twitchy hotel owner E.B. Farnum. The Wire is just as compelling and has the most realistic characters, but it seldom has laugh-out-loud moments. Six Feet Under is darkly funny, though it strains for humor at times and the characters are often cartoonish.

But all these shows are excellent, and the one thing they seem to have in common is that their creators and writers are just left alone to do their jobs. I wonder if that would ever catch on in the film industry, which spends billions annually to produce fewer hours of art than David Chase does all by himself. Nah!

Herewith, Vernam's ranking:

1. The Sopranos. So great, it makes me wish I'd watched all of Berlin Alexanderplatz, so I could say, "The Sopranos is better even than Berlin Alexanderplatz." Ditto for reading "Remembrance of Things Past" and all the other high-brow reference points cited by critics who strain for superlatives to describe creator Chase's epic. His musical taste is also impeccable, and the narrative has a drive that none of these other shows can really match.

2. Deadwood. Sunk its hooks in deep from the first episode with made-for-HBO setting of lawlessness, sex and vulgarity. Serendipitous historical verisimilitude: Wild Bill Hickok's actual death let them kill off the cast's one weak link, Keith Carradine, who seemed to be doing an impression of Sam Elliott that's even more stiff than the original. Watch for Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane to get a lot of acclaim, but there are many others her equal in this cast. Obligatory pretty boy: Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock.

3. The Wire. Deep, intersecting story lines that put off some viewers; can take a few episodes to sink in. First season emphasized drug-dealing Baltimore street gangs and the detectives who shut them down, temporarily. Second season kept those same characters and storylines, while adding a new one about corrupt longshoremen. Very moving stuff about stevedores clinging to a way of life whose time has gone. Bonus points for George Pelecanos connection (writer and story editor) and admirable diversity of casting. Obligatory pretty boy: Dominic West as Jimmy McNulty.

4. Six Feet Under. Sophomore jinx after successful first season that prompted over-enthusiastic "Better than Sopranos" critical hype. Writing exhibits a lack of strategic thinking; characters and plots meander in an unsatisfying way. Funeral home humor got real tired, real fast.

5. Carnivale. Seemed like the weakest of the lot until topsy-turvy end of first season that shrewdly avoided tying together loose ends of parallel plots -- carnies wrapped up in weird, Lynchian supernatural melodramas and religious charlatans with apocalyptic intentions -- while setting stage for presumed Season 2 confrontation of carnival misfits and fundamentalist zealots. What could be better?! Lots of seemingly arbitrary weirdness turned out to have an actual point, or at least might have a point in the upcoming second season. Owes much to seldom-seen noir classic "Nightmare Alley." Obligatory Pretty Boy: Nick Stahl as Ben Hawkins.

Posted by Vernam at May 6, 2004 01:14 AM | TrackBack