The Best TV in the Last 10 Years - # 12: Damages

FX

In the comic book world Superman resided in Metropolis, a bright sunshine city filled with happy, smiling people. There were kids in the park with balloons. Batman however lived in Gotham City, a dark sinister place full of shadows and scared people scurrying to get home safely.

Dramas about lawyers can be that way too. If The Practice and the earlier LA Law were Metropolis then Damages is Gotham City. Very Gotham City.

Damages is dark, gritty, un-nerving, and did I say dark? The show takes place in New York in the present, and a young superstar attorney, Ellen Parsons (played by Rose Byrne) is beginning her law career and was "lucky" enough to become an associate in the very prestigious law firm of "Hewes and Associates". The head of this firm is the venerable and iron-fisted Patty Hewes played by Glenn Close. Also at the firm is an ambitious up-and-comer Tom Shayes played by Tate Donovan. This is the backdrop for many fascinating and dark personalities - all who seem to have a horrible secret, or at the very least a disturbing dark side.

Among the players who come swirling through this murky pond of Gotham soup are Ted Danson, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Timothy Olyphant, John Goodman, Martin Short, and Lily Tomlin. Not a clinker in the bunch. All caught up in webs of mystery and intrigue.

This is a show that requires that you start at the beginning of a season and see it all in order or it will likely not make sense an episode here and there. But these are great casts and compelling story-lines and are well worth the effort. So I suggest renting season 1 and watching on through. You won't be sorry for the effort.

The Best TV of the Last 10 Years - Honorable Mentions

The Best TV of the Last 10 Years - Honorable Mentions:

A. Mad Men - Say what? How can this possibly be? This look at the advertising back rooms of the advertising business in the early 60's is the darling of the critics and has made a ton of money for AMC, so how could it not top everyone's "Best of the Last 10 Years" List? Well, first let's talk about the show's positives. It's not a cop show. Fully 50 percent of TV and Movies revolve around cops and robbers. So anything different will usually be seen as a breath of fresh air in my book....okay, except for anything in reality TV. More positives? John Hamm has nailed his character Don Draper, he is truly excellent; he brings a subtle depth to the table that makes his character dark and intriguing. Follow that with an excellent cast. A superb gathering of greats swirling around to bring this show home. Also, I love the art director and producer's eye for detail. Everything in this show is authentic to the era (early 60's). And I mean everything. The drinking glasses, the thin ties, the ink pens you name it, they have it covered. And authenticity brings me to Mad Men's final big plus: it is a great look back, almost like a time capsule, to a time gone by, and buddy, it ain't all pretty. This show should be shown in any class on Women's Studies. The way women were treated in this era will make most people cringe. Not just how they are treated as second class citizens in the workplace, but how they can also be 8 months pregnant and smoke two packs a day, and wash them down with 4 martinis after dinner. 

So, then with all these pluses, why isn't Mad Men higher on my list? Well, because the story lines are only vaguely compelling and seem to be just a notch above The Edge of Night or As The World Turns. I know, a lot of shows have continuing story lines and really I don't have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is story lines that seem to drone on monotonously....I keep wanting to shout at the TV "C'mon, get on with it already! I'm gonna miss a car payment waiting for this to get interesting!!!" So as much as I like John Hamm, and the cast, and the eye for detail, and the fact that this made so much money for AMC that they were able to produce The Walking Dead, I can only make this show an honorable mention.

B. 24 - I like Keiffer Sutherland a lot. For his performances in A Few Good Men, Stand By Me, and The Lost Boys, and I guess for his performances here too. But Keiffer, when did usual dialogue for you switch to whisper? Keiffer as Jack Bauer, either whispers or shouts. Where is the normal talking voice? This show has a cool concept: 24 hours of one day in real time. I love it. Although getting all the way across LA in 8 minutes leaves me scratching my head, and how they can tap into the security system of a random LA warehouse in 2 seconds is a little too written in, I like the action in this series. But there is too little of it. This is another show that leans on soap opera filler to get through the entire hour. But there are times when this series is butt-cheek-tightening intriguing, and you don't know what turns the story line will take that makes me keep coming back. I am into the 8th and final season and will finish it eventually (I'm pacing myself). So Keiffer, now that the series has ended, go ahead and go back to the normal speaking voice thing. It works for you.

C. Dinner For Five - Jon Favreau is the host. Before he was JON FAVREAU the big shot director. This was easily the fastest half hour of TV I have ever seen. It flew by. I instantly got caught up in this and loved every second of it. The concept was simple: Jon and 4 random guests met at a LA or NY eatery, and they had dinner. Under the guise that they were going to talk about Independent Films...this was IFC, after all. But it rarely led to that. It was 5 people of way different ilks just talking about stuff that happened to them. And they were definitely varied people. one show featured Daryl Hannah and Andy Dick with Marilyn Manson, or Rod Stieger with Kevin Pollack and Sarah Silverman....and many others to this varied mix. And it worked! I loved this and it needed to be mentioned. And for icing on the cake? Producer? Peter Billingsley of "A Christmas Story."

TV or Not TV? That is the Question.

Okay TV buffs - which is the politically correct way of saying TV nerds - I have decided to write a series on "The Best TV in the Last 10 Years". I know, I know, nobody cares, except for maybe David Bianculli, but it's my blog and I can do what I want. And besides, David Bianculli and I are somehow weird kindred spirits, so that's okay with me.
So, watch for it to come soon. I will start in reverse order and work my way to my Number 1 pick. I will probably go with a top dozen or baker's dozen, but I will start off with the Honorable Mentions before going to the actual list. Why? Because there's been a lot of notable TV in the last 10 years. And let's talk about that soon, shall we?.......