The Shield

[Dixon Carter Lee]

It's a new show starting tomorrow night on FX, and I may be going to the Premiere tonight on the Fox lot. They're going to show the first three episodes to the press and production crew, and I've been invited (I know a Mr. Big. No name dropping this time. Sorry. Heh-heh.)

I may not go because my wife's got an important audition tonight, and we have to work out some logistics, but I hope I can make it because I've been looking forward to this for a long time. The buzz on the show is very, very good -- if controversial.

Originally the show's working title was "The Barn", which referred to the bull-pen area where cops congregate at a police station in L.A. Then the producers decided to really go for controversy, and re-titled the show "Rampart", after that section of L.A. that has has so much police corruption lately. But, the way I hear it, the producers were pretty much told by the LAPD that if they expect to do any hassle free location shooting in this town they'd better change the title.

So now it's "The Shield". Like I say, it's on FX, but I'd love for anyone who has FX to watch it tomorrow night and let me know what you think. I have the ear of Mr. Big, and he's gonna be asking me "What do people think?" So, if you want more anal strap-on scenes, just let me know, and I'll suggest it.

 

[plasticman33]

Shield was a better choice. The Barn conjures up images of pigs!

 

[Dhalgren]

What kind of show is it?

A comedy about LA cops, heh..?
A reality show?
A drama?

Do share.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Pigs -- Cops -- What are you trying to say?

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

What kind of show is it?

Think "NYPD Blue" meets "Oz".

 

[kotori]

Ahh

Think "NYPD Blue" meets "Oz".

High Concept.

Remember "Cop Rock"? It was "Hill Street Blues" meets "Moulin Rouge" just ahead of its time.

 

[Jaded23]

If it helps the previews are hyping it well. Little violent for my tastes, but I know my husband will be glued to the set.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Holy Hot Tamale is this show going to piss some people off. It's rude, over the top, and makes NYPD Blue look like Barney Miller. It's got a way of being purposely controversial, but it also creates a dialogue about the relative nature of morality that I think a nation engaged in an ideological war will find interesting.

The pilot is very good. The last five seconds make it great. But, believe me, a great many of you will disagree quite strongly. I think the show will be polarizing in the same way The Sopranos is; you will hate or you will love it, there won't be a lot of room for ambiguity.

The Premeire itself was a much bigger deal than I thought it would be (thank God I wore a jacket and slacks instead of the ratty jeans I usually go to screenings in). There was a red carpet and searchlights and reporters and everything (which was odd, since the screening was on the Fox lot, not somewhere the public could get to, which is usually the whole point of putting on a red carpet show). God how I hate walking down a red carpet with the press people looking at your face trying to figure out if you're "somebody". For those of you who keep insisting that I think I'm "somebody", believe me, a withered glance from a chick with a microphone who's decided that you're quite the opposite is enough to humble anyone's SuperEgo.

The show is so hot everyone showed up, and they had to spin a second reel in another theatre for the overflow. Two VPs from Fox gave speeches, and it was clear that they are resting all their hopes and dreams for FX on this show. "The Shield" is primed to make FX a force in original series cable production. They want to rival HBO and Showtime.

And "The Shield" is a great start. I'm interested to know what you think. In particular, I'd like to know what you all thought of the very last expression on Mackey's face (Mackey's the bald cop -- Tony Soprano with a badge). That last few seconds of the show ARE the show. Mackey is the moral/amoral center, and his expression determines a lot about where the character will go. There was quite a bit of discussion afterwards about that moment, and many of my friends had big disagreements about what it meant and said about Mackey.

They gave out some DVDs of the first three episodes, and I'm really curious where they're going to take this whole thing, so I'm going to watch them later tonight (I don't have FX on my cable system, so I'm going to have to scam more DVDs from Mr. Big. I hate that. Fucking Adelphia.)

A few celebs were there, but I only met one new person, one of the producers for "X-Files". A babe. We were sitting together outside having some drinks, when she leaned forward to hear someone, and I happened to glance down her back -- dudes, black thong, riding high. Loved it. Perfect cap to a perfect night.

Anyway, I think the show's got a water-cooler future. It asks "how far is too far?" when trying to do good. I couldn't help thinking of the parallel to the War on Terrorism -- how far can we go in curbing civil liberties and invading other sovereign nations in our quest to "do good"? How far is too far? Where's the line we can't cross without becoming the bad guy?

That line is crossed in the last few seconds of "The Shield". The question is, can a man ever come back from such a thing? Just how much morality can we compartmentalize?

It's a good show. Check it out. Tape "Gilmore Girls", or whatever the WB's got on at that hour, and give it a shot.

 

[SilverVeil]

I loved it.
And I cannot wait to see more. I am hoping that this one will really take off and be around for a long time.

 

[perks]

I loved it.

Was really shocked at some of the nudity and language, but only because it was on network TV.

I cried for that little girl. I mean I know this particular story isn't real. But we all know it is.

Man, it was intense. The show really yanks your emotional chains. I wonder if the shock value will end up making the viewers jaded or at least desensitized to some extent.

Imagine if NYPD had never shown ass, this program wouldn't even be considered. Now it's just another step. But towards what?

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Yeah, I was surprised by the nudity and language -- this is basic cable after all -- it's not like you can choose not to have it, like you can with HBO. But, hey, parents should be watching their kids and all that...

I can't stand story lines (or news reports) where children are in danger, so this pilot was tough to watch, but I think it was important to show just how horrible it is out there to "justify" some of the police methods. Yeah, we may hate Mackey's tactics -- but he gets the job done, and the girl is alive.

Okay, last five seconds --- Mackey's looking down at the cop dying on the floor -- did you read any remorse in his expression?

-----------

I'm halfway through watching the second episode, and it's getting good...

 

[Rambling Rose]

I was working overtime and unnable to watch it. Could someone give a synopsis? DCL keeps hinting about the last few moments so please include that too!

Thanks.

 

[perks]

remorse?

no.
the flashbacks... made him a bit more human as he reviewed the past interactions. It was almost a point to the viewer to say "See I had to do it", so we could feel for him.

WHy would he feel remorse? He doesn't think what he's done is wrong. There's a drop of crazy in that cop. But it's the life that drove him to it, I think. You get a great amount of character analysis just by watching the way he interacts. From just that first show, you can almost tell his history.

 

[Azwed]

This show was on last night right???

I have seen all the ad shots of it and was interested but I had too much work to do last night to watch it.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

In the last few minutes Mackey, the tough head of the Strike Team, shoots a fellow cop in the face because he knew the cop was working to find evidence of corruption against him. Mackey shoots him during a drug bust, making it look like he was shot in the line of duty. Mackey shoots him because the cop was going to stop him from doing "good", in his own, moral universe sense of the word.

As the cop lay on the floor dying Mackey gives him a look, not so much of remorse for killing him, but remorse that the cop, who was a good kid, MADE him killing him by turning "rat". To me it was a look of "Geez. What a waste. Why'd you make me fucking do this, kid?"

The flashbacks, by the way, were the dying cop's, not Mackey's (if you noticed, one of the flashbacks was during the private talk in the park the Captain had with the cop, which Mackey wasn't present at. The dying cop, in his last few seconds of life, was reflecting on what brought him to this moment. Very sad.)