This article was written, by me, on May 25, 1998 and posted to the rec.arts.tv newsgroup. That original article has been slightly edited by me before being placed on the web on May 25, 1998.
BEST DRAMAS:
1. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
2. La Femme Nikita
3. Party of Five
4. ER
5. Earth: Final Conflict
"Special" Mention : Sleepwalkers, C-16: FBI
Honorable Mentions : The Pretender, Profiler, The Practice,
(in no order) Michael Hayes, Nash Bridges
Guilty Pleasure(s) : Pacific Blue,
Soldiers of Fortune, Inc.
Biggest Disappointment : Dawson's Creek
Biggest Decline : Homicide: Life on the Street
Most Overrated : Ally McBeal
Seen, at least 2-3 times : The X-Files, Melrose Place, 7th Heaven,
(but no special mention) Three, Love Boat: The Next Wave, Push,
JAG, NYPD Blue, Beverly Hills 90210,
Star Trek: Voyager, Significant Others,
Law & Order, Chicago Hope, Prey,
Nash Bridges, The Magnificent Seven,
Early Edition, Total Security,
Walker Texas Ranger,
Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Conan
The Adventurer, Pensacola: Wings of Gold,
Fame L.A., Mike Hammer: Private Eye,
Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Silk Stalkings
As you can tell, I'm a 'drama guy'. The older I get, the less I like sitcoms (they actually have to be funny these days to get me to watch), but the more I like dramas. Which is why it distresses me that more and more broadcast network (especially "Big Three") timeslots are being taken up with dreary tabloid newsmagazines or reality-based 'specials' instead of dramas. The more that happens, the less I will be watching the broadcast networks. (And I'm a fairly loyal network viewer, so if they're losing people like me, their days really are numbered!)
Luckily, there were quite a number of good dramas this year. I've listed my favorites below, but even this only scratches the surface. Beyond those dramas I've listed are a number of good dramas that I'm probably leaving out (such as the syndicated "Hercules", which deserves some mention this season for eclipsing "Xena" as the superior 'Greek superhero' show). And still other dramas, such as ABC's "Cracker", I ended up missing entirely, so this list isn't totally complete.
In any case, here's my "Dramas" list, and it looks to be a little Sci-Fi/Fantasy heavy this year:
For most of this year, I knew I was going to have difficulty choosing what I thought was the best (and/or my favorite) drama of the year. This difficulty intensified during February sweeps, when there were three dramas that were neck-and-neck as my 'Best Drama': "Buffy", "Nikita" and "Earth: Final Conflict". In the end, "Buffy" edged the other two out.
WBN's "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" ends up as my #1 drama pick for the one quality it possesses that the other four shows in this list don't: consistency. While my other Top 5 Dramas often had some outstanding episodes, they also had many episodes that were not so outstanding. "Buffy", on the other hand, has managed to entertain the hell out of me with every episode in its second season. Even marginal episodes such as "Some Assembly Required", "Reptile Boy", "Phases" and "Go Fish" have had one or two aspects to them that made them either entertaining or dramatic. And "Buffy's" best episodes this season, such as "Innocence", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", "Passion", and especially the finale "Becoming (Part 2)", were better than anything else on TV (except perhaps for some episodes of my #2 drama pick; see below). The season finale, "Becoming (Part 2)", is particularly noteworthy by simultaneously tying up most of the storylines of the second season, while at the same time totally throwing the structure of the show up in the air. I haven't been this impressed with a season finale since the days of "Tour of Duty" and "Knots Landing"; and let me tell you, for me, that's high praise indeed! Much more than just a "teen horror" show (which no doubt accounts for why teens are actually watching other dreck on WBN over "Buffy"), this is a thinking man's adult drama, and should appeal to anyone that wants good drama, with a excellent cast, good writing, and some very good humor thrown in. Forget "The X-Files"! "Buffy" is where it's at, for real horror and drama this season!
My #2 pick (and last year's #4 pick or me) is an intriguing combination of "Mission Impossible" and "The Prisoner". In its second season, it is now much more clear why the TV version of USA network's "La Femme Nikita" dumped the premise of the previous two movie versions. Unlike the two movies, this "Nikita" is not about moral redemption: it's about suffocating psychological dread in the face of a menacing evil that masquerades as the defender of goodness and humanity ("the ends justify the means" as Nikita's boss Operations would no doubt say). Which leads to "Nikita's" very dramatic premise: can the innocent Nikita maintain her goodness, her loyalty to the people around her, and her high ideals, in the face of this pervasive terror and crushing ruthlessness? At its very best, in episodes such as "Approaching Zero", "New Regime", "Half Life" and "First Mission" (episodes with often give the rest of the cast as much to do as star Peta Wilson), "Nikita" is, quite honestly, the best and most challenging drama on TV. Unfortunately, for every "New Regime" or "First Mission", there are so-so episodes like "Psychic Pilgrim", "Open Heart" and "Mandatory Refusal", which accounts for why "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" edges "Nikita" as the best drama of the year. Still, unlike the other shows in this list, "Nikita" is only half-way through season #2 ("Nikita's" season starts in January, and runs through the fall), and if it can maintain a level of quality equal to episodes such as "New Regime" and "First Mission", "La Femme Nikita" will be a legitimate contender for the "Best Drama" on TV.
This year's pick for my #3 drama is also last year's #3: FOX's "Party of Five". Now as popular as its lead-in "90210" (thanks in no small part, no doubt, to the surging popularity of PoF co-star Neve Campbell), this show manages to continue at a very high level of quality. Like my #4 pick, however, PoF is beginning to suffer from the natural process of its audience recognizing its formula and patterns (there's only so many times you can conjure up "tragedies" before it starts to lack credibility). And "Party of Five" also loses some points with me for not following up on what I thought was going to be the show's most intriguing storyline to date: Claudia's decent into a nervous breakdown (something we've never seen of a teen character on a major show, to the best of my knowledge) as her family ignored her while dealing with Charlie's cancer. Instead of giving us a storyline that would have allowed excellent young actress Lacey Chabert to rise to the occasion, we instead got a reset button on the Claudia character when her brother Charlie beats his cancer and a new boyfriend suddenly appears to solve all of Claudia's insecurity problems. Some 'Reset Button'! Still, what continues to set "Party of Five" apart from every other drama on the air is excellent writing in its dialogue, and a great ensemble of young actors that has grown to include second-leads such as Paula Devicq, Jeremy London and Jennifer Love Hewitt, as well as the show's many guest stars. Another thing I like about "Party" is that, unlike almost every show on the air, its season finales inevitably end on a positive note, tying up the preceding season's storylines, and providing a nice contrast to the various turmoils that have come before. Nice touch! Still, one has to wonder if the show can survive after the end of next season when PoF star Neve Campbell will surely leave the show to pursue her movie career.
"Ohmygod! Is Ian Ball joining the anti-"ER" bandwagon this season?!" Well, yes and no. Last year's #1 drama has fallen this season, there is no doubt about that. "Why"? you ask. For the one thing that used to set NBC's "ER" apart, but which has been lacking from the show this year: the 'blockbuster dramatic episode'. In every previous season, "ER" was set apart by a couple of outstanding episodes, episodes such as "Love's Labors Lost" and "Hell and High Water". This season? Aside from the episode "Exodus" (the one in which 'Carter takes over when the "ER" is evacuated' episode, which I did think was quite good, aside from some Chemistry related quibbles), the live season opener (which I liked very much, though I'm in the minority on that one), and the season finale (which was quite good, especially concerning Laura Innes' Kerry Weaver, and the episode's final 10 minutes), there haven't been too many episodes of "ER" that have grabbed me this season. In "ER's" defense, later episodes this season, especially those with heavy doses of Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston), have improved matters. But it's hard to get around the idea that the episodes which took place totally outside of the "ER" (i.e. the episodes where Ross & Green, and then just Green, went to California) were largely failures, and that many other episodes have just been below "ER's" high standards. "ER" is still good drama. But they are going to have to refocus the action back to the medicine if "ER" is to rebound next season.
With #5, I'm going with a show that has corrected many of the mistakes made by many recent Sci-Fi shows. Like "Bablyon 5" and "Dark Skies" before it, "Earth: Final Conflict" (E:FC) is following a pre-set 5-year story arc. However, unlike its two predecessors, E:FC has done an *much* better job at executing its story arc (at least in its first season), while still managing to be involving. A much greater success than "Babylon 5" (based on comparing first seasons), and much more scientifically and dramatically thoughtful than some of its other Sci-Fi competition (e.g. "Deep Space 9" and "Voyager"), "Earth: Final Conflict" appears to be perhaps the most promising new show of the season. Earlier in the season, E:FC was a definite contender for my "Best Drama", based primarily on the episode "Sandoval's Run", which was one of the best episodes of any show this season. But, IMHO, E:FC never quite followed up on the promise shown in "Sandoval's Run", and its season finale ("The Joining"), while good, definitely doesn't rate up there with some of the other very impressive season finales this season. Nonetheless, E:FC has had a very memorable first season, and I look forward to following the show into season #2 this fall.
This category is reserved for shows that I think have been unfairly overlooked, or (more often) shows that I think were unfairly yanked from the air. This year, I'm going with two of the latter: NBC's "Sleepwalkers" and ABC's "C-16: FBI".
Those of us on the West Coast have actually had a chance to see NBC's "Sleepwalkers" beyond the two original airings that everyone else saw before the show was quickly yanked last fall. And, based on what I've seen from these specially aired episodes, "Sleepwalkers" was a series that showed a lot of promise. Like many shows that get cancelled, "Sleepwalkers" demanded a lot of attention from the show's audience. Dream imagery is often obscure. And the underlying story arc of the show that was just starting to emerge from the background required additional attention from the viewer, which is probably why most Saturday TV watchers weren't willing to sit there and figure it all out. (Contrast that with NBC's much more successful "The Pretender", which very slowly built its underlying storyarc on top of simple "Fugitive"-style episodic storylines, thus taxing the undiscerning viewer to a much lesser extent than "Sleepwalkers".) Where was "Sleepwalkers" going? Would it really have been a 'good' series? Well, from what I saw from its first 6 episodes, maybe. But now I'll never know, because NBC never gave the show a chance. And that's too bad.
And speaking of not giving a show a chance! ABC buried its superior law-enforcement drama, "C-16", on lowly-viewed Saturday night (probably ABC's worst night). Another one of those 'challenging' dramas that dies on Saturday nights, "C-16" reveled in moral ambiguity, much like ABC's much more successful "The Practice". With an excellent cast, and an almost cinematic visual feel, "C-16" was probably ABC's most promising new drama this season. Which of course meant that ABC did everything it could to cancel the show as quickly as possible. And that's a real shame, as I can't help but think that "C-16" would have made for a perfect compliment to "The Practice".
What I said last season still applies: NBC's "The Pretender" has two ingredients that make it successful, three very likable lead actors (and let's not forget Broots!), and a continuing secondary storyarc that overwhelms the relatively unsatisfying main episodic stories of Jarod as everyone's "avenging angel". In its second season, the overall storyarc was much more prominent (thank God! there's only times you can take Jarod as 'avenging angel' before becoming bored!), and this generally lifted the series to a higher level than in season #1. Particularly welcome was the increased screentime given to Andrea Parker's Miss Parker; were it not for the many shades of gray provided by the menacing Miss Parker, "The Pretender" wouldn't be half the show it is. "The Pretender" was probably my favorite new show last season, and while I have cooled off on the show a tiny bit this season (the season finale I found especially exasperating!), I look forward to season #3 after NBC finally got off the fence and renewed "The Pretender" and "Profiler"!
And speaking of NBC's "Profiler", part of the reason that I've cooled off a little on "The Pretender" is that I've really grown to like "Profiler" perhaps even a little more than "The Pretender"! With "Millennium" going off in a different direction, "Profiler" is the only show left on the 'serial killer hunt'. And that's a good thing, as "Profiler" has always been better on this beat than "Millennium" ever was. "Profiler" boasts an excellent ensemble cast that I've come to appreciate more with each episode, especially the always sympathetic Ally Walker and Robert Davi. Especially interesting this season was the increased attention given to Sam Waters' and Bailey Malone's relationships with their respective daughters. As for the main storyarc, will Jack ever be caught?! Well, this time I hope so; I really think the Jack storyline has finally worn out its welcome, and it's time to put it on the backburner for a while. But we'll see if the writers take my advice. Still, I've come to like "Profiler" a lot, and am very glad it will return next season.
If you had told me that I'd be remarking favorably on a David E. Kelley show two years ago, I would have slapped you silly! But, here it is: even I can't deny that "The Practice" is a good show. Why is that? I think that, with "The Practice", Kelley has tweaked his usual, almost Calvinistic bent for moralizing from the Left (e.g. Picket Fences), and replaced that with a much more nuanced and ambiguous appraisal of the issues. This goal has been helped immensely by adding the balance of Helen Gamble (and her colleagues) and the views of "The People" to many of the cases in the show. Further, "The Practice" has an excellent cast going for it, as well as unusually balanced writing (for David Kelley). The bad news is that, next Fall, "The Practice" goes up against my second favorite show (USA's "La Femme Nikita"), which means I probably won't get to see it as much next season. Still, when "Nikita's" airing a rerun, I'll probably be checking out "The Practice" next Fall, instead.
Speaking of legal shows, I'm also giving a 'thumbs up' to CBS's "Michael Hayes". I only saw "Hayes" a few times, but from what I saw, I think this was a show that also had real promise. Also dark and ambiguous, like "The Practice" (and sporting an equally charismatic lead in David Caruso), I think that CBS made a real mistake in cancelling this show. Rarely do you get a show as intriguing as "Michael Hayes", and rarer still is it that a show like this doesn't get cancelled.
Finally, I'm giving an "Honorable Mention" to CBS "Nash Bridges". "Why?!" you ask?! Because "Nash" is consistently entertaining in a way that many shows in this genre aren't these days (e.g. "Walker, Texas Ranger"). In short, "Nash" is just good, clean fun (a style of drama that, while popular in the 80's, is almost totally absent from the tube these days). That isn't to say that the show doesn't have its serious moments, because it does. But, usually, "Nash" is a fun, relaxing way to spend a Friday night (a distinction it shares with some ABC's 'TGIF" shows), unlike some other shows on Friday which tend to be a lot darker (e.g. "Millennium", "Homicide"). In short, if you're home on Friday night, and you haven't watched it yet, you might want to check out "Nash Bridges".
What list would be complete without a couple of 'guilty pleasures'. You know, shows that you love to watch, but which you are kind of embarrassed (or really embarrassed!) to admit you watch.
This year, I decided to go with two, more obscure entries: USA's "Pacific Blue" and the syndicated "Soldiers of Fortune, Inc."
Now, I know what you're thinking! "'Pacific Blue' is just a 'Baywatch' rip-off!" Well, it tuns out that this isn't true, though it was this preconception that kept me from watching the show previously. As it turns out, USA's "Pacific Blue" is more like what "Baywatch" would be if "Baywatch" were actually... intelligent. Sure, the cast is physically attractive (though, mercifully, not as synthetic looking as "Baywatch's" cast). But "Pacific Blue" is, stylistically, closer to USA's "Silk Stalkings" (though, usually, "Pac. Blue" skips the smut that is "Silk's" staple); it's more of a straight cops-on-the-beat show. In any case, with nothing on Sundays at 8 pm that I like to watch, I often end up checking out "Pacific Blue", and I'm usually not disappointed. Still, just don't tell anyone that I'm watching it... ;)
I threw the syndicated "Soldiers of Fortune, Inc." in here because, of all the new syndicated dramas this season, it was the second best one, after "Earth: Final Conflict". The difference between this action show, and, say, "Viper" or "Pensacola: Wings of Gold" (or, more ridiculously, "Team Knight Rider" or "Nightman") is that SoF actually has a harder edge to it. This show often does not pull punches in what can happen to its protagonists on dangerous (and officially disavowed) missions. Unfortunately, the show was probably a little too 'hard' for the audience, and it sounds like SoF has been 'dumbed down' for next season (a sure sign of this? the addition of Dennis Rodman to the cast, and a name change for the show). Too bad, because "Soldiers of Fortune, Inc." was a very promising show in its first season, and was a definite favorite of mine.
Now, the bad news.
This past Fall, I made the mistake of listening to the (critical) hype. You see, I was lead to believe that "Dawson's Creek" would actually be intelligent, good drama. You know, like "Party of Five". Or at least like "My So-Called Life" (a show that has never been one of my favorites). But, what did I get instead? A over-melodramatic version of "90210", but without any of the likable characters, and with even more ridiculous dialogue and an overwhelming preoccupation with sex!
It's that last factor that really turned me off this show. I can deal with over-the-top dialogue; sometimes, I even like it. But, heck! even "90210" dealt with more topics in its first season than "Dawson's Creek" has! DC went round and round and round in the same annoying circle (make that triangle!). Will Dawson or won't Dawson? Will it be Joey or Jen? Will Pacey ever grab a clue? Who cares! None of these characters are interesting! None of them have anything new to say! Why would anyone care?! (About the only interesting thing on the show are Dawson's parents and Jen's grandmother, but they're in the show rarely, if ever.)
It's little wonder that this show is popular with teenagers, though: it's as brain-dead as most teenagers are!... NEXT!
I added this category specifically to voice my displeasure with NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" this year. If last year was disappointing, this season was devastating. Any vestige of intelligence left over from the show's first 4 seasons have pretty much disappeared from the show this season. Gone is the inspiration dialogue (mostly from the mouth of Frank Pembleton) that was the show's hallmark. Gone are multiple-episode cases. Gone are cases that aren't 'Red Balls'. Gone are almost all of the interesting characters (the Gharty character might have been a good addition to the cast, if only there were any writers left on the show to write for him). The season finale was the most clear example of this trend: gone were the philosophical debates that used to mark "Homicide", replaced by a shoot-'em-up adrenaline rush, which looked like it belonged more on rival "Nash Bridges" (and, indeed, it would have worked on "Nash") than it did on "Homicide". And, now with Andre Braugher hitting the bricks, the show can only get worse next season. In short, I warn all long-time fans of H:LOTS to avoid the show now. Avoid it, like the Plague!
Oh my God! can there be any doubt?! What show could possibly have more undeserved hype? What show sports a less admirable or sympathetic lead character?
If you (or I) were worried that I was going soft on David E. Kelley, fear not! My overwhelming aversion to FOX's "Ally McBeal" should put everybody's mind at ease (including mine!).
People keep challenging me: "What is that you don't like about 'Ally McBeal'?" Geez, where do I start? OK, first, you have a show based around a female "heroine" (and I use that term loosely) that is suffering from actual, documented, legitimate mental and emotional problems. I'm taking problems that land real people in an institution! And yet, we, as viewers, are supposed to ignore that. In fact, we're supposed to think it's funny! In fact, we're supposed to think that it is endearing and attractive!(?)!!! That's right! Everybody: let's laugh at the delusional! Then we can ask her out! ("But it's supposed to be a comedy," you say. Well, see below.)
In other words, insanity is now fodder for comedy (and you thought "Seinfeld" hit new lows!). And the thing that gets me about this is that we're supposed to be rooting for Ally McBeal for many of the same things that people on usenet skewer Capt. Janeway of "Star Trek: Voyager" for. And Janeway's not even half as crazy as Ally McBeal! It also doesn't help that I don't find anything about Ally attractive.
So that's problem #1. Problem #2 is that "Ally McBeal" is so damn histrionic! Sometimes that works; it works on "Third Rock From the Sun" and occasionally on "Frasier". But those are half-hour shows. With "Ally", you have to sit through a full *hour* of it! And, to top it off, the over-the-topness of "Ally" isn't done half as well as it is on either "3rd Rock" or "Frasier". UGH!
Problem #3? I hate all of the characters on "Ally". That's right, every last one of them! I don't like Billy, or Georgia. I don't like Renee. I can't stand Cage. Elaine might be an interesting character, toned-down of course (and on another show). I like Fish, or rather I liked Greg Germann when he was on FOX's "Ned & Stacey", and Germann does the best he can with the material. But a show without likable characters is pretty much doomed.
Finally, I don't think I like the genre. While superior shows like "Buffy" overlay the drama with comedy, "Ally" seems to be trying the reverse. And it's failing miserably! Were "Ally" straight drama (albeit overly melodramatic romantic drama), it might probably work better. Aside from that, I don't think any of the romantic subplots on the show work. And I don't think the show gives proper consideration to the few serious issue it raises (contrast that with "The Practice" which *does* usually give full weight to the issues it raises).
In short, I just can't stand the show. Period.
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