By Kofi Outlaw
How goes it, my name is Kofi Outlaw and I’ve been your overly opinionated blog-friend for a few months now. Remember that sudden influx of geek-chic news that began flooding this site? Yeah, I apologize, a lot of that was my doing. I’ve been studying (and majoring in) writing and literature since high school, college, and, after a three-year stint in corporate purgatory, I recently began my graduate studies at the New School in New York City, to earn my masters degree in (you guessed it,) writing. I got into this blogging game after my best friend went from being a freelance blogger, to a website editor earning a ridiculous salary, working from home in his bathrobe. Apparently, the American dream really is achievable.
For my year-end rant I would like to review the best and worst TV seasons of 2007. Granted, most of these seasons began in 2006—however as we all know, the real meat and bones of a TV season happens in the winter/spring sweeps period. That said, I offer my best and worst TV seasons of 2007.
THE BEST:
HEROES was an unexpected hit, coming out of the blocks with a gripping, edge-of-your-seat season, which explored the question “What would you do if you discovered you had superpowers?” For a recovering comic book addict like myself, there was no juicier premise anywhere on TV. After a bit of a stumble in the fall, LOST picked itself up and dusted itself off for 2007, delivering a thrilling, (and, for once, informative) second half to its third season, which climaxed with a mind-blowing jump in time, where the stranded islanders have somehow been rescued, but are far from living happily ever after.
However no other show on TV could match the depth, complexity, heart-wrenching emotion and fierce intelligence of HBO’s THE WIRE. The show’s fourth season, which premiered in January ’07, examined how the inner city school system fit into the web of street-corner hustlers, murderous drug syndicates, hard-nosed cops, and the morally bankrupt political circuit, who too often turn their backs on failing schools and their struggling students, once the elections are over and the cameras have gone dark. While the cops-and-robbers themes that made THE WIRE a cult-favorite were all in place, it was the story of four young friends living in East Baltimore’s worst ghetto—the surprising and disturbing paths their lives ultimately took—which earned THE WIRE unanimous critical praise as “the best show on TV.” Unfortunately, due to an Internet leak, followed by rampant bootlegging of the entire fourth season, THE WIRE could not muster the Nielsen ratings it so deserved. Still, the show had enough fan-fervor and critical acclaim for HBO to graciously shill for a fifth and final season, just so fans could get the proper closure they were longing for.
THE WIRE will return this January on HBO. The fifth season will expand its view to examine how the media plays into the web of crime, punishment, and politics in the inner city. If you haven’t yet gotten on board, do so now. THE WIRE is a caliber of TV all its own. Nothing else even comes close.
THE WORST:
While I’m tempted to slam THE SOPRANOS for its ho-hum final season (the first half was truly god-awful,) that show pulled it together enough in its last three episodes to spare it from my critical wrath. (I’ll let you debate that “Don’t stop,” cut-to-black finale amongst yourselves.) And does anybody remember that show STANDOFF? The one about the two FBI hostage negotiators, who were also lovers? No? Didn’t think so.
However, the worst TV season of 2007 wears the crown of shame not because it is any worse than THE BLACK DONNELLY’S, or ANDY BARKER, P.I., but rather because it was a hollowed echo of what used to be one of the best TV concepts of the last decade. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am referring to the atrocious sixth season of ’24.’
The premise for the real-time drama’s sixth season was so money: after saving America from a traitorous president, Jack Bauer was captured by the Chinese government, while a fanatical Islamic terrorist began launching suicide bombings on American soil, crippling the nation with fear. The terrorist had a unique demand: he wanted Jack Bauer delivered into his hands, so he might punish the CTU agent for killing his brother. Jack was returned to American soil, after enduring months of torture in a Chinese prison. What next ensued was an incoherent mess of a storyline, involving a nuclear bomb detonated on American soil; an American President, slipping in and out of comas like they were cat-naps; something about American Muslims being placed in interment camps; stoic agent Curtis randomly going psycho, forcing Jack to gun him down; Jack’s lover Audrey returning from the dead, having also been captured and tortured by the Chinese; and, worst of all, a TERRIBLE plot contrivance where Jack’s younger brother and industrialist father were revealed to be not just the masterminds behind the latest threat facing America, but the masterminds of virtually every single threat from past seasons of the show.
Even worse the ridiculous plotlines for season six was the way those plotlines were NOT developed. This was the season of ADD for ‘24’; for every new stupid plot thread that popped up, it was just as quickly forgotten in favor of an even stupider plot thread. We still don’t know if President Logan perished after being stabbed by his crazy ex-wife; we don’t know if President Wayne Palmer died as a result of his injuries; is Curtis dead? What happened to the interment camps? Who was the cabal of shadowy individuals working with Jack’s father and brother? NONE OF THESE QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED!
Now don’t get me wrong. I spent A LOT of time doing ra-ra promotion for ’24’ in its early seasons. Imagine my heartbreak watching the sixth season fall apart at the seams. By the time that snore-inducing finale counted out its last minutes, I had jumped ship to hi-def HEROES, banishing ‘24’ to the lo-def limbo of Tivo. Hopefully Jack Bauer will get his mojo back for season 7—but if the previews are any indication (Tony Almeida as the villain? Didn’t we watch him die a hammy, melodramatic death?) I wouldn’t hold your breath. Only 2008 will tell. HAPPY NEW YEAR!