From: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org (stillpt-digest) To: stillpt-digest@smoe.org Subject: stillpt-digest V3 #80 Reply-To: stillpt@smoe.org Sender: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-stillpt-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk stillpt-digest Tuesday, May 8 2001 Volume 03 : Number 080 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Fw: Craving complexity - Once-interesting characters on TV have become the victims ["Marta Grabien" Subject: Fw: Craving complexity - Once-interesting characters on TV have become the victims This is a very interesting article/ Especially the fourth paragraph from = the end. The rest of the article leads up to it tho. = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2001/= 05/06/PK148408.DTL=20 [demime 0.97c removed an attachment of type application/octet-stream which had a name of Craving complexity - Once-interesting characters on TV have become the victims of writers' and producers' simple minds.url] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 19:12:36 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Fw: Craving complexity - Once-interesting characters on TV have become the victims Hi, Marti posted: >This is a very interesting article/ Especially the fourth paragraph from = >the end. The rest of the article leads up to it tho. I had trouble with this link, so in the event I'm not alone, here is the article itself (agreed, very interesting!): Craving complexity Once-interesting characters on TV have become the victims of writers' and producers' aimple minds Tim Goodman, Chronicle TV Critic Sunday, May 6, 2001 )2001 San Francisco Chronicle Tony Soprano is the most intriguingly complex character, and thus the greatest character, in modern TV history. But he's the end point. More on him later. If the Writers Guild of America sends its people out on strike (which it hadn't as of this writing), it will be a sad day for those who love compelling, complex characters and love watching them unfold over a TV season. We can only hope that as they ponder life not writing for television, some writers will reconsider chances wasted and opportunities lost to the base, colorless demands of the system, where simplicity translates to ratings and job security. Let us appreciate and encourage the writer, the series and the network willing to create complex characters because they -- the writers, the series, the networks and, yes, the complex characters -- are the rarest thing in all of television. Think about it. We watch "The Sopranos," television's finest drama, because of Tony Soprano. A truly great drama has at its core at least one main character who possesses a fascinating, unpredictable way about him. A layered, multifaceted personality that veers wildly the other way when we least expect it, or further in one direction than we ever thought he'd go. "NYPD Blue" has Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowicz. "ER" had George Clooney as Dr. Ross. "Ally McBeal" has Calista Flockhart as Ally. In the pantheon of great TV series, all of our greatest moments witnessed on the small screen come from brilliantly drawn, often misunderstood characters. Like Robbie Coltrane in "Cracker" -- utterly fascinating. And there may not have been a deeper, more complicated group of individuals than the entire cast of "Homicide: Life on the Street." Or, for that matter, "Hill Street Blues" years earlier. "Northern Exposure" was a masterstroke of depth in quirkiness. You could go down those rosters of talent and think, "These actors have been given a gift to work with." But what about those currently on the air? How many truly are complex, and how have the writers managed -- or failed -- to continue that delicate creation? Take the much-hyped midseason show "Big Apple" from "NYPD Blue" creative guru David Milch. In a stab at complexity, the show went overboard. The general public was confused and disinterested, and CBS canceled it after five episodes. As for "NYPD Blue," the brilliantly crafted Sipowicz is now a horse beaten to death, run ragged through ever more unbelievable scenarios. His complexity has vanished. On "Ally McBeal," creator David Kelley's light confection turned introspective nightmare was always a high-wire act of creative writing. From troubled and funny to merely annoying and now, for the most part, back again, Flockhart's character still retains her unpredictability and depth but lost many viewers on that crazy journey. To be fair, a comedy or that hybrid, the dramedy, has a more difficult task than a drama. Complexity and one-liners do not go well together. And yet, a case could be made that Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw on "Sex and the City" is a bit of an onion, but a more convincing argument is that Chris Noth as Mr. Big is even better. When Clooney left "ER" it exposed that series for what it had always been -- a very good soap opera. There's a fine ensemble cast, but no character has been believably complex ever since. You just didn't notice so much when Dr. Ross was around. A hit drama (like "ER") can thrive without a truly complex character in the lead role, or even in support. Martin Sheen as the president on "The West Wing" is not at all emotionally shaded. Leo, the chief of staff, fits the bill better. Is Dylan McDermott's leader of "The Practice" crafted so intricately that he could be named in the same sentence as Tony Soprano, or even a used-up Sipowicz? Answer: No. Even the old stalwart "Law & Order" doesn't give us a great representation of the complex soul. Jerry Orbach's Lennie Briscoe in the same pantheon as Andre Braugher's Det. Pembleton from "Homicide"? Not a chance. Should consideration be given to Mulder and Scully from "The X-Files"? No -- and no. That's the epitome of faux complex. Interesting, likable -- even legendary. But absolutely predictable. Who's left? A longshot argument could be made that Denis Leary's character from "The Job" may emerge as a dramedy dark horse. So far, too early to tell. No, the last truly complex character is Sarah Michelle Gellar's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Laugh all you want, but the best female character since Helen Mirren's Jane Tennyson on "Prime Suspect" is Buffy. Former teenage emotional firebrand, loving daughter with kick-ass powers, moral compass and defender of the light in a dark world, she's the most overlooked of complexity's usual suspects. Oh, we could probably mine PBS for a handful of superb candidates like those from "Cracker" and "Prime Suspect," but in reality that's a fairly accurate albeit sadly short list. Ah, but we have the king of all characters drawn outside the lines -- Tony Soprano. Killer, philanderer, racist, sexist, all-around despicable fiend. Also -- honorable, romantic, protective father, humorous and, oddly enough, quite caring. Still -- a mobster boss who got there by not playing well with others. Torn from all sides, as unpredictable as a bomb. From the searing stares to the sideways glances, the purposeful silence, the fits of rage, the love of ducks, the humor and, obviously, the pathos, Tony Soprano is the dictionary picture, the modern paradigm, of the truly unknowable, holly understandable TV character. And if you can't bring yourself to either try and figure him out or attempt to love him, there's always Raymond on CBS. E-mail Tim Goodman tgoodman@sfchronicle.com. )2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page 56 ======================================= Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille ======================================= Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://www.smoe.org/meth/muzak.html ------------------------------ End of stillpt-digest V3 #80 ****************************