Television

When I saw that NBC was preparing to launch a weekly scripted drama called Chicago PD, I figured I'd have to blog about it. Aside from taking place in my home city, it also seemed from the advertising to be yet another show about a cop-who-breaks-all-the-rules-to-get-justice, and as a civil libertarian who agrees with pretty much everything Radley Balko has to say about the … [Read more...] about Chicago PD, “Stepping Stone” — Not Loving Voight

Years ago, I had an idea for a novel. It was way before I started blogging -- maybe the mid 1990's -- and I was feeling a little out-of-sorts with respect to my life and career, so I had this idea of writing a novel about a geeky guy like me who gets down on his luck (lost job, wife left, dog died, etc.) and in desperation decides to use his job skills making money doing … [Read more...] about I Still Want Walter White to Win

Last Resort is the new military-themed dramatic series by Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield and The Chicago Code. It premiers this Thursday, September 27, at 7 pm central time on ABC, and it looks intriguing enough to have a future. And don't worry, it's not as bad as the publicity materials make it look. (There are spoilers here, but not much more than … [Read more...] about Last Resort – Review

Now that Steve Graham has given me a nice shout-out in mentioning that I've been blogging about The Chicago Code, I feel obligated to say something about last night's episode. Actually, I'll start with my wife's review: "That one didn't suck." Yeah, this was a pretty good episode. It made better use of the modern television trick of mingling two separate stories. About half of … [Read more...] about The Chicago Code – Episode 3: Gillis, Chase and Baby Face

I finally got around to watching the second episode of The Chicago Code last night. The opening titles and music were different, which confirms that the first episode was a true pilot, created long before the next episode. Otherwise, my impression is about the same: It's not great, but I could get used to it, and they do a great job of filming my home town. The story is still … [Read more...] about The Chicago Code – Episode 2: Hog Butcher