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Return of Gannon.
May. 2nd, 2007 01:51 pmI enjoy the Sleuth channel; it's picked up a lot of detective shows that started falling through the cracks when all-purpose channels like USA all started aiming for the Spike TV demographic. It's the home of Homicide: Life on the Street, which is always fantastic, and Miami Vice which I find incredibly funny now that Edward James Olmos is on Battlestar Galactica.
It also airs the '60s Dragnet, which is one of the most fascinating TV shows in history. It so so very aggressively mundane. In the episode I just watched, Friday goes over to Gannon's house to have dinner and watch the game. The point of the episode was to show what cops have to deal with off the job, when neighbors and friends come to them with their problems. But when I flipped over, they went on for about three minutes talking about how Gannon had redecorated. It wasn't even small talk. It wasn't even a tangent. It was like the opposite of dramatic writing. Typically, when writing a scene, the natural flow of dialogue is condensed to focus on the parts that are interesting. Instead, the episode decided to focus on the most uninteresting parts to present them in the most uninteresting way. I loved it.
I didn't love the woman who asked Friday and Gannon to help with her husband. The description from Badge 714 sums it up:
Of course, perhaps they would've had time to develop the scene further if they hadn't been talking about wallpaper so much.
Last week was rough, but I'm feeling a lot better this week, for the many people who seem to be worried. In addition, I have purchased my tickets for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ojouchan's graduation, and already given her her graduation gift, a ticket to Los Angeles for the end of June.
It also airs the '60s Dragnet, which is one of the most fascinating TV shows in history. It so so very aggressively mundane. In the episode I just watched, Friday goes over to Gannon's house to have dinner and watch the game. The point of the episode was to show what cops have to deal with off the job, when neighbors and friends come to them with their problems. But when I flipped over, they went on for about three minutes talking about how Gannon had redecorated. It wasn't even small talk. It wasn't even a tangent. It was like the opposite of dramatic writing. Typically, when writing a scene, the natural flow of dialogue is condensed to focus on the parts that are interesting. Instead, the episode decided to focus on the most uninteresting parts to present them in the most uninteresting way. I loved it.
I didn't love the woman who asked Friday and Gannon to help with her husband. The description from Badge 714 sums it up:
Ann Morgan Guilbert (Millie from 'The Dick Van Dyke Show') is featured as a spousal abuse victim whose complaints are played for laughs. Joe tells her that they can't arrest her husband just for throwing things at her, but if she lets them *hit* her, *then* they can run him in.I tried to look for the history of California domestic-violence law, but I'm about to go to bed, so I don't know how much the legal structure was different in 1968. But Gannon's suggestion that next time it happens she should let her husband hit her, played in much the same dismissive tone that he would later advise a pushy neighbor to "pay the two dollars" for a parking ticket, was a bit sickening.
Of course, perhaps they would've had time to develop the scene further if they hadn't been talking about wallpaper so much.
Last week was rough, but I'm feeling a lot better this week, for the many people who seem to be worried. In addition, I have purchased my tickets for
ojouchan's graduation, and already given her her graduation gift, a ticket to Los Angeles for the end of June.