Violence is boring?

So, looks like the very different Weeds is due for yet another season in 2006. This can be very good. Even though the first season showed us a somewhat rocky road we definently saw things that said this is a keeper. Several of the episodes were packed with nice stunts. A seemingly quite stable script with good carachters and very nice casting. The only critic i can give right now is that the episodes are within the half-hour format. Meaning less than thirty minutes. This is inconsistant with trying to push the televisual aesthetics forward (and yes a somewhat cowardly way to test the televisual boundaries). Yes the show is somewhere in the frontlines right now i would say (because of its narrative). Credits to Showtime for trying to do something new and maybe groundbreaking in some ways. Looks like this is one of those shows that have traded the populare violence for sex and drugs. And theire alibi is drama mixed with humour. Though we have seen drugs in similar forms from other series like Six Feet Under. Drugs in popularemedia represent nothing new offcourse. But its the way it is presented thats new. For one, smoking pot on national american television and enjoying it is somewhat spectacular and suprising. But at the same time we see more than ever that the independent networks like Showtime Networks Inc. and HBO are changing the televison drama as we know it. And what a blast it is. So i embrace Weeds and welcome it. Every novelty is welcome no mather in which way.............or so i think now.........

Been a while since we saw something really groundbreaking like the big primetime battleships of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, Curb your enthusiasm, Traders, Northern Exposure, Sex and the city and many, many, more. But the norm of the day seems to be drug and sex before violence. Even though the crime formula lives and thrives more than ever. also see series like The Book of Daniel and The Bedford diaries when it comes to getting away with earlier no-gos. The last one described as;

The Bedford Diaries explores the excitement and intensity of New York City college life through the eyes of six students with different backgrounds, experiences and ages, who are brought together in a provocative Human Behavior and Sexuality seminar.

The seminar, which examines the human condition through sexuality, is taught by controversial Professor Jake Macklin (Matthew Modine, Any Given Sunday, Married to the Mob), who will challenge and inspire his students as they question their assumptions about their own sexuality, life and identity. The themes include sexual responsibility, manipulation, the differences between love and sex, passion and abstinence.

The students' innermost thoughts are told through video diaries they make to fulfill their weekly class assignments.

Well, noone of those last two are somewhere near The L word and the original and british version of Queer as folk. when it comes to depicting privat, awkward and nice sexual situations earlier avoided by every sane television channel and network. But as the hunt for viewers more than ever is consentrating on reaching the few (a demographic niche) instead of everyone (a mass audience), strange things happen. We get change of discourse and narrative. Instead of deciding what people like and sending it (this offcourse still occurs), the different channels are giving people things which surprise them, granting the writer and producers greater creative freedom. Series which are sometimes bold and right up there along with other series which have changed telvisions aesthetic history. Sometimes this consists of bad shows and or bad elements (like The Book of Daniel, etc), other times we get the other side, groundbreaking quality. Sometimes its laughable how low quality some shows have. Other times it takes your breath away by giving you some. The format are far from static so we're in for more. But what next? What will the aestetics transform itself to, or via, next time?

Hmmm........more on this next time....looks like times up.....