By the Rivers of Babylon 5 Tuesday, March 08, 2005

A friend of mine suggests B5 as a Sipowicz Show. I get his point (and apologize for never really giving that show a fair shake): The characters go through all sorts of mishegais by the end. But even as an outsider I recognize that B5 was a really densely plotted show with story arcs flying across each other. What makes NYPD Blue unique, I think, is that Sipowicz is the show is entirely about him: No larger plots, the minor characters don't last or don't go through significant changes. It would be like the doctor in The Fugitive growing to like life on the road, or David Banner figuring out how to stop becoming The Hulk.

At any rate, it's interesting that all the best choices along these lines are genre shows. Can you think of a really commanding character from a regular family drama (or whatever else is on TV)? Or is it all cop shows and lawyer shows?

Meanwhile, the Bay Ridge contingent had a lot of interesting comments on Quintet that I couldn't think of a good answer for but I appreciated hearing. One thing that did occur to me: The movie is part of a subgenre that I usually like a lot, one where you're dropped into an alien world (or complicated story) with little or no explanation, and many fundamental questions are still left open at the end. M. Night What's His Name forces stuff like this, but if it's done elegantly, the movies can be incredibly creepy and effective. Of course, now I can't think of a single example. Carnival of Souls? Or that crummy Jon Cusack movie from a few years ago, where everybody's trapped in a motel during a storm?

@ 7:57:00 AM,

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