COMING SOON TO A TV SCREEN NEAR YOU - 3 PREVIEWS OF TOP US DRAMAS In the wake of losing tong term mainstays Friends, Sex and the City, and Frasier; there has been a scramble from some networks to purchase the best dramas that are currently way off radar to the average U.K. citizen. Considering Sky's reasonable success with Nip/Tuck last year, and Five's continuing success stories The Shield and the CSI: franchise, it is worth noting which major series of the last 6 months have been picked up to fill the void in our viewing schedules. The major contributor to this new dawn is unsurprisingly HBO. HBO has delivered the best dramas, and arguably the best comedies for the last few years. The Sopranos, Oz, Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm has all received success of some description in the U.K.  From the Sopranos and Sex and the City becoming a phenomenon on Channel 4, to Oz and Curb's appeal to the connoisseur of quality Tv on E4 and BBC Four respectively. It is from HBO that a triumvirate of new dramas will hit these shores later in the year. Two will go to newly established digital channel FX UK, adding to the Shield as it bids to consolidate its position as a quality drama provider. One will go to Sky One, where some dramas have followed the direction of the US audience and been left as soon as they were dropped in the U.S. (The Handler, Jake 2.0), and some have been able to consolidate their position as a favourite (24, Scrubs). The three dramas that are set to shake up the schedules are The Wire, Carnivale, and Deadwood.
	THE WIRE Police Cop Dramas seem to be ten a penny these days. U.S. cop shows, however, have always outshone our U.K. counterparts in style, quality of script, and execution of performances. The trend began with Steven Bochco and David Milch's excellent "Hill Street Blues"; a show depicting solid partnerships, likeable characters, and problematic characters with interesting backstories. In the mid-nineties, shows began to have much more edge and grit with the hard-hitting NYPD Blue; a blunt but emotional drama, again from Bochco and Milch and Homicide: Life on the Street; Created by Paul Attanasio, who went on to write Donnie Brasco, Homicide was adapted from the book "Homicide: A year on the killing Streets"  by former Baltimore Sun Newspaper police reporter David Simon. Critically acclaimed and winner of numerous awards, it never really got the audiences it deserved, and after seven seasons, was cancelled in 1998.
	However, the stark reality and reluctance to over-glamourise was its true strength, described by some in the US press as "The most realistic police show on television." This realism would continue on Simon's first work with the HBO channel; the Award-winning mini-series the Corner.  Based on the book of the same name, Simon would be allowed to work more closely to the language of the book, without having the censorship restrictions Homicide had with NBC. Clearly Simon had the impetus of producing a gritty drama series in an environment he could see his work achieve its hard-hitting message with the minimal amount of editing or tarnishing from the network. In the Summer of 2002, The Wire was born. A "Wire" is a coloquial term used by F.B.I for a surveillance device used in high-priority cases; it is a means to tap into audio - usually conversations on a phone. It is usually used as a last resort when all other measures have been exhausted, and such exhaustion is a legal requirement for using electronic intercepts. In terms of the show, The Wire would become the most graphic, coarsely explicit, darkly profound cop show to ever grace a network.In essence, it focuses on Detective Jimmy McNulty (played by Dominic West), and his interest in owner of the Ghetto Dope scene of West-side Baltimore, Avon Barksdale (played by Wood Harris). Whilst working cases, McNulty drops in on a case where Berksdale's nephew D'Angelo (Larry Gilliard Jr.) is freed from a murder charge, when intimidation and bribery of a witness is carried out by Berksdale's henchmen, led by his lieutennant Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). McNulty divulges the Barksdale monopoly to a friend a presiding judge on that case, Daniel Phelan (Peter Gerety), who consequently alerts both the Homicide and Narcotics Unit of Berksdale involvement in the drugs control of west baltimore, and the number of deaths tied to him and his crew. This royally pisses off Colonel William Rawls, Deputy of Operations Ervin Burrell, and Lieutenant Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick), who is saddled with a task force of no-hopers to bring a case together to make the judge go away. From here, events go into more detail, and characters are given some dimension before the importance of "The Wire" comes into play. This is quite easily the best drama to appear on U.S. Television in recent memory, in both the message delivered, the empathy served on the characters, and portrayal of life in the Baltimore ghetto. So much so, it has been chastised by Senior figures, but shown much adoration by the everyman police serving the streets.
	CARNIVALE "1934. The Dust Bowl. The last great age of magic. In a time of titanic sandstorms, drought and pestilence - all signs of God's fury and harbingers of the Apocalypse - the final conflict between good and evil is about to begin. The battle will take place in the Heartland of an empire called America. And when it is over, man will forever trade away wonder for reason." The battle between good and evil forces has been done to death (American Gothic, Kingdom Hospital), but using the unlikely premise of a carnival troupe as a plot device has proved to be rather intriguing for U.S. audiences this past year. Probably the most Lynchian-esque drama to grace TV since Twin Peaks. Indeed, the opening monolgue by Michael J. Anderson (Twin Peaks) as Samson is intense and enigmatic as anything Lynch ever did. Carnivale focuses on a travelling troupe who recruit Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) after he loses his mother
	to illness, and home to road developers. Meanwhile, pastor Brother Justin (Clancy Brown) sees flashes of evil and contends with a woman spewing money who joins the congregation, much to the chagrin of the regular worshippers. Hawkins is unwittingly highlighted as having the power to repair a injury/illness, and it is suggested by management that he was chosen for some capacity.  In the meantime, he strikes up a relationship with tarot-reader Sofie (Clea Duvall) and medium for her mind reader mother Apollonia (Diane Salinger). Grandiose production and intriuging storylines, but ultimately Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin are set to be wrenched from their lives crossing paths as the conflict between the light and the darkness is played out like a chessboard. Virtual Unknown Daniel Knauf created Carnivale but has enlisted the support of writers including Henry Bromell (Northern Exposure, Homicide) and Directors Peter Medak (The Krays) and Jeremy Podeswa (Six Feet Under and The Wire) to ensure this has the quality crew to match the quality production and pedigree of the series.
	DEADWOOD "In an age of plunder and greed, the richest gold strike in American History draws a throng of restless misfits to an outlaw settlement where everything - and everyone - has a price. Welcome to Deadwood...a hell of a place to make your fortune." A Western with a difference. Deadwood is set two weeks after Custer's defeat at the Battle of Little Big Horn, and marries truth and fiction to conjure up an epic tale of morality in history. Deadwood is located in the Black Hills Indian Cession, and is in fact an illegal settlement, attractive to a spectrum of characters with one motive in common; Greed.  Inhabitants would include Outlaws, Entrepreneurs, Ex-Soldiers, Labourers, Prostitutes, City men and Gunslingers.s The other attraction to Deadwood, is it is a town with no law. Among the new inhabitants, former sherriff of Montana, Seth Bullock (played by Timothy Olyphant) and his business partner Sol Star (John Hawkes) rent a hardware
	store from resident monger, property landlord and Machiavellian saloon owner Al Swearengen (played by the excellent Ian McShane).  The town is entranced by the introduction of celebrity and lawman Wild Bill Hickock (Keith Carradine), whose gambling addiction is as notorious as he is legendary. Nefarious goings on are tackled by Hickock and  Bullock and it soon becomes apparent that Swearengen will need to act, in order to maintain his dastardly dealings without being dealt with himself by the former lawmen. Very strong language, and Gratuitous nudity and violence from David Milch, who could only go as far as piss and dick, and nudity from the back with NYPD Blue. Once again the free licence from HBO allows boundaries to be pushed back and historical drama gets given an undeniable sense of realism. The Wire and Carnivale are set to be broadcast on the FX channel this year, Whilst Sky One gets Deadwood. Expect detailed reviews soon. Craig Aston. Comments?
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