I watch a lot of television. Too much or not enough, I’m not sure which. Too much in that the set is constantly on during waking hours when I’m not working. Not enough because there are highly touted shows that I simply haven’t made time for, but know I would enjoy.
That said, two shows have really impressed me this season. One is Billions, which I lauded in a previous post. I thought that the finale was the best television I’ve seen all year. The other is Fargo, which concludes this season’s ten episode run on FX Wednesday.
This week’s chapter was the strongest of the year. It featured at least four scenes which were all time classics. It takes patience to watch Fargo. Noah Hawley is given to flights of self indulgence and needless Coen brother homages, but when he is on, there is very little on television today that can top his writing.
I’m a fan of old time TV. I watch Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip and others from the so called “golden age”. But I must admit, the acting is often terrible, the writing clunky and oh so predictable and the directing lacks creativity and focus.
I’ve long maintained that we are enjoying the best television ever right now. The difference is that it’s scattered among hundreds of networks, not just the three biggies of yesteryear. It takes more effort to find the greats, but the best of them are better than any of those from the ‘good old days’. 6/18/17
