One late evening, in the spring of 2006, I was zapping through the stations and stumbled upon Global, where I saw the face of Michael Chiklis. I had seen him before in a series entitled The Commish, so I thought that I'd see what this new program was all about.
Usually, within 5 minutes of watching anything new, I have a pretty good idea as to whether or not I like it. It wasn't different with The Shield, and I was rather pleased when I discovered that this program aired practically every night, for several weeks, which allowed me to become familiar with the series and watch the actors' interpretation.
Later that spring, I went to the video store and bargained with the staff there in order to be able to rent any of the seasons then available and have a whole week to watch it. Given the amount of material in each season, I wouldn't have had the time to watch any given season in just two or three days.
I didn't get to watch all seasons on television, but through renting videos, I had an opportunity to follow the action. I found The Shield so well-written and so well-acted that I even used the subtitles and transcribed, by hand, word for word, everything that was said. Maybe it's a Writer thing, but I was really impressed with the writing of this series, not like any other series that I've seen before.
There were some parts which were disturbing, for example the burning necklaces used by Mexicans, the segment where Armadillo's face gets burned by Vic Mackey, other segments featuring Forest Whitaker, who has a truly despicable part in this series, though he interprets it convincingly, and of course the tragical moment when Lem gets a grenade thrown in his lap.
Since 2006, I have seen a few other series who have tried to emulate some of the staging techniques of The Shield, with mitigated success.
One thing that I particularly liked about The Shield is the fact that there is no gratuitous sex, no gratuitous violence and no excessive use of bad language. The end result is that despite some violent scenes, the entire series is perceived as believable. There is also no dumb humour, no stupid cliché-type jokes, which made me feel as though the writers of the series respect viewers' intelligence and don't want to give in to cartoonish situations.
I like it very much when I see an actor who was on The Shield get a part on another show, for example CSI, Law & Order or other such program.
Maybe Michael Chiklis feels kind of sorry when people remind him about The Commish, but it was useful for him to have acted in that series, prior to being chosen as lead actor in The Shield, because hadn't it been for The Commish, I might not have known him, then wanted to see how he did on The Shield, when the latter series was new to me. I agree with some of his friends that his role in The Shield is his best work so far, and it sets the bar very high for anything else that he might do, probably because of the quality of writing for The Shield. Being a Writer, I am in an ideal situation to assess whether a script has value, or not.
Now I have the entire series, 28 DVDs and 88 *arresting* episodes, and this boxset is so well put together that I plan on keeping it for a long, long time. It's contained in a big book, almost dictionary size, and the DVDs each go into their own slot, no plastic boxes, which makes it easy to keep track and take care of the disks.
Congratulations on the entire writing team of The Shield, and congratulations also to each and every actor who played in it, because apart from a few babies or very small children, I've found that they are all excellent and give their best performance, which contributes to making this series the best that I've ever seen and am now proud to own.
My first language is French, but as the series is set in South-Central Los Angeles, I have watched it in English, because any other language wouldn't feel as real, given the geographical location of this great series.
I hope that some day The Shield will be presented by other networks, because it is superior to many shows that are very popular right now, while not being as well-written, nor as well-acted.
Best wishes and long, happy life to everyone involved in The Shield.
Usually, within 5 minutes of watching anything new, I have a pretty good idea as to whether or not I like it. It wasn't different with The Shield, and I was rather pleased when I discovered that this program aired practically every night, for several weeks, which allowed me to become familiar with the series and watch the actors' interpretation.
Later that spring, I went to the video store and bargained with the staff there in order to be able to rent any of the seasons then available and have a whole week to watch it. Given the amount of material in each season, I wouldn't have had the time to watch any given season in just two or three days.
I didn't get to watch all seasons on television, but through renting videos, I had an opportunity to follow the action. I found The Shield so well-written and so well-acted that I even used the subtitles and transcribed, by hand, word for word, everything that was said. Maybe it's a Writer thing, but I was really impressed with the writing of this series, not like any other series that I've seen before.
There were some parts which were disturbing, for example the burning necklaces used by Mexicans, the segment where Armadillo's face gets burned by Vic Mackey, other segments featuring Forest Whitaker, who has a truly despicable part in this series, though he interprets it convincingly, and of course the tragical moment when Lem gets a grenade thrown in his lap.
Since 2006, I have seen a few other series who have tried to emulate some of the staging techniques of The Shield, with mitigated success.
One thing that I particularly liked about The Shield is the fact that there is no gratuitous sex, no gratuitous violence and no excessive use of bad language. The end result is that despite some violent scenes, the entire series is perceived as believable. There is also no dumb humour, no stupid cliché-type jokes, which made me feel as though the writers of the series respect viewers' intelligence and don't want to give in to cartoonish situations.
I like it very much when I see an actor who was on The Shield get a part on another show, for example CSI, Law & Order or other such program.
Maybe Michael Chiklis feels kind of sorry when people remind him about The Commish, but it was useful for him to have acted in that series, prior to being chosen as lead actor in The Shield, because hadn't it been for The Commish, I might not have known him, then wanted to see how he did on The Shield, when the latter series was new to me. I agree with some of his friends that his role in The Shield is his best work so far, and it sets the bar very high for anything else that he might do, probably because of the quality of writing for The Shield. Being a Writer, I am in an ideal situation to assess whether a script has value, or not.
Now I have the entire series, 28 DVDs and 88 *arresting* episodes, and this boxset is so well put together that I plan on keeping it for a long, long time. It's contained in a big book, almost dictionary size, and the DVDs each go into their own slot, no plastic boxes, which makes it easy to keep track and take care of the disks.
Congratulations on the entire writing team of The Shield, and congratulations also to each and every actor who played in it, because apart from a few babies or very small children, I've found that they are all excellent and give their best performance, which contributes to making this series the best that I've ever seen and am now proud to own.
My first language is French, but as the series is set in South-Central Los Angeles, I have watched it in English, because any other language wouldn't feel as real, given the geographical location of this great series.
I hope that some day The Shield will be presented by other networks, because it is superior to many shows that are very popular right now, while not being as well-written, nor as well-acted.
Best wishes and long, happy life to everyone involved in The Shield.
The reason we need The Shield is because it is the best cop drama ever. This show has changed TV forever. It is so hard to believe that it will be ending this year. So many Shield fans will be lost without it. We can`t just forget about it and move on from it. This show was and will always be a TV landmark, it has made history. The Shield has changed everyone`s outlook on cop shows. The great thing about The Shield is it isn`t like traditional police dramas. It has its own theme, style and it`s own unique way of making us think, even if sometimes that means thinking and agreeing with the wrong things. Another good thing about this is its excellent casting and writing. The Shield is probably the best written show on TV. Not to mention its insane realism, and sensational acting and lastly its strong, compelling storylines that put you on the edge of your seat every episode. These are the reasons why we need The Shield.