New Wine, Old Bottles

When I was learning to write poetry, a teacher told me “never use the same line twice unless it means something different the second time.”  In context, it was excellent advice, although there are times when repetition helps make a point.  I once had a mentor in a different setting tell me “no one listens to you until you’ve said the same thing three times.”  Which is it in television?  It depends.  Some things bear repeating.  But when it comes to resurrecting old TV shows, it seems to me there isn’t much reason to do it unless you can also bring new meaning. 

In the past year we’ve had a few shows resurrected from earlier big or small screen versions.  What I find most  interesting is that all three are about unconventional policing—by which I mean violating the rules or conventions of police procedure for the purpose of a perceived greater justice.  And I think they do mean something different now than they did when they first came out.  Whether that’s for the better or not is up for debate.  While the current discourse portrays our threats from outside as greater than ever, our threats from inside—especially  the threats posed by abusive authority—are almost surely greater.  So shows that valorize rulebreaking by authorities feel behind the times.  Shows that grant authorities more unearned power to hunt those they deem threats seem frightening.  But shows that depict heroes being anti-authoritarian and fighting corruption, feel all the more vital.

We’re going to have a bunch more shows this season that address similar themes, but these are the three that brought back old stories to explore them.  So how did they do?

Training Day (CBS, new.  Law enforcement drama.)

Watched: pilot

Premise: In search of justice for his police-officer father, an earnest LAPD trainee teams with a corrupt training officer.

Promise:  This show takes place 15 years after the events of the (2001) movie.  It features a similarly corrupt-but-compassionate senior cop, and a relatively wholesome trainee who will no doubt moderate, but not end, the ethical transgressions of his boss.  It seems important that the races are reversed; the grizzled older cop is white and the younger one is black, an important difference in this era of disproportionate police violence against young black men.  The show is tonally uneven, but thoughtful in its moral relativism. It asks legitimate questions about the benefits and drawbacks of abusing authority, but crucially and unlike many others in its position, acknowledges that such abuses are actually abusive.

Verdict:  I ‘m drawn to the archetypal hero-who-is-better-at-justice-than-law, but whether this gets old will depend entirely on who our heroes end up fighting against—something the show hasn’t told us yet.

MacGyver (CBS, new Fall 2016.  Action/adventure.)

Watched:  most of the season thus far

Premise:  A team of secret agents, including a young mechanical genius, fight terrorists and criminals.

Promise:  I first have to reveal that I am a HUGE fan of the original MacGyver.  I recognize that not everything holds up well about it (particularly its comfort with racial stereotypes), but it is formative television for me, from which I lack critical distance.  But the reason I love the original is that it represents the victory of intelligence and friendship over violence and cynicism.  The new show has touches of that, but its underlying themes are subtly different.  The new show is more sanguine about guns and violence, and It cares more about showing off its hero’s cleverness than his compassion.  The new show’s team dynamic is effective, but it inherently makes the show more about teamwork than friendship. And the new show is more of an ordinary CBS procedural about solving crimes than it is an adventure about solving problems. 

Verdict: The differences are subtle, and I still enjoy the new show (especially its improved roles for competent, self-assured women), but it doesn’t quite have the specialness of its precursor.  Which is sad.

Lethal Weapon (Fox, new.  Banter procedural.)

Watched: several episodes

Premise:  buddy-cop procedural featuring a loose cannon from Texas reeling from his wife's death and a family man returning to the force after recovering from a heart attack.

Promise:  based on the 1987 film. This isn't breaking any radical ground, and I don't know the original well enough to know whether it's doing anything new to speak of, but it's a totally serviceable banter procedural. The buddy cop dynamic works well, there's a nice smattering of action, and the show does better than it needs to with its depictions of PTSD and self-destructive mourning.  I find its attitudes about wives a little retrograde - it relies on the pedestal and battle-ax wife tropes more than I'd prefer - but it counteracts those with come competent and self-assured women.

Verdict:  Not appointment television, but quite watchable.

In the Hopper:  lots!