illest's #1 TV Critic Talks About Rescue Me & The Shield

[Momeijah]

Ok So, i Just Started Watching The Shield Yesterday, And ive Been a Die Hard Rescue Me Fan Since i Got Season 1 On DVD For My 16th. (This Was After id Seen Parts Of it On TV And Decided id Like To Watch it Properly From The Start). Both Of These Shows, u Can Catch On FX (Along With Other Awesome Shows), Because FX is One Badass Channel And u Bitches Are Gnna Listen To Me.

So Let's Start With; The Similarities in These Two Shows, And a Brief Summary Of Them. Both Could Be Considered 'Black Comedies' (Not Black Comedies as in The Cosby Show Or Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Oh Haha i Use This Joke Too Much). Black Comedies as in Pulp Fiction Or Fight Club. They Fall into The Drama Category Also, Not Every Scene is Humourous, And Not Every One is Serious. Why Are These Kind Of Shows Risky? Well Take Scrubs For Example, it Changes From Meaningful To Slapstick a Bit Too Abruptly. Now Scrubs is Primarily a Comedy, These Shows Aren't, They're Primarily Drama. Why Are These Kind Of Shows Great? Because They're The Closest To Real Life a TV Show Can Get, u Can Feel For/Relate To/Hate The Characters, And They Have Elements Of Life That Are Missing From a Lot Of Popular TV Characters.

What im Saying By 'Closest To Real Life' is That The Aforementioned Characters Don't Just Talk About/Act Upon The Plot ALL The Time. There Will Be Moments Where They Casually Talk About The Most Random Shit Ever (Like Us in The Real World). a Good Example Would Be in Rescue Me Where All The Guys in The Fire House Are Joking About What Celebrities They Look Like, Or When Tommy Gavin Randomly Asks People What The Best Kevin Costner Movies Are. Just Any Subject That Comes Up, That's What Breathes a Little More Life into Shows (imo).

Another Advantage is The Approach They Take To Character Development. Every Character in Rescue Me Has Their Own Storyline, Some Tied With Others' Storylines, Some Not. There is ALWAYS a Main Plot, But it's Not The Only One That Keeps People Waiting For The Next Episode. Since ive Only Seen 3 Episodes Of The Shield i Can't Really Judge Their Approach But What ive Seen So Far is Good.

Both Shows Have Their Main Protagonist; Rescue Me's Being Tommy Gavin (Played By Denis Leary - Of Stand Up Fame), And The Shield's Being Vic Mackey (Played By Michael Chiklis, Of 'Fantastic Four' Fame). Another Fun Fact is Rescue Me is About Firemen, While The Shield is About Cops. Anyway, Tommy Gavin is an irish-American Alcoholic Firefighter Who's Lived in New York All His Life And Works On The 62 Truck. When The Show Begins He is in The Middle Of a Divorce With His Wife Janet And Living Across The Street From Her And His 3 Kids (Connor, Colleen And Katy). He is Portrayed as a Tough, Loudmouth Typical irish-American Guy Who isn't Afraid To Take Risks On The Job, as That's Where His Heart Lies. He Has a Lot Of Passion For Fighting Fires And Still Struggles To Cope With The Events Of 9/11, Where He Lost Co-Workers including His Cousin (And Best Friend) Jimmy Keefe. a Lot Of Season 1 is Related To 9/11 And Each Fireman's Different Ways Of Dealing With The Pain, it's Not Such a Big Factor in Later Seasons But it Stays as One Of The Main Topics.

The Shield's Main Character is Vic Mackey. Like Tommy Gavin, He's The 'Big Dog' in His Department, And is Always Bending The Rules (Police Brutality - as Long as it Gets The Job Done), Not Unlike Tommy's Risky Approaches To Rescuing People. He's Portrayed Quite Similar To Tommy, as in Being The Tough Guy, The Rouge Even. Mackey Also Loves His Job And While He's a No Games Type Of Guy in The Field, We See Him as a Calm And Friendly Father When He's With His Family.

Both Characters Have Their Teams. Tommy Having; Franco Rivera, a Puerto Rican Lady's Man. Shawn Garrity, Not The Brightest Bulb, But Good For Comic Relief. Chief Jerry Reilly, Typical Old Skool Firefighter/Tough Guy Who Loves His Crew. Kenny 'Lou' Shea, The Smart Mouth Of The Crew, Another Veteran. And Mike Silletti, The Probie Who's Also Pretty Dumb, Gets Picked On a Lot, Has Some Fucked Up Sexual Experiences. Throughout The Show We Get To Know These Characters Pretty Well But ill Let u All Find Out The Details For Yourself.

What i Know About The Shield's Characters So Far is That Shane Seems Like The Garrity Of The Show, Julien is Similar To Mike (And Not Just Because He's The New Guy!), And 'Dutch Boy' is Like a Mix Of The Two. Now im Not Gnna Continue Comparing The Characters Because it's Two Different Shows And All These Guys Are individuals. But im Just Giving Y'all an idea. This Was Enough Typing For Me, i Suggest u Watch These Two Shows. (Also ill Probably Edit More into This Later Because There's Probably Gnna Be Some Shit i Forgot To Say Lol).

[Momeijah]

Lmao @ Digging a Dead Body Up And Holding it For Ransom in The Shield. Also, i Like How They Are On a Different Case Nearly Every Episode. Keeps it Fresh.

[complexity]

Great review, and yes, The Shield is very good about character development.

It's one of the trademarks of the show.

[Momeijah]

Word.

[*.HarleQuin.*]

umm im not reading all this because it's about TV shows??
come on now
nice vocab tho

[16 Micz]

get a life.

[Momeijah]

im Sorry Most Of ur Brains Don't Expand Beyond Keystyling And Beatmaking. ill Take My Talents Else Where Lol. Plex, On The Other Hand. How's it Going? Lol