Cops of The Sixth Sense

Okay, it's just a TV show. But I've been watching Ashes to Ashes, Life on Mars before that. Not the crappy runway version America produced, but the sharp, funny and interesting BBC originals. On YT. My weekends often have BBC on YT as filler.

Ashes to Ashes was a regular-quality, good cop show. Like Hill St Blues when it began. It even had a twist, in both series the protagonist was a cop whose life in now-time was imperiled and then they woke up in another decade, still a cop, at the precinct they'd been in. They were unsure if they were really there, had flashes of the other life with fairly imaginative non-sequitors thrown in to disturb them. They were unsure of whether they were even conscious and experiencing what happens in a coma. Their running theme was trying to do whatever they had to to get home.

Behind them, or above them, was Gene Hunt their DI, played by an actor named Phillip Glenister, who owns this role. Great shows. Almost movielike, I'd lose my thoughts and troubles while I disappeared into the 70s or 80s for an hour and admired the solid production, good acting and Mr. Glenister.

This last weekend brought the end of A2A. Many, though not all, ends were tied off and resolved. Questions of why and what are mostly answered and there were even surprises. But it felt kinda cheesy (bringing in Satan is the Godwin's Law of television- no matter how outstanding the acting). And I thought the series deserved better, like Gene Hunt did. OK it's imaginative enough and isn't a bad thing for an afterlife, doing what you love. But the whole Satan temptation in the form of an Internal Affairs inspector? Reminds me of the end of Stephen King books. The books are great, a good ride, but the endings always flounder. It's like eating healthy meals. You're satisfied, but not all happy-fied with the afterglow of say, chocolate cake. Not that life should be about cake, but when it's a multiple funeral, bring out the chocolate cake, godammit, I say!

So now I'm hunting for another TV series to pick up. Done The Royle Family, QI, Jonathan Creek, Hetty Wainthrop, You Rang M'Lord, and most of the panel shows. I've all but given up on cable TV. I'll still watch PBS regularly, and the (now renamed) "SyFy" channel. After 3 years of not having TV, nothing's changed in US television. It's idiot programming, meant to keep people stupid, content and fat. That's how they like us. Thank gods for YouTube.