The Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page had a few comments on political TV in his January 1, 2004, column titled “Why I Hate Watching Fake Washington on TV.” He has his own take on the value of the Washington drama as he cites a number of political shows, including The Blacklist, Hostages, The Americans, Homeland, Scandal, Veep, Netfix’s House of Cards, and Amazon’s Alpha House. Of these, I am partial to The Blacklist (due to the solid acting skills of James Spader) and House of Cards
(since it is a very creative and eye-catching remake of the British
original). I am also starting to take a liking to Alpha House (I
will give Goodman another chance after HBO’s Treme). But if you need to escape the Washington blues, I can think of no better antidote than Denmark’s Borgen, which just finished its third season. As I have noted in earlier posts, the perils of a coalition government far surpasses any of the drama in DC. And Borgen
actually covers meaty issues without the persistent threat of a
government shut down. The real Washington drama has lost its way. Give
the Danes a chance.
Update: If you want more on these political shows, check out T.A. Frank's New Republic article, "America's Least-Favorite City Has Become Television's Favorite Subject." In discussing the new interest in Washington, DC, he notes,
So when we look at our wealthy capital city and see a group of people getting everything wrong, sometimes lying, and generally turning into that mean pimp, we want someone to show us why this is happening. We want a story that will impose some explanatory order on Washington’s horribleness. Each new show about Washington—one after the other after the other after the other—does that. Each says, “Let me be your guide and explainer. Here’s how Washington really works. Here’s the real story behind that awful place.”
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