Posted on 12/14/2004 7:54:41 PM PST by FreedomCalls
LOS ANGELES - Veteran producer Steven Bochco will begin production next month on Over There, a television drama inspired by the war in Iraq.
The series will focus on one sergeant and his platoon, as well as the loved ones they left behind on the home front. It will air on FX, a U.S. cable channel.
John Landgraf, the president of FX, said the show will not take a pro- or anti-war stance.
"There's likely to be some controversy because the war is such a partisan football from both sides," he told the Hollywood Reporter trade paper.
Many of Bochco's productions are known for their gritty realism. He was the driving force behind Hill Street Blues, as well as NYPD Blue, which is about to end its 12-season run.
Over There is a rarity among war dramas as it deals with a war still being fought. The Second World War inspired Hogan's Heroes, the Korean War inspired M*A*S*H* and the Vietnam War inspired Tour of Duty – but all of these aired decades after the fact.
ER alumnus Erik Palladino will head the cast of Over There. Production on the show's pilot episode beginning in mid-January.
"Steven Bochco is one of television's true geniuses, and it's hard to imagine anyone else who could tackle this kind of provocative and challenging subject matter in such an honest and thoughtful way," said Dana Walden, an executive with 20th Century Fox, which is co-producing the show.
You want to bet it will end up being anti-war? Anybody?
But wait...
It's a channel owned by the evil RUPERT MURDOCH, second only to KARL ROVE in the vast neocon conspiracy.
"John Landgraf, the president of FX, said the show will not take a pro- or anti-war stance."
Sure, it won't. Liberal media never injects their own biases into their programming.
If they want it to be successful and make money for them, they'll make it pro-troops, pro-war. If they want to win awards and be held in high esteem by their colleagues, it'll last one season or less and will be anti-war.
My guess is they'll win lots of awards and soon Over There will just be over.
Oh Goody.
I know when I come home from work, I'm going to want to plop down on the couch, crack open a beer and watch a fictionalized hour of the same left-wing, anti-war tripe I just heard on the CBS Evening News.
Wait, did I say that I'd do that?
I meant, "There's not a Clinton's chance in Hell that I'll be tuning in for this show". Two words for you Bochco, COP ROCK.
The loved ones will probably fall into two archetypes:
1. The distraught, can't deal with it, weepy, crying, "my husband is going to get killed for oil", "why son't Rumsfeld give them the armor they need" types.
2. The oversexed wife screwing around with the neighbor who is a know-it-all college professor who teaches her the ultimate folly of marrying military.
There are more than two types of Army wives. I am one, plus and an Army vet also. This series could be handled in a good manner. Though I doubt it will. It could show a realistic portrayal of war. I've lived it and I know that what you see on TV and hear from the politicans, to include right and left, is not always 'realism." I had to send my husband stuff he needed, such as adequate boots, and he's a higher ranking officer. Stephen Bochco has vet Iraq war Marine advising, I would suggest he also enlist Army wives to consult. He could show how even in the Army, there are conflicting sides and feeling about this, but they do their job and are supported by their families, regardless of views. One view doesn't paint the entire picture. As for wives who want their husband's to have proper equipment, ie, the Rumsfeld comment. Is there a problem with that? You may think the media is painting a liberal view of the war with their little newsclips, but it goes beyond that. Nobody is painting a true picture of this war, except the soldiers and their wives who are living it. I cried, I complained, I waved the flag. These are complex issues, not so simple to be just on one side or the other, and that is what I hope this series shows, the internal and external struggles of the military while politics controls our lives. And even Fox doesn't get it right, news channel or TV series, which is yet to be seen. You may think that because you come home and watch a five minute (if that) newsclip that you know what is going on, but you don't. Maybe this will help Americans get the 'bigger' picture of war. Journalists were embedded and showed live, hour by hour coverage, during the first couple of months of this. Where are they now? They risk their lives to get the newsclips and I commend them, but even that does not paint the day-to-day picture that they once were showing. It is some of these views on this forum, that if Bochco does the job right, could enlighten the true realities of war. Weepy, crying wife or oversexed wife? ha!
The comment about the lack of armor is directed at those who place the blame for the lack of armor on Rumsfeld personally. They want Rumsfeld to resign and will choose anything to push that agenda. Do you expect Rumsfeld to get out his Visa Card and personally send each soldier the equipment he needs? If your husband is not getting the equipment he needs, the problem is not with Rumsfeld, it lies much lower down the chain.
Do you think Jane Fonda's portrayal of a military wife in "Coming Home" was an accurate portrayal of the Vietnam-era wife?
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