TV Series review - Due South
I've recently been laid up with a chest cold. Feeling (gasp!) even too poorly to write (a true measure of illness) and coughing too much to read, I turned to the final resort of the sick-at-home: daytime TV.
I'll admit to watching, and enjoying, several episodes of "The Incredible Hulk", including one in which Lou Ferrigno had a "real" part as a bodybuilder. The shows hold up rather well, even beyond the nostalgia factor. But no matter how enjoyable a TV show may be, the accumulated effect of commercials soon turns me to those lively shiny disks, DVDs.
I grabbed a likely distraction off of the to-be-watched pile (OK, Pile 1 of many), the 1994 series "Due South". Though I had not seen the show when aired, I had heard favorable reports of it at the time and so saved it to watch when Patricia purchased it as trade goods at a yard sale.
The premise of the show is simple: a Canadian Mountie, down from the Yukon to serve on the gritty streets of Chicago with a street-wise local partner. Buddy situation, with the fish-out-of-water twist used many times before and since.
I found the show endearing from the get-go -- personable actors, clever writing, a "good heart". To call it a fish-out-of-water plot is actually misleading, since Constable Benton Fraser swims quite well even in the dirty waters of Chicago, bringing a mix of common sense, trail experience, and Holmesian observation to the task. He is more of a Stranger In a Strange Land.
But a warm, charming, and sincere Stranger -- Fraser, the ultimate Boy Scout, cares about honor, cares about the law, cares about people... He is ever ready to help, not only little old ladies with their groceries but whomever he meets. Even the jaded police officers around him start to be affected by this shining (literally, in his Mountie uniform) example of uprightness and empathy.
There are several running bits such as the Mountie's eternal spotlessness even in the midst of crime and grime, vague references to his odd past, and his use of educational Inuit folktales. Fraser, cleancut and handsome, is also a chick magnet but is either oblivious to their attentions or dumbfounded how to deal with them when he does notice.
The show is a pleasant fantasy; Fraser is present "in an unofficial capacity" (his day job is door guard at the Canadian Consulate) but is always involved in jurisdiction-sensitive police matters. He also dislikes guns and somehow always manages to counter well-armed thugs with footwork and fisticuffs. (And, oh -- the Mountie's sidekick is a willful deaf wolf.)
"Due South" is also an odd balance of gritty street realism, dry humor, and near-slapstick. One particularly schizophrenic episode features Leslie Nielsen in a noir turn (as an old bull cop hunted by his greatest enemy) which lets him show his chops as a serious old-school actor, then the next moment has him take a pratfall right out of the Airplane! movies. The show alternates between buddy comedy, street drama, and social commentary, all with a great soundtrack.
Definitely recommended, and worth the viewing.
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There is a bit of an anachronism about the show, and I'm not just referring to the mobile phones the size of a shoe. It is common today, with DVD sales perhaps even more lucrative than the initial airing of a series, for series arcs to be long and complex, with minor characters re-appearing to add texture to the setting. In the mid-90s this practice was less common, and "Due South" stands out for having a wealth of interesting minor characters, street people and local residents, about whom we slowly come to know more. It adds to the thoughtfulness and humanocentric nature of the series as a whole, and presumably this approach had an effect upon cast and crew.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is also interesting timing that I should watch this show now, with its inherent discussion of what it is to be helpful to other people and my recent essay on service.
I'll admit to watching, and enjoying, several episodes of "The Incredible Hulk", including one in which Lou Ferrigno had a "real" part as a bodybuilder. The shows hold up rather well, even beyond the nostalgia factor. But no matter how enjoyable a TV show may be, the accumulated effect of commercials soon turns me to those lively shiny disks, DVDs.
I grabbed a likely distraction off of the to-be-watched pile (OK, Pile 1 of many), the 1994 series "Due South". Though I had not seen the show when aired, I had heard favorable reports of it at the time and so saved it to watch when Patricia purchased it as trade goods at a yard sale.
The premise of the show is simple: a Canadian Mountie, down from the Yukon to serve on the gritty streets of Chicago with a street-wise local partner. Buddy situation, with the fish-out-of-water twist used many times before and since.
I found the show endearing from the get-go -- personable actors, clever writing, a "good heart". To call it a fish-out-of-water plot is actually misleading, since Constable Benton Fraser swims quite well even in the dirty waters of Chicago, bringing a mix of common sense, trail experience, and Holmesian observation to the task. He is more of a Stranger In a Strange Land.
But a warm, charming, and sincere Stranger -- Fraser, the ultimate Boy Scout, cares about honor, cares about the law, cares about people... He is ever ready to help, not only little old ladies with their groceries but whomever he meets. Even the jaded police officers around him start to be affected by this shining (literally, in his Mountie uniform) example of uprightness and empathy.
There are several running bits such as the Mountie's eternal spotlessness even in the midst of crime and grime, vague references to his odd past, and his use of educational Inuit folktales. Fraser, cleancut and handsome, is also a chick magnet but is either oblivious to their attentions or dumbfounded how to deal with them when he does notice.
The show is a pleasant fantasy; Fraser is present "in an unofficial capacity" (his day job is door guard at the Canadian Consulate) but is always involved in jurisdiction-sensitive police matters. He also dislikes guns and somehow always manages to counter well-armed thugs with footwork and fisticuffs. (And, oh -- the Mountie's sidekick is a willful deaf wolf.)
"Due South" is also an odd balance of gritty street realism, dry humor, and near-slapstick. One particularly schizophrenic episode features Leslie Nielsen in a noir turn (as an old bull cop hunted by his greatest enemy) which lets him show his chops as a serious old-school actor, then the next moment has him take a pratfall right out of the Airplane! movies. The show alternates between buddy comedy, street drama, and social commentary, all with a great soundtrack.
Definitely recommended, and worth the viewing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a bit of an anachronism about the show, and I'm not just referring to the mobile phones the size of a shoe. It is common today, with DVD sales perhaps even more lucrative than the initial airing of a series, for series arcs to be long and complex, with minor characters re-appearing to add texture to the setting. In the mid-90s this practice was less common, and "Due South" stands out for having a wealth of interesting minor characters, street people and local residents, about whom we slowly come to know more. It adds to the thoughtfulness and humanocentric nature of the series as a whole, and presumably this approach had an effect upon cast and crew.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is also interesting timing that I should watch this show now, with its inherent discussion of what it is to be helpful to other people and my recent essay on service.
posted by InsightStraight @ 3:35 PM
1 Comments:
At 1:43 AM,
Anonymous said…
Thanks for writing this.
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