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antonblender 's review for:
“The Revolution Was Televised” is about the ‘New Golden Age’ of television dramas author Alan Sepinwall believes started with HBO’s prison series “Oz”. Sepinwall devotes a chapter to each of the twelve shows he feels changed the landscape of modern television: “Oz”, “The Sopranos”, “The Wire”, “Deadwood”, “The Shield”, “Lost”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “24”, “Friday Night Lights”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad”.
The common thread that runs through the book is how lucky these shows were to make it to air at all. In most cases it was the case of a network being willing to gamble on a show they didn’t expect to be commercially successful just to have something buzz worthy on their schedule. These twelve gambles paid off, either with mainstream success (“Lost”, “24”) or critical acclaim (“Breaking Bad”, “The Wire”).
“The Revolution Was Televised” is a great read for fans of the shows it covers. It contains lots of interesting information about their origins and development, and with each chapter I found myself wanting to go back and re-watch another beloved series. But I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who had yet to see these dramas — at least, not if they intend to do so someday — because Sepinwall gives away a lot of plot developments along the way. Of course, if you’re one of those people who plans to marathon “The Wire” or “Breaking Bad” someday you can always skip those chapters to avoid being spoiled.
The common thread that runs through the book is how lucky these shows were to make it to air at all. In most cases it was the case of a network being willing to gamble on a show they didn’t expect to be commercially successful just to have something buzz worthy on their schedule. These twelve gambles paid off, either with mainstream success (“Lost”, “24”) or critical acclaim (“Breaking Bad”, “The Wire”).
“The Revolution Was Televised” is a great read for fans of the shows it covers. It contains lots of interesting information about their origins and development, and with each chapter I found myself wanting to go back and re-watch another beloved series. But I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who had yet to see these dramas — at least, not if they intend to do so someday — because Sepinwall gives away a lot of plot developments along the way. Of course, if you’re one of those people who plans to marathon “The Wire” or “Breaking Bad” someday you can always skip those chapters to avoid being spoiled.