Intelligence

I finally realized today (thanks to a visit to our group by Globe and Mail TV Critic John Doyle) that it is insufferable hypocrisy for me to whinge about broadcasters in Canada putting out so little one-hour drama, when I'm not even watching Intelligence. And what do you know, it was on tonight, conveniently timed after Friday Night Lights, my fave new series this season. Lights just got picked up for the season by NBC, by the way, so no more excuses about how it might not last long, start watching! It looks like it's about football, but really it's about passion and dreams and heartache and yearning and small towns and classism and faith and inspiration and fighting off other people's versions of you to create your own version. Oh god it's good.

I did actually try to watch the pilot of Intelligence, but the show is meaty and complex and I was too tired to give it the proper attention. I'm still a bit confused, but will attempt to read the character descriptions and episode recaps kindly provided over at the CBC website, and get on board. This is when a PVR would definitely come in handy, as I'm guessing there's not a huge torrent fan club for Intelligence. Because after seeing it tonight, I would like to start from the beginning. It's good. It's dense. The characters are "fun" (as in creepy double-crossers) and interesting (as in creepy double-crossers). I don't really watch any cops and robbers shows (though I'm trying Wire because I've heard such good things), but I want to give this a chance, and I want everyone else to watch to prove that there is a market in Canada for well-made one-hour dramas.

And it is well-made. Intricate scripts, fine acting and the production values are outstanding. I put a call in to my DP and demanded that he watch the show and get back to me on how much it will cost to make a show look that good. I'll see if I can find out how much CBC is spending on each ep, because it looks damn good. You know, as in, "I might mistake it for an American show." You know it's true.

Ian Tracey is Jimmy Reardon, crime boss, in Intelligence

We were talking today about what it takes for an audience to get behind a criminal as a character and we decided that if he cares about a family member and is a good leader, that helps a lot. Well, Jimmy Reardon has a daughter and a loyal crew, so the theory holds so far...

OK must get some sleep because I am pitching/workshopping my two one-hour dramas tomorrow -- one of them to two different guests! Would be perhaps more stressed out about this but I've been too busy to think much about it. Yesterday, presented a 90 minute deconstruction of The L Word (hilarious - me trying to explain all the relationships in a lesbian soap opera to a crowd of unbelievers), and today we had a deadline to turn in a first draft of our half-hour portion of our mini-series. One thing for sure, I'm now completely sold on solid outlining before going to draft. By the time I got to drafting, it was a breeze compared to the usual sweating bullets!

"See, I'm already learning something here..."