plato's cave thirty (being a film journal) it is happening again, preliminary words on television

before devoting the art of memory for an indeterminate amount of time to twin peaks, here are some preliminary words on where the author stands in relation to telvision.

i watched twin peaks season 1&2 as it aired on television when i was in high school (1990-1991). i remember watching with my father, who was the first person to get me really excited about film (when i was around 10 we watched the exorcist together and my life was changed forever). viewing twin peaks had an extreme impact on me. the years after, i rented the vhs tapes and purchased the dvds and rewatched numerous numerous times. i had the laserdisc of the film and watched it many times and loved it (still do). of course the majority of season 2 is quite meaningless, the ones directed by lynch are worth watching more than once, and the last one is a masterpiece.

in college and for many more years, i was only interested in the movies, and with the exception of lars von trier's the kingdom from 1994 (which i saw projected at the castro theatre in about 1997 in sf), i didn't watch any television with the exception of rewatching twin peaks which was always my favourite lynch work.

sometime around 2002-2004 i started watching david chase's the sopranos (1999-2007) and david simon's the wire (2002-2008). both shows had a huge impact on me and renewed my interest in television. over the years i have rewatched these two shows 3-4 times. the sopranos came about because goodfellas was a film i watched over and over and this somehow seemed to be a truly original extension of it. also i was bored in a way with film, couldn't related to what was happening at that moment, like wes anderson.

around the time of season 2 of vince gilligan's breaking bad (2008-2013) my good friend recommended i give it a go as it was beyond words and as good as the two previously mentioned, in his estimation. the program knocked my socks off (and still does). the four shows together remain a standard for the potential of tv (twin peaks, the sopranos, the wire, and breaking bad).

in addition to these fine programs, i have enjoyed the following shows or mini series over the years :

• bbc's tinker tailor soldier spy (1979) and smiley's people (1982)
• alastair reid's traffik (1989)
• alastair reid's armistead maupin's tales of the city (1993)
• allan cubitt's the fall (2013-2016)
• chris carter's the x-files (1993 - 2016)
• jane campion and gerard lee's top of the lake (2013-)
• paul feig's freaks and geeks (1999-2000)
• david milch and michael mann's luck (2011-2012)
• ann biderman's southland (2009-2013)
• ann biderman's ray donovan (first season only, 2013)
• fargo (first season, 2014)
• rod serling's the twilight zone (have only seen various, 1959–1964)
• todd haynes' mildred pierce (2001)
• alan clarke's work for tv. saw much of it when living in boston, beautiful work
• frank darabont's the walking dead (2010-) not the best quality but a guilty pleasure
• sean durkin's southcliffe (2013)
• dennis potter's the singing detective (1986)
• lynda la plante's prime suspect (1991-2006)
• jimmy mcgovern 's cracker (1993–1996), have seen only part, but enjoyed
• steven spielberg and tom hanks's band of brothers (2001) & the pacific (2010)
• joshua brand and john falsey's northern exposure (1990-1995), one of my wife's favs, have only seen some
• louis c.k.'s horace and pete (2016), this show is truly profound
• louis c.k.'s louis (2010-2015), another profound one
• nic pizzolatto's true detective (2014), season 1 is one hell of a show. i personally think both vince vaughn's acting and character ruined season 2.
• ray mckinnon's rectify (2013-2016), first couple of seasons
• paul attanasio (and david simon)'s - homicide: life on the street (1993-1999), have only seen some, enjoyed.
• terence winter's boardwalk empire (2010-2014), only liked the first couple/few seasons
• larry david's curb your enthusiasm (200-2009) and of course seinfeld
• richard price and steven zaillian's the night of (2016), one hell of a show
• todd a. kessler, glenn kessler, and daniel zelman's bloodline (2015-), first season is quite good

these shows i feel ambivalent about or downright don't like. listed here to gives some clues of the viewer's taste and preferences :

• game of thrones (some good moments and actorshippe, overall though i don't know....)
• girls (the agony)
• veep
• the leftovers
• lost (my wife always complains at what a waste it was to be addicted to this show.... it starts good)
• westworld (i don't get it)
• treme (lost interest when john goodman leaves)
• six feet under
• hannibal (i love mads mikkelsen and the books but this show just doesn't work)
• the young pope
• homeland (first season is good)
• house of cards (i like the british version, us version is not bad, has some great actors)
• better call saul
• orange is the new black
• stranger things (overfuckingrated, just popular because of the synth resurgence)
• the office (uk & us, i like parts of it)
• sense8
• dexter
• daredevil, luke cage, jessica jones
• black mirror (couple of the brit ones are good like the pigfucker one)
• love
• the oa (good until it got ruined with the "movements" business)
• lilyhammer (started good)
• the strain (interesting for navigating nyc)
• fortitude
• narcos
• sherlock
• bosch
• goliath
• i love dick (listened to kevin bacon interview and show seemed interesting because of the donald judd element but could not get through the first episode)
• the night manager
• mad men (many good parts and actors, but overall not sure about it)
• sons of anarchy
• luther
• broadchurch
• marcella
• river
• happy valley
• californication
• fear the walking dead (started good, lost interest)
• portlandia (some funny bits but mostly not funny)
• miami vice (loved as a kid but not sure if it holds up)
• many more i cannot recall