Picturesque XIX
This is a show that airs every Monday, at nine o’clock PM Pacific Standard, on NBC (Channel 4). This is Third Watch, a television show about New York’s finest: the NYPD, FDNY, and the Paramedics (part of the FDNY). For one hour, one night, each I am transported to present-day New York (including September 11) where I hear and seereal people’s problems in a real world, or as real as television can possibly achieve.
Third Watch is relatively new, as far as I know. At the latest, it is in its second or third season; at the earliest, it started this year. Even at the start the show interested me, but I am no longer the avid watcher of television I used to be; so instead of sitting for an hour watching a story unfold I would usually be on the computer, making my own story.
Then September 11, 2001 rolled around. A strange, sad day it was. I think it is safe and true to say that I entered my own little depression. I began to watch television, the news, more frequently; an odd thing, that, because we as Californians know just how silly our TV news can be sometimes. But the times had changed, and I felt a need to know exactly what was going on, when and where; why was never asked, nor was it answered.
That is how I stumbled onto Third Watch. I was watching the news; it was a commercial break. I was still in my small depression. The commercial said the show was going to deal with the attacks. Amazingly, that was something I needed. So on that Monday night I watched the show.
Save for the television news, Third Watch was the only show, that I know of, that directly dealt with the September 11 attacks. It was the only show that dealt with it in a way only true human beings could. I believe the subject matter behind the series itself demanded such, for the characters are of the forces that are on the front lines of New York daily. The characters could be real, could be seen and spoken to, were they real. And who is to say they are not based off of actual New Yorkers?
The main actors and actresses are phenomenal. For all I know each and every one of them could be from the West Coast, or the Mid-West, or the South, but on Third Watch they are true New Yorkers.
The stories are beautifully executed, character driven to the core, a concept I have not seen in television shows for a long time. I enjoy other shows, of course, but none allow for such sympathy as Third Watch. These are real people, with real problems, in a real world.
It’s about time.
