Content area
Full Text
A man and a woman. A mother and a father. Divorced. Having failed in relationships, trying again. After dating a while, they're ready to have sex -- or think they are.
Nervous. Scared. Risking. Pressing through.
Then, suddenly, they go from awkward and uncomfortable to her crying and him unable to continue.
"Is it possible you might be who I need you to be?" she asks.
It is. He is -- and is not. And that's life -- or at least a reflection of it -- art that is a recognizable reflection of human experiences more than a few of us are likely to have.
It's a tender, true, affecting scene -- one of many, not from a feature film, but from a network television show.
There are actually "film" people who disdain television, as if those who work in it -- writers, directors, actors, producers -- are less somehow, as if the screen size isn't the only thing that's smaller. But some of the very best filmed fiction is made for television. Shows such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Six Feet Under," "Gilmore Girls," "House," "Mad Men" and others are as good as anything on offer at the local movie theater -- and these series are doing the equivalent of several feature-length films season after season.
If it's true that TV is a writer's medium and film is a director's, it stands to reason the best television has to offer will be richer, deeper, more intellectual and emotionally satisfying than all but the very best movies. Television allows for the time it takes to tell a complex tale while truly exploring the characters propelling it forward. It's why in general, novels adapt better to TV than film....