I believe that someone likes to be in a place where they really feel free. This is especially true of one's profession.
Network television isn't one of those places anymore. Taking chances and defending those decisions when something isn't immediately popular (i.e. ratings) is not advisable if you want to keep your job. Tough town.
Once network television became overran with suits packed with notes about the latest script, writers and producers began migrating to cable channels where there seemed to be more creative freedom. And once cable channels started clamping down on that freedom, these people moved to subscription TV and now streaming platforms.
Back in 2002, I watched a lot of Friday night TV. My social life: non-existent. Quality network TV: also non-existent. But on September 27th of that year an very interesting program appeared on CBS called "Robbery Homicide Division." The show was created by veteran TV writer Barry Schindel and was produced by Michael Mann who made a name for himself with "Miami Vice" in the 1980's. But where that show sometimes favored style over substance, this offering was all business.
Mann had gone on to make several popular films like "Heat" and "The Insider" and TV was trying to lure him back to the small screen. They got him to come back with the promise that he would be working on a show that was shot completely with high-definition camera equipment; one of the very first network shows to do so.
The show dealt frankly with not only homicide but also race, drug and human trafficking issues and was led by the troubled but charismatic actor Tom Sizemore. He set the tone for this intricately plotted and realistic look at crime and law enforcement in a post-Rodney King Los Angeles. Only 13 episodes were made before CBS pulled the plug on this intelligent but expensively produced program but if you look at certain places on the web, you can find this richly rewarding show that definitely begs out for a home video release of the entire series.
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