07 August 2008

Generation Kill: required viewing


Generation Kill (on HBO) is the best show on television.

Not much competition this time of year, but it would be the best show on TV any time of year, with the possible exception of Wire reruns.

It's supposed to be 'authentic', and you'd have to ask a real soldier how accurate it really is. Or for true authenticity you would have to live it. But from the Marines I've talked to, it's fairly accurate. For example, when the Marines in the show pillage care packages searching for Penthouse and logs of Skoal straight, that matches exactly with what I was told, along with lots of other details that I have heard about. But it's still a TV show, so take all that with a grain of salt. "Iceman" walks around with his cover off quite a bit (easier to see his face), plus they do some sh*t that I don't think happened in real life, but these are minor quibbles.

I read the original articles in Rolling Stone very closely but skipped the book when it came out. It's interesting to see how the characters from the article come to life in the show. There were some things that Wright couldn't say back in 2003, but I think it's easier to tell the truth about it now. The book has been out for a while so it's not going to further ruin anyone's career.

Sundays @ 9 on HBO. Set your TiVo or catch it on netflix later this year.

* Image cribbed from the HBO website and definitely used without permission. Hooray for the internet.

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