Television Pick: Life (2007-2009)
NBC has not been in a good place, ratings-wise anyway, for the past few years. Sporadic hits have popped up here and there (The Voice, The Blacklist), but lackluster programming and frustrating scheduling have been killers for the network. One of the many shows done in by NBC’s incompetence was the Damian Lewis starring Life, which aired on the channel from 2007-2009. Boasting a stellar cast – Sarah Shahi, Donal Logue and Brent Sexton to name a few – Lewis stars as Charlie Crews, a police detective who is just being released from prison after serving 12 years for a crime he didn’t commit. After settling with the LAPD to the tune of $50 million and reinstatement, Crews and new partner Dani Reese (Shahi) work together to solve weekly cases, as well as unravel the conspiracy behind Crews’ imprisonment.
Created by Rand Ravich (director of Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind) and featuring a talented group of writers that have worked on programs such as The Wire, Justified and Leverage, Life could have easily just been the longest in a long line of police procedurals, but by pairing a “case of the week” style set-up with an overarching storyline, the series managed to keep things fresh while also moving a grander plot forward.
Although the series features one of my least favorite archetypes in television – the quirky, but brilliant protagonist – Damian Lewis’ Charlie Crews is more than just another copy of Gregory House or Adrian Monk. Sure, Crews features a handful of peculiar tendencies and views, but Lewis manages to get across that despite his Zen-like outlook, he is still deeply haunted by his past. It’s easy to see why the brilliant actor would go on to win an Emmy for his role in Homeland.
With only a brief 32 episode run and a satisfying conclusion, in spite of its abrupt cancellation, Life is the perfect series to binge through now that most networks are finished for the season.