Thursday, November 20, 2008

Is Sons of Anarchy the Best Show on Cable?

I've already asked if it's True Blood, and I've also asked if it's Dexter... but after watching all three shows this week, I've concluded with much assurity that right now, this week, Sons of Anarchy is the best show on cable television. Let me tell you why.

Sons of Anarchy, which airs on FX (the same network that brought us Nip/Tuck and The Sheild: Two devonlohan.com favorites) is about a tight motorcycle club (see: gang) in Northern California. The MC primarily deals in gun-running, but has been known to handle the occasional murder for hire, and/or destruction of property. They're a lot like Tony and his group of guys on The Sopranos, only much surlier and instead of riding around in Cadillacs they're sporting Harleys. The show starts veteran actors Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Beauty & The Beast ) Katey Sagal (Married with Children, LOST), and British newcomer Charlie Hunnam.

The Sons of Anarchy are an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the United States. The Charming local is the original founding charter of the Sons of Anarchy, all other charters came after the one founded by John Teller and Piermont "Piney" Winston. The Charming charter is based out of a clubhouse adjacent to the Teller-Morrow auto mechanic shop. Led by Clay Morrow, the club protects and controls Charming through close community relationships, bribery and violent intimidation. The full name of the motorcycle club is Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original; on occasion, the show will abbreviate it as SOA, though more frequently the club is referred to as SAMCRO (a rough acronym of The Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original) or Sam Crow.

That's about as far in to the history of the show as I'll go, because the rest is better off if you discover it yourself. I don't even really want to give anything away, because it would lessen the shock of most of what you'll see. I will say this much, I'm surprised weekly with what FX will let the creators of this show get away with. The violence is often raw and gritty, as is the sex and rampant drug abuse. They use every word in the book, save the dreaded F-Bomb, and there's really no holding back.

Just like the other two shows I mentioned, Sons of Anarchy keeps getting better and better with each passing week.... but why did I decide it's the best show on cable? Here's why: Sons of Anarchy somehow manages to pull off the same things you'd be seeing on pay-cable, on a basic cable channel. Sure, there's a lack of nipple or the word "fuck", but you won't miss them. SOA manages to deliver all the goods you like in the shows that cost you 15 bucks a month, for free. There's only one episode left, and that's next Wednesday's special event Season Finale, so you'll have to put in some overtime this weekend to watch the previous 11 episodes (which are all available onDemand in most markets). FX has already picked up Season 2 (they actually did this after only 4 episodes had aired.)

So, long story short - for the week of November 16th, Sons of Anarchy is the best show on cable.

3 comments:

  1. What's gonna be the best show tomorrow?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm... it's Thursday... there's lots of stuff on tonight, including a musical episode of It's Always Sunny.

    We shall see.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fuck that, I'm watching Wall E on blu ray tonight.

    ReplyDelete