I wrote you a few years ago ...

• Nov 19, 2007 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Question: I wrote you a few years ago about Monk's second season, which was fairly awful, but the show has been incredible ever since. (I'm thinking my complaint made the difference). Now I'm writing because I'm a huge TV fan, and I know a good show when I see it — and Life is it. I DVR everything, and when I have the time, I start with the best shows and go from there. Life has become my first watch. For the other TV fans out there, some of my old faves are NYPD Blue, Boomtown, Third Watch and The Wire. I've been blown away by Damian Lewis and the quality of Life. I cannot handle this show being canceled, so I hope that everyone gives it a chance. We're talking about a lovable hero who was wronged and is trying to set things right while being a Monk-ishly brilliant detective and solving very interesting crimes. And the 12 years he spent in prison gave him a hard yet Zen-like attitude. Add Adam Arkin and Brooke Langton, and we're talking a must-see show.
Answer: As I noted in my Dispatch about last week's episode of Life, I'm coming around on this show. Not enough to brand it a "must-see" — given the choice, I'd probably still gravitate toward the guilty pleasures of Dirty Sexy Money — but I'd like to think NBC would give this one a chance. I'm just not sure that's going to happen, depending on how long the strike goes on and what's to come in midseason and in the development process for next season. Mantra time: What a mess.