The Nine

I don't know who came up with the idea, or who the writers are, but my first impression is that it's the most important primetime television show to hit the airwaves.

Why? November 4th, 1995.

There are very few people who will understand what I'm about to say. Trust me when I say it: Whoever is writing that script knows what it feels like to witness senseless violence firsthand.

Whoever is writing that script knows what it feels like to feel like no one else understands.

Whoever is writing the script appreciates the fact that our sick culture has for far too long tolerated violence in media without presenting the consequences.

The reality is that violence is far more insidious than anyone in sheltered Hollywood can imagine. There's nothing glamorous about violence as entertainment.

I don't know who let the writers of The Nine get their show on air, but I celebrate the result. I'm not celebrating the culture of television. I'm merely saying that the first episode had to be inspired by a heartfelt understanding of reality.

I obviously can't vouch for future episodes, but I can say from my own first-hand experience that the first episode took me by surprise. Although the characters are actors, their portrayals of the meaninglessness and sense of isolation from anyone who hasn't experienced violence firsthand is right on the money. Nevertheless, I credit the writers more than the actors. They know things about the feelings of isolation that no one should ever have to experience.

Thank God!

I don't have much hope for television, but I'm glad that, at last, instead of glamorizing violence, a program is finally taking as its point of departure the consequences of violence. Maybe ... maybe ... our juvenile popular culture is taking its first steps into adulthood.