But that’s not all that scripted TV should aspire to be, just as it’s not all that theatrical filmmaking should aspire to be. A lot of great TV does satisfy all those criteria, granted.
The most pernicious, knowingly and unknowingly spread by folks like yours truly, is that scripted television must be driven by the word - i.e., by literary values, such as a classically structured narrative, “realistic” characterizations, and socially relevant themes - and that images, sound effects, and music must serve the word, otherwise the work in question cannot be serious. Whenever I try to sell an uninitiated viewer on the virtues of Tartakovsky’s Jack, I start by disabusing them of preconceived notions about what great popular art is supposed to be. I should back up for a second and gripe about the medium I love so much. If you’re new to this show about a samurai stranded in a post-apocalyptic future while battling a demon, you may find my proclamations excessive and weird, for three reasons: (1) Samurai Jack is a cartoon, and cartoons aren’t often mentioned when Quality TV is discussed - especially cartoons about swordsmen stranded in a post-apocalyptic future while battling a demon, because anything so described must be trite (2) Samurai Jack looks at first glance like a parade of action sequences with little plot or dialogue, and after even a few minutes of watching it, you realize that yes, in fact, that’s unapologetically what it is and, most importantly, (3) you can follow Samurai Jack without having seen one second of any previous season, because the show is a rare example of storytelling that’s not about what happens, but how it happens. Amazingly, both statements were true back in 2004, the last time Samurai Jack aired new episodes.
#Watch samurai jack season 4 episode 10 series#
Genndy Tartakovsky is the world’s greatest living action filmmaker, and his show, Samurai Jack, which starts its fifth and final season on Adult Swim March 11, is the most aesthetically daring series on TV.
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