Topic #2 -- Television as a Cultural Mirror: "Murder in the First"

            From http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1870253312/tt2402061?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt

On Monday July 14^th at 10pm I watched the sixth episode of a television show on the TNT network called "Murder in the First." It is a drama about the murder of a woman in San Francisco and the subsequent police investigation and criminal trial. This episode was called "Punch Drunk." This episode was about the start of the murder trial where Erich Blunt (played by Tom Felton) is accused of murdering Cindy Straus and her unborn child, which happens to be his. Blunt is the genius CEO of his own software start-up who is used to the high life and so has retained the best lawyer money can buy, Mr. Daniels. The police detectives who investigated the case are Inspector English, played by Taye Diggs, and Inspector Mulligan, played by Kathleen Robertson. Inspector English testifies in this episode, while Inspector Mulligan deals with some personal issues.

Tom Felton is best known for his portrayal of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie series. Taye Diggs is best known for Private Practice and Rent. Kathleen Robertson is known for being on Beverly Hills, 90210 and is also on the most recent season of Bates Motel.

There were commercials for many products and services during this program. They were:

·         Hershey's spreads

·         Range Rover Evoque

·         DirecTV

·         Ocean Spray Diet Juice

·         Walmart – fresh peaches (twice)

·         Sprint Framily Plan – two different commercials for the same thing (twice)

·         Tempurpedic – new mattress pad (twice)

·         Discover Card – fraud protection

·         Kia - Sign It & Drive It Event

·         Target - Subscription service

·         Cadillac – summer collection

·         Garnier Nutrise Hair Color – Tina Fey

·         K-Mart – Yo mama jokes

·         Linzess  - a constipation medication (twice)

·         Fancy Feast Cat Food

·         State Farm Insurance – 3 in the morning?

·         Jaguar F-Type – villains

·         Doritos Chips – kid is a cowboy

·         Red Lobster - CrabFest

·         Target – buy school supplies and Target will match it with a donation

·         Toyota 4Runner

There were also previews for the following shows and movies:

·         "Cold Justice" (another show on TNT) twice

·         "Major Crimes" (another show on TNT) twice

·         "Rizzoli & Isles" (another show on TNT) twice

·         Into the Storm (movie)

·         Crime on TNT – feel the BOOM

·         "Legends" (a new show on TNT) three times

·         "The Last Ship" (another show on TNT) twice

·         Sex Tape Movie (movie)

·         "Murder in the First" (this show; with #letsgoback to remind people to get caught up)

Mentioned/Shown during the show:

·         Erich was shown riding in a Chevy SUV

·         A MacBook computer (along with others)

·         An iPad

·         A cable car in the background of one scene to reinforce San Francisco as the location

·         Xanax

·         A Crown Victoria police car

The overall attitude of the show is gritty and real. I think that the producers are trying to transport us to San Francisco with the detectives as they try to solve the case. It is shot in such a way that it seems realistic, even thought you know that it is staged. There are smooth transitions and establishing shots when you change locations. "Murder in the First" is shot on location in San Francisco for outside scenes, and on set in Los Angeles for interiors, according to their IMDB page. All of the characters dress in a professional manner. Both detectives wear comfortable and stylish clothes and only dress up for court. The lawyers are always wearing suits, but that is to be expected. Everyone talks in a very matter of fact way, nothing fancy or pretentious; realistically in my opinion.  The way that the detectives talk to each other shows that they have known each other for a long time and that they are very comfortable together. It seems like the target audience is people who like cop shows, both male and female, probably young professionals who can relate to both detectives and Erich Blunt. I'd say that the relationships portrayed are targeted toward females, and the police aspects are more targeted to males. "Murder in the First" is similar to "Law & Order" because they both follow an investigation from crime to verdict, but here the case is stretched out over a whole season so that we get more in-depth into each part of the investigation and trial. It is also similar to the FX miniseries "Fargo" because they both focus on one case (or inter-related cases as we see from both) being solved over a series of episodes. I think that this is a unique new show because of the strong character development and realistic relationships portrayed by all the characters.

I found that the character of Erich Blunt is a typical rich guy throwing money at a problem. He fits the stereotype of a rich guy because he thinks that he is better than everyone and can get away with doing whatever he wants as long as he pays good money for it. I find Inspector Mulligan to be that stereotypical single mother who is trying to balancer work, family and dating. The lawyers are stereotypical in that they will do anything for their clients or the case. The media frenzy from Blunt being arrested is both realistic and stereotypical in this day and age. There would be that level of media coverage for any famous person being arrested for anything, and even more for murder. It reminds me of the O.J. Simpson case. The commercials that were aired during the episode seem to be geared toward younger professionals with families. I came to this conclusion because they are for products and services that they might need or aspire to in relation to the Jaguar commercial. Everything else seems fairly apple pie and general. If I were a visitor to the US from another country I would get the impression that the rich think they own the world, that cops are diligent and hardworking but don't always get results after all their hard work, that everyone has personal issues that sometimes interfere with work, that lawyers are sneaky, and that there will be a media frenzy when famous and/or rich people are arrested. I think that all of these are accurate, but it may paint lawyers in a bad light.

I think that the strengths of the show are the actors are all well suited for their roles, the fact that the shoot at least some of it on location, and that it is more or less realistic in the sense that I can imagine it happening pretty close to this in real life. The thing that I like most about the show is the actors: Taye Diggs is great and I really enjoy seeing Malfoy all grown up. I also like the overall  concept of the show, having it take a whole series to solve the case so that we get more details about how people's lives can be turned upside-down in minutes and that it can take months or years to get things straightened out. I also really appreciate that they try to make the characters and settings as realistic as possible, it help me to connect to the characters. The cliff-hanger aspect of the case taking the whole series to be solved give lots of opportunities for theories to come to mind that make for great conversations with friends or random people on the internet.

Here is a quote from a review of the show from the Los Angeles Times:  ""Murder in the First," a masterfully paced balance of tricky whodunit and character development, seems to have benefited from both Bochco's hits and the misses, as well as the cable-led experimentation with shorter seasons." – I agree!

Another review from the San Francisco Chronicle "There's not only great authenticity in the show (that dated Bay Bridge shot notwithstanding), but "Murder" also mines an equally ripe period in the city's history, its status as the center of the 21st century technology revolution." – I agree!

I have been watching this show every week with sister. I am not a fan of the show on Facebook and I don’t follow it on Twitter, but I have been going to their IMDB page for more information about the actors as the season has progressed. A little research into the show lead me to discovering that the executive producer, Steven Bochco, also created "Doogie Howser, M.D." and "NYPD Blue". Find out more information about Bochco here. I've learned that "Murder in the First" is doing relatively well for a new show and that many people agree with me in that it is interesting and realistic. I was surprised to learn that Tom Felton is convincing as a murder suspect with a temper that can change on a dime since I haven't seen him do anything other than Harry Potter.

Interested in learning more? Check out the TNT  page for the show!