‘Nurse Jackie’ & Showtime Rule the Networks

Haaz Sleiman & Edie Falco in 'Nurse Jackie'

Sure … dick shots, verbal diarrhea and tons of sex command the Showtime network … and, you know, with all those great aspects aside … the channel produces some of the best, thought-provoking and provocative programming on this side of the pond.

About two weeks ago … the Edie Falco drama Nurse Jackie premiered with great success … The drama follows the life of Jackie Peyton … a fucked-up, but genius nurse with back problems who juggles a shit-load of crap at a New York City hospital including incompetent doctors, forging names on organ donor cards, student nurses, flushing an rapist’s ear down the toilet and the mass of other problems that pass through hospital doors on a daily basis.

I don’t think many nurses have the guts to do half the shit Jackie does … but it sure makes for great television. 

Toni Collette & John Colbertt in 'The United States of Tara'

Now … this isn’t the only show on television that should be applauded … The United States of Tara will return in January of 2010. I’m still pissed I have to wait another six months to watch this show again … but, it’s fucking brilliant! … Tara (played by Toni Collette) has dissociative identity disorder, or DID, which is a form of multiple personalities.

Her family, Max (John Corbett), Kate (Brie Larson), Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) and Charmaine (Rosemarie DeWitt) attempt to help Tara understand her disorder. However, undergoing the stresses of a normal life, such as having a sexually active daughter, gay son, overbearing parents and erased past can’t help but bring out the “alters” she needs to help the ones she loves … as well as herself.

Toni Collette is by far one of the most talented actresses of this generation and does not get the recognition she deserves. Being able to pull off one character is hard enough, but add on four different characters into the plot and it’s a fucking orgy. I can’t wait for the show to come back … it’s gonna be awesome!

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in 'The Tudors'

The Tudors, Weeds and Secret Diary of a Call Girl all deserve credit and kind of round-out the great shows from this channel … although, I believe only Weeds has a new season on at the moment … The Tudors follows the life of English monarch Henry VIII (played by an extremely attractive Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) as he rules over England and kills his wives … you know, before he got fat and mental. The show has a very abstract way of presenting the tyranny of Henry VIII … it’s very entertaining to see the story told in a different light.

Billie Piper in 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl'

Secret Diary of a Call Girl … is about a high-class call girl (obviously) … named Belle (played by Billie Piper) who fucks weird guys, mentors a ditz call girl and doesn’t give a shit what others call or think of her work … I’m pretty sure the series is based off a book from a real woman … Nevertheless, it’s a fantastic show from England that shows even whores have a story to tell … Got to love it!

Mary-Louise Parker in 'Weeds'

Lastly, let’s get on with Weeds … unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should know this show from all the awards and recognition it has gotten … Nancy Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker) is a housewife who seels pot in her up-scale neighborhood while raising her two slightly fucked-up sons and dealing with her pshychotic neighbors and family members … It’s an awesome show to watch cause you never really know what’s gonna happen next with any of the characters.

Showtime has a knack with showcasing television shows that deal with odd subjects … I don’t think any other network can compare to the brilliance and originality of the shows that grace this channel.