Day 17 of 30 Days of TV Shows

Day 17 – Favorite mini series

Okay, hands-down no brainer on this one. The only mini-series I’ve ever watched as it happened, the only one I own, and the only one (obviously) I’ll rewatch at the drop of a hat:

Lonesome Dove.

Ha! Just kidding. What I meant to say was Band of Brothers. The series aired on HBO in late 2001, which was a very interesting time for anything war-related to be airing. But there you have it. Even outside of that context, I’d consider it one of the most brilliant things ever filmed, ever. I happened to be living with some fans of the Sopranos when it aired, and HBO put it on right after that show. I usually skipped the lead-in, but came in for the show itself, and I don’t think I missed an episode. And as the end of the final episode came up, a room full of maybe five or six guys sat around, staring at the ceiling, wondering how to sniffle without making a sound.

I still cry watching the last episode.

If you’ve never seen it, it’s a mini-series produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, based on Stephen Ambrose’s account of the men of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, who jumped on Normandy on D-Day and fought through the entire northern European campaign, ending the war finally in Austria. The series focuses on Maj. Richard Winters (played brilliantly by Damien Lewis), Capt. Lewis Nixon (played unexpectedly by Ron Livingston), Lt. Carwood Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg), and a core of the other men who were with the unit since its inception in training. Odd appearances are made by David Schwimmer as their first CO, Capt. Sobel, Simon Pegg as 1Sgt. Evans, and Jimmy Fallon as a 1st Lieutenant supplying them in the lead-up to Bastogne. Oh, and Tom Hanks as a dead body.

Basically, the show is brilliant. Every actor chosen, down to David Schwimmer was perfectly chosen for the role. The only minor exception is Simon Pegg being wasted in what is essentially a background role that disappears after the first episode (though, to be fair, at the time he was a small-time British TV actor). The locations are perfect, the action is breathless, and the stories are masterfully told. Although it only happened to me in a very tiny way, my heart absolutely goes out to Pvt. David Webster in the episode “The Last Patrol” where he is treated almost as an outsider for having missed the Battle of Bastogne due to being wounded shortly before. The episode “Bastogne” itself is at devastating look at the life of Eugene Roe, company medic, as he tries to deal with the daily grind of dealing with the wounded and ill during that harsh winter in and around the beseiged city. And “Points” is just incredible, wrapping up the whole series.

Aaaaaaaand now I want to go watch it again. Sigh.

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