dutch

A bunch of Dutch producers managed to get people's panties in a wad this week when they announced they were airing a show where contestants would vie to get a dying woman's kidneys. It turns out, it was a hoax.

The Big Donor Show aired last night in The Netherlands, where producers revealed their entire ploy was to put pressure on the Dutch government to raise awareness of the need for organ donation. The show did air, but just to prove a point. The woman, "Lisa", who was supposedly dying of brain cancer (but not really) interviewed potential candidates for her kidneys. Some Dutch viewers said the show was an eye-opening experience, because it explained just how hard it is in The Netherlands for someone to actually receive a donated organ (Dutch rules tend to favor family or friends only). The contestants who took part in the show were really in need of kidneys, but they were all in on the "joke" ahead of time.

Only time will tell whether this ploy just pissed people off, or if it had an actual impact.

(S06E09) "Too many shit-heads. Not enough pillows." - Vic

Despite the fact that I love Vic Mackey, I still laugh a little any time he makes some comment about people in jail. The luck this guy has had! He could just as easily be behind bars. But as this episode taught us, it more often than not just falls into his lap. You'd think karma would have come and bit him in the ass by now, but his good fortune never seems to cease.

I think the Dutch have us beat when it comes to crazy ideas for reality shows. A couple years ago, they produced a one-off reality series about a woman who wanted some sperm and nothing more, and now they've come up with Big Donor Show, which features a dying woman who will pick one contestant to receive her kidney.

All ethical issues aside, some questions remain, such as whether or not Lisa's (the donor) organs can be transplanted at all, given that she has cancer (specifically: a brain tumor). Also, the donation would probably have to be made before she died, because once she's dead, her wish to have any organ donated to a specific person is no longer valid.

(S06E08) "We're not clean in this either. And I'm not spending the rest of my life wearing state property." -Ronnie

I'm gonna make a bold statement that'll probably insult some readers: If you don't watch this show, you're dumb. Plain and simple. Nothing else on TV is as well-written, layered, and intricate as The Shield. There's another well-known cable drama with a prominent anti-hero about to end its run. Something about the Jersey mob and its high strung boss. You know that guy I'm talking about? Well, he can't hold a candle to Vic Mackey.

(S06E07) "He's not going to say anything to anybody because I know everything he's done." -Shane

There it is folks. The one thing that can actually make Vic Mackey look terrified. The knowledge in Shane's (apparently not so small) brain. We knew this was coming though. It's almost like watching an episode of Survivor. An alliance has been broken and now it's every man for himself. Who knows what and how they can use it to gain leverage.

I'll be honest though. Shane is proving to be far more effective in covering his tracks than I would have ever imagined. It almost makes you wonder how many times he's gone over this type of scenario in his head, even before the incident with Lem. The guy has put plenty of thought into his actions and it seems like Vic may have a legitimate reason to worry. How do you stop a guy that knows exactly what you know?

(S06E05) "You ever think about just coming clean? About everything?" -Shane

I suppose I should be used to it by now, but with the ups and downs that most great shows go through, it's weird to watch something and never be disappointed at the end of it. The Shield is just always good and I think it's remarkable.

So if that didn't spell it out, I liked this episode - a lot. Just solid from all points. Plenty of vintage Dutch, a blast from the past with the return of Vic's old partner, and a gut-wrenching confession from Shane made for one hell of an hour.

(S06E03) "This thing's gonna get a lot uglier before it gets better." -Vic

Well... it's official. I'm fairly certain I can't say a bad thing about this show. It's too good. Period. I'll even go as far as saying that it might be one of the finest cop dramas ever to be made and there's still 20 episodes (7 this season and 13 in the final) left before it's over for good.

There's just so many layers and subtle things that make this show so great (this episode in particular), that I know I won't recall all of them. That's how you know a show's good.

So we picked up with last week's kidnapping of Nadia (Guardo's girl) and Vic was forced to go to some extreme lengths to find the peace he's been looking for.

Production rights to a popular Dutch reality program called The Phone were recently secured by FremantleMedia, which means we could be seeing a version of the series here in the states.

The series follows contestants as they traverse a major city to find clues that will lead to a cash prize. They communicate through mobile phones and a helicopter tracks their progress for the home audience. Also, there's an insane Vietnam vet in the helicopter that shoots at the contestants.

Well, most of that last paragraph is true. At any rate, I think it sounds like a pretty cool idea as far as reality shows go. The show is described as a "movie-like experience," and if that's true, I think it could definitely appeal to an American audience.

(S06E01) This is why I love TV. This was the second time I've seen this episode (you've got to love press screeners) and I was just as riveted as the first time I saw it. With the way last season ended, people have been waiting a long time for this. It was worth the wait because last night's season six premiere of The Shield was arguably one of the best episodes of the series to date.

Picking up just about a week after Shane killed Lem, the late Det. Lemansky has been buried minus the pomp of a proper police funeral. Turns out that Aceveda and his new political cronies made sure that the city knew Lem was "dirty." Naturally, Vic is not thrilled with that and along with Shane and Ronnie (who now has a much more expanded role), they begin looking for whoever killed Lem.

Dutch reality mogul John de Mol (pictured) has sold yet another series to ABC. (Can anyone explain to me why the Dutch have such a stranglehold on innovation in reality television?) This one is called The Golden Cage. It's a touch Big Brother, a touch Dynasty, a touch white collar prison. Here's the skinny. Ten people, who have each paid $14,000 to participate, are put in a luxury mansion. They have servants, throw lavish parties and, in the Dutch version at least, have sex with prostitutes. Whoo-hoo!

After Steven Spielberg talked about network responsibility and his joy of doing miniseries, he picked up a Founders Award at the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Emmy presentation last night in New York. What are the International Emmys, you're asking? They honor shows that are produced outside the United States.

Considering no one here at TVS or most of you have ever heard of them before, I'm pretty sure they don't quite hold the prestige of the U.S. Emmys or whatever the Emmy equivalent is in other countries. But at least it's a chance for people to get dressed up in evening wear and applaud each other. The entertainment industry doesn't have nearly enough of stuff like that (can you hear my eyes rolling as I typed that?).

I know American television is rife with bizarre, often subversive reality show offerings, but the Dutch may now be the reigning champions of "I can't believe somebody green lit that idea" TV. A show set to air in the Netherlands titled I Want Your Child and Nothing Else will focus on a single woman as she chooses a sperm donor to be the father of her child, though we can assume by the title that "father" is purely a scientific term. The show will air only once on August 23 along with some other reality TV shows, and viewers will then vote on which show to keep on the air.