About a decade ago, when I was interviewing True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, he said something that perked up my ear: “I don’t really care about cop shows. It’s just an easy way to sneak in all the other things I want to say.”
The philosophy-minded writer, apart from being generally (and characteristically) misanthropic, was making a profound point. TV formats (or at least TV executives) have rigid requirements. But if you pick the right genre at the right time and are smart about it, you can expand a show in all kinds of ways without most people even realizing you’ve done it.
I thought about that this Emmys season when watching Stick, a show about golf that isn’t really about golf, and again when watching The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, a show about football that isn’t really about football, and then when watching Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a show about a retired wrestler (and OnlyFans entrepreneur) that isn’t really about wrestling (or OnlyFans entrepreneurship), and yet one more time when watching Off Campus, a show about hockey that isn’t really about hockey.
All these shows are nominally about sports. And yet it’s an easy way to sneak in all the other things their writers want to say. (I would have thought about it when watching Heated Rivalry, but I’m on an Emmys-eligible-only viewing diet this time of year.)
