the jörn blog

I am neither a TV junkie nor a fan of stupid TV series, but it was one of my highlights of the week - the Iraq war drama series "Over There" broadcasted over the channel FX network on US television every wednesday evening.

Over There is a first-of-its-kind contemporary and controversial war drama about US troops in combat and their families back home and was cocreated by Steven Bochco, the veteran TV producer behind such landmark cop shows as Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. It made a fuss about its content even before it was broadcastet for the first time - especially the fact that FX Network had decided to admit this series in its program was very stunning, because FX belongs to the - lets say - more conservative networks in the US.

Right from the beginning "Over there" was a huge success, and the fact that no further episodes (and seasons) will follow after the 13th finale was very amazing. Through the 13th and final episode on October 26, the program averaged a meager 2.1 million viewers overall. Only 1.35 million watched the series finale.

"It made people uncomfortable to watch. I think that was the case for a lot of people," FX spokesman John Solberg added. "Clearly it was subject matter that was harsh."

This fact is very poor and made me sad the same way. This series was rather a picture of the truth over there (sic!) and not a military action serie with Schwarzenegger as a main character. It reflected the absurdness of the war in iraq in such a good way behind an excellent technical background.

FX president and general manager John Landgraf said: "The series was arguably the most critically acclaimed new television show of the year, a fact which made the decision not to renew it all the more difficult."