Remember the early days of NYPD Blue, when the show had a certain amount of hipness and heft? This was mostly due to its willingness to place rough "street" language side-by-side with unflinching portrayals of Dennis Franz' pendulous man-tits and 150-pounds-of-chewed-bubble-gum ass. Around this time, Saturday Night Live did a classic parody. It involved Kevin Nealon as a self-important Steven Bochco-type producer, regaling the "interviewer" of his PC limo-lib street smarts and savoir faire, as we say in the 'hood.
When the "interviewer" asked about new and upcoming projects, Bochco/Nealon offered up a series, a touching portrayal of a police chief who just happens to be mentally retarded, and the inevitable discrimination he faces.
"It's called Cheef," intoned Bochco/Nealon soberly, before spelling it out, "C-H-E-E-F".
The significance of this? Well, it seems like West Wing jumped the shark many moons ago, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the preznit dramedy genre itself is played out. Something more contemporaneous, perhaps....I'm just sayin'. Potential scriptwriters, sharpen your crayons.
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