I just finished watching the first season of The Shield on DVD this weekend. Now I’m in withdrawals. I’ve been looking all over to see if the second season is out on DVD. It will be in October. Which makes sense as it just ended April 1, and they apparently re-ran it and it just recently ended. Isn’t on for the next two weeks at least and TIVO doesn’t seem to find it.

Also getting ready to start on another season of the Sopranos. I’ve done the first 2 seasons. I know they are getting ready to start shooting season 5 so I’ve got a little while to go. That being said I think I’m going to discontinue my subscription to Showtime and get HBO instead. Have to figure out how to log into DirectTVs website, which will probably take a call as I don’t have an account number.

Both of these shows have anti-heros. Tony Soprano is not a good guy. And he is. He cares about his family, both the criminal and nuclear. He has serious issues with his mother that are compounded by the fact he is a mobster. He cheats on his wife, but still really seems to love and care about her.

Vic MacKay is similar, but he a cop. A bad cop. He runs the streets of his under privileged part of LA. He wants the violence down, but also gets kickbacks from the drug dealers he allows to work the street. He’s got an autistic son, and has to deal with that. He does whatever is necessary to get his man. He also cheats on his wife, who ultimately leaves him. The characters are complicated.

I have a tendency to watch these shows late at night. This insures my kids are watching or listening, but I’ve learned not to watch them as the last thing before I go to bed or I don’t have pleasant dreams. So I’m also working my way through season 2 of Babylon 5, which I own on DVD.