Riveting Television On Iraq War

Like many of you, I don't watch a lot of television that isn't related to news and politics, but I'd like to strongly recommend a new show on the FX Network.

On Wednesday night, I watched the premier of “Over There,” a drama that focuses on the Iraq war from the perspective of the troops on the ground, the families at home and a rehabilitation hospital in Germany, where soldiers who have lost limbs deal with the physical and emotional results.



Produced by Steven Bochco and airing on Wednesdays at 10:00 PM on FX, the show neither trivializes nor over dramatizes the war. Last night's episode focused a lot on development of the main characters, interspersed with a realistic firefight, complete with the classic long periods of boredom punctuated with moments of confusion and terror.

The next two episodes will deal with the dangers at a checkpoint roadblock and the difficulties in getting vital information from a captured Iraqi insurgent.

A warning to my fellow veterans: The battle sequences and associated dialog are very realistic and will likely invoke strong feelings, so be prepared for that.

Those of you who haven't served will be angered about Bush's war and mobilized even more – if that's possible at this point.