TV dramas once waited until a war was way finished before unleashing their spin. But America has now spent considerably more time fighting in Iraq War 2: Electric Bugaboo than they did against WWII’s original-recipe Axis of Evil. Meanwhile, the no-longer-interested news media have buried war coverage beneath endless election-year blather. Ever eager to explore what mainstream journalism ignores, ex-reporter David Simon and ex-cop/ex-Vietnam vet Ed Burns — the grit-stained geniuses behind best-show-ever contender The Wire — are back with Generation Kill, a miniseries set amidst the opening salvos of G-Dub’s yep-still-going gulf war.
Their seven-episode series is adapted from the award-winning book Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War by embedded Rolling Stone writer Evan Wright. Initially dismissed as a dope-smoking peacenik by the Marines — until they discover he previously wrote for Hustler — Wright’s arrival is followed by an ominous Pizza Hut order heralding the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom. With a taste of home in their bellies, the 1st Recon Battalion head toward Baghdad.

From there on we bear witness, Wire-style, to the bureaucratic bungling of the ground war from the perspective of the grunts who are amped-up, under-armoured and eager to shoot. The show doesn’t take sides in the war debate: Simon and Burns’ goal — facilitated by the inclusion of Sgt. Rudy Reyes, who plays himself — is to reveal what really happened in those propaganda-clouded early days, not hammer home a political point. Still, 20/20 hindsight lets Gen-Kill be more honest than Stephen Bochco’s short-lived 2005 series Over There, which was so concerned with not offending folks it lost its purpose.

Being non-fiction, there’s no real central plot like rescuing Private Ryan or a Three Kings–style heist to frame the action. There isn’t even a main character. It’s just a Humvee-­­
eye view of the ground war as seen by the Marines, the military’s self-described pit-bulls (“they beat us, they mistreat us and once in a while they let us out to attack someone”). They’re a group of testosterone-fuelled alpha dudes making gay jokes, singing Avril songs, munching on Pop-Tarts and wondering why they’re wearing woodland camouflage in the, y’know, desert. Also, how did that hippie reporter get a flak jacket?

Generation Kill seems like it would be an unpleasant slog to watch but it’s also riddled with black humour. The soldiers are constantly cracking wise, blaming the conflict on Saddam’s “lack of pussy infrastructure,” telling Iraqis to “vote Republican” and wishing they had ’shrooms while watching bombs fall through night-vision goggles. There’s also a running gag (except it’s no joke) about mustaches and grooming standards, as if that was more important to the brass than planning the invasion.

But the series succeeds precisely because it isn’t about the brass — it’s about this subculture of young men who, a half-decade after Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” banner, are still killing and being killed.

GENERATION KILL AIRS SUNDAYS, 9PM ON TMN.

Doctor Who?

During the writer’s strike, which centered on the impending convergence of TV and the web, Buffy creator Joss Whedon decided to speed things along with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. This three-part, 42-minute online super-villain musical comedy starring Neil Patrick Harris will begin streaming for free July 15. Afterwards, there’ll be a nominal fee and eventual DVD — with musical commentary!

Whedon’s evil scheme may not quite make him Dark Lord of the Internets, but we don’t doubt Doogie has the prescription for our summertime blues.

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