The Shield was ahead of its time in tackling in police brutality and corruption, but its anti-hero framing puts out of step with modern television

The Independent

FX's revolutionary cop show, created by Shawn Ryan and starring Michael Chiklis as corrupt LAPD Detective Vic Mackey, celebrated its 20th anniversary over the weekend. “I don’t know if they could do this show today,” says Cathy Ryan, wife of Shawn Ryan who played Vic Mackey's wife Corrine. “In some ways it was ahead of its time, with everything that’s gone on – all the police brutality that we’re hearing and seeing in front of our eyes, and it’s like (how) it was depicted on The Shield. I mean, it’s not like nobody knew about it. It’s an underbelly that’s not going away. The biggest question (on the show) always was: ‘Wouldn’t you want Vic Mackey to find your person’s perpetrator?’ And most people would say, ‘Yeah. That’s who I want in the bunker with me.’ So that’s what made it so compelling.” As The Independent's Louis Chilton, who interviewed The Shield's cast and crew for the 20th anniversary, explains: "This is the paradox at the heart of The Shield’s legacy. Its message was radically ahead of its time, but its framing – within the conventions of a procedural show, with Mackey as a charismatic antihero – seems to have fallen out of step with the sensitivities and priorities of modern TV." Still, The Shield writer and executive producer Scott Rosenbaum, argues: “It’s still a little ahead of its time. If you look at it, not a single show since then has tackled this. All you need to know about how brave the show was, was that we literally were told: ‘If you’re ever pulled over, make sure that you don’t have any Shield DVDs (on you), and don’t tell them you work for The Shield.’ The LAPD was p***** off that we were telling a story that dove into some of the realities of what’s happening. We were truly pulling back the curtain.” ALSO: From the beginning, The Shield toyed with conventions in a way that's often best done by artists who are keenly aware of the rules they're breaking.