Shield, The

2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 8 (USA)
89 x 45 minute episodes

At the start of the 21st century, American television drama was beginning to push the boundaries of what it could show and say on-screen.

The cop drama was at the leading edge of this trend, and while The Wire may be the best-known example, The Shield was daring and brutal and equally instrumental in blazing a trail for other shows.

The central story, loosely inspired by a real-life scandal, concerns the Task Force, a small group of cops entrusted with tackling gang violence in Los Angeles.

The first episode ends with the team’s leader, Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), shooting a colleague in the face, and his crimes just get worse from there.

As its coherent story unfolded over seven tightly plotted seasons, we saw the terrible price his crimes exacted from both his family and his colleagues.

And the show offered a moral heart to counterpoint Mackey’s spiritual emptiness: Detective Claudette Wyms, a world-weary but upright character of the type traditionally portrayed as male but here, groundbreakingly, by a black woman, Guyanese-born C.C.H. Pounder.

This twisted tale of police corruption in LA bagged awards by the score and clearly influenced Breaking Bad. It’s also that rarest of things-  a TV show that actually got better with each season.

Detective Vic Mackey
Michael Chiklis
Officer Julien Lowe
Michael Jace
Detective Holland ‘Dutch’ Wagenbach
Jay Karnes
Detective/Captain Claudette Wyms
CCH Pounder
David Aceveda
Benito Martinez
Detective Shane Vendrell
Walton Goggins
Officer Danny Sofer
Catherine Dent
Corrine Mackey
Cathy Cahlin Ryan
Detective Ronnie Gardocki
David Rees Snell
Detective Curtis ‘Lemonhead’ Lemansky
Kenny Johnson
Captain Steve Billings
David Marciano
Cassidy Mackey
Autumn Chiklis
Officer Tina Hanlon
Paula Garcés
Mara Sewell Vendrell
Michele Hicks
Officer Paula Myers
Melanie Myers
Matthew Mackey
Joel Rosenthal