Stephen King Says This Gritty Crime Show Changed TV - And He's Not Wrong

"The Sopranos" is often credited for paving the way for shows about antiheroes, but Stephen King believes another all-time great crime series changed television forever in this regard. Writing on Threads, the legendary horror author claimed that FX's "The Shield" deserves more credit than it gets. Check out King's explanation below:

"THE SHIELD changed TV with its main character [being] an antihero and [the show telling a] continuing story. You can say THE SOPRANOS came first. It's true, but HBO was a premium channel and most American homes had FX as part of the package."

As King notes, HBO was the destination for peak TV in the 1990s and early 2000s. FX, meanwhile, was associated with more basic cable fare, so taking a chance on "The Shield" was a big deal. What's more, its success led to other networks upping their games in terms of bringing prestige to the small screen.

Of course, it cannot be overstated just how ballsy "The Shield" was when it premiered in 2002. King added that Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) is a Mafia boss, implying that it's easier for viewers to accept his criminal behavior on "The Sopranos." However, Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and his Strike Team are cops on "The Shield" — they're supposed to be the good guys, but they're bad to the bone at times. That's worth noting, as FX executives were initially hesitant about making "The Shield" for this exact reason.

"The Shield" wound up changing FX forever, even though it was never supposed to happen. The network's heads originally had cold feet about making a series where bad cops are the protagonists, especially at a time when real-life law enforcement officers were being celebrated for their heroism in the wake of 9/11. Be that as it may, the success of the Oscar-winning Denzel Washington-led 2001 crooked cop thriller "Training Day" convinced FX's higher-ups that society was ready to appreciate media about corrupt law enforcement officers, and their worries were alleviated.

Since then, shows about morally grey and even downright awful characters have become all the rage. "The Shield" doesn't deserve all of the credit, obviously, and it probably wouldn't even exist if "The Sopranos" hadn't broken down barriers before it. Still, FX's John Landgraf agrees with King's sentiment about "The Shield" being a game-changer, as he revealed to Entertainment Weekly for the outlet's 20-year anniversary oral history of the show in 2022:

"'The Shield' literally changed the face of TV. It lit up a whole new set of creative possibilities. It was propulsive, entertaining, surprising. For FX, it's the first pillar on which the foundation of the entire brand is laid."

These days, "The Shield" arguably doesn't get the appreciation and recognition it deserves, as so many great prestige series followed in its wake. That said, it will always be one of the best TV shows of the 2000s, and certainly one of the boldest. Its pilot alone features one of the most shocking moments in the history of television, and everyone ought to check out the series at least once.