The Golden Age of Television's New Subject: Public Housing

A new miniseries on HBO, from the creators of the seminal series The Wire, will spend the next weeks addressing issues raised by public housing and desegregation in Yonkers during the 1980s.

1 minute read

August 17, 2015, 2:02 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Todd VanDerWerff provides an initial review of Show Me a Hero, the new HBO miniseries focusing on public housing in 1980s Yonkers, New York. According to VanDerWerff, despite its bonafide wonkiness and unsettling subject matter, "Show Me a Hero always feels thrillingly alive and attuned to the way that all politics is personal."

Among the five characteristics VanDerWerff identifies as making the show one of the year's best: it's "deeply certain of government's ability to do good for the people it serves if it wants to badly enough." Certainly, there are many idealistic, hard-working planners in this country who might appreciate solidarity on that matter.

The Atlantic also picked up the show's value—each week they'll run a recap featuring discussion between David Sims, Brentin Mock, and Lenika Criz on the events of the show.

Monday, August 17, 2015 in Vox

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