My Spy Overload

Pop culture by its very nature is nothing more than capitalizing on the new, hip trend, and it can be the driving force behind almost every aspect of media. The last couple of years the popularity of all things vampire has taken an uptick mostly thanks to the Twilight saga and its film adaptations, and it looks like another trend is booming (at least on the small screen) which revolves around the world of spies.

Deadline.com reported today that James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator, and Avatar to name a few) is jumping back into the TV game by bringing an adaptation of True Lies to the small screen. While the spy world may not be as sexy as the undead, bloodsucking one, it does seem like there has been an influx of espionage related shows hitting the airwaves.

Let's just put Alias, La Femme Nikita, and 24 on the back burner for right now. Over the last couple of seasons we've seen Burn Notice, Chuck, My Own Worst Enemy, Human Target, Covert Affairs, Nikita, and Undercovers go into production. These isn't even counting the CW pilot, Nomads, that wasn't picked up or the rumored U.S. remake of Britain's Spooks. That's a lot of government sanctioned lying and killing.

I haven't watched all of True Lies, so I can't really say whether it can translate to a good series or not. Having a big name like James Cameron behind an established brand doesn't hurt, but there's always the chance of overkill. Even I have to admit that I'm reaching espionage fatigue, which sucks since I usually love a good spy/assassin/action show.

Now, I'd prefer having more spy shows than vampire, courtroom procedurals, and reality shows on TV, but enough is enough. We've already had one 90's era remake in the form of Nikita...do we really need another one?