You're watching an episode of 24 or other terrorism-porn drama. Suddenly you're torn out of your suspension of disbelief by a character, mounting up for a raid on a terror cell, yelling, "Homeland Security's on its way!" You groan to yourself, Urg, DHS doesn't do that and wonder why TV insists on portraying the Department of Homeland Security as a team of frontline counterterrorist shock troops.
Well, get ready for the real. AMC is developing a reality show about the Department of Homeland Security. Although all the naked scanning and junk touching its agents conduct at airports might make Showtime a more nature artistic home.
Inside DHS, set for a fall debut, is supposed to present "the real story of the day-to-day battle to keep us safe, prepared and resilient," according to an AMC exec. Oh really? Then don't expect a counterterrorism version of Cops. Expect a nailbiter about the realities of the security bureaucracy, where agency science officials weigh the pros and cons of surveillance drones for safeguarding big public events; debate doling out grant money for bomb sniffing plants; and -- in the key reveal -- sign Memoranda of Understanding with the Defense Department for protecting the civilian internet from cyberattack. Set your DVR for the episode about Twitter.
It's not going to just be a show about counterterrorism. It'll feature border security and immigration enforcement, which are probably more compelling for the camera than DHS' counterterrorism efforts. What, they couldn't call it Panopticon?
Done right,* Inside DHS* could be pretty neat. Most of the country has no idea how the federal security bureaucracy operates or why the Department of Homeland Security really exists, and only encounters it when its agents confiscate their Gatorade or grope their privates at the airport. A bureaucratic deep-dive probably won't be as interesting as* The Wire*. But it might inform people where their security tax dollars are actually going.
At least until the show starts defending junk touchers as the last line of defense against terrorism. That'll send people flipping back to their 24 DVDs.
Photo: Transportation Security Administration
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