‘K Street’ is the address for political entertainment

Steven SODERBERGH’S adventure in post-reality television, “K Street,” was my must-see TV this season. Brainy, beautifully shot, consistently funny and audacious in its disregard for narrative convention, this HBO show about the power elite in Washington was among the very best and most misunderstood cultural achievements of the year.

Using headline news as its launch point, “K Street” deftly examined how politics and entertainment have become, in many discomfiting respects, indistinguishable. This simple, apparently still-radical idea was made literal week after week via an all-star lineup that included presidential hopeful Howard Dean, journalist Joe Klein and series stars Mary Matalin and her snapping turtle of a husband, James Carville, the most exciting couple to hit the small screen since Tony and Carmella Soprano.

More than anyone else on “K Street”, these delightful showboaters -- who worked on opposing sides during the 1992 presidential campaign -- affirmed the deep truth of the realpolitik excavated by “K Street” during its 10-week run: that politics is entertainment and entertainment is politics. A Washington correspondent for the progressive magazine the Nation fulminated that the show was “borderline obscene” because so many politicians were rushing to appear in front of the camera. Dude, that was so the point.