Every week this show picks a theme and presents two stories on that theme. Simple. Very simple. It’s This American Life, a Showtime Network adaptation of the Chicago public radio program.

The straightforward idea behind This American Life has always provided rich and nuanced narratives. With the added layer of visual storytelling, This American Life the TV show does something I never thought it could do; it becomes as good as, maybe even better than, the radio program.

Take the first story of the pilot episode, titled "Reality Check". The theme is "snapping back to reality" and it profiles a Brahma bull owner. You see, this owner so loved his bull Chance that when the 19-year-old animal was reaching the end of its life, he cloned it.

Okay, he didn’t personally clone it, but Texas A&M did. The owner hoped to get his tame, gentle pet bull back. When the new bull, Second Chance, turned four years old, it attacked the owner.

At this point in the 15-minute segment, we haven’t seen any bulls misbehaving, but suddenly we jump cut to Second Chance goring and tearing apart a huge bail of hay. He’s pounding it. And pounding it. And pounding it. It’s a visual moment that made me realize This American Life the TV show could do bigger and better things than the radio program.

I’m blaspheming radio, I know. But coming from me, a person who has a collection of old time radio programs and listens to public radio every weekend, you have to understand that statement means something. Where Ira Glass’ narration isn’t as prevalent, his dry, witty remarks and pointed observations are well-placed. The documentary directors and editors do the rest.

What most surprised me about the show is that the second segment, the one narrated by Jorge Just and not Ira Glass, did more than just fit into one show’s theme. It follows the group Improv Everywhere as they pull a prank called the Best Gig Ever. The act’s basic question is, Would you rather have a great dream, even if it was just a dream, or the usual reality?

By giving the up-and-coming band Ghosts of Pasha the best gig of their lives (memorizing all the words, wearing the band shirts, and giving the group playing on stage love, no matter what), Improv Everywhere and the segment writers are so self-aware it’s emotionally overwhelming. They get the audience to consider the fundamental idea behind the show, other TV shows, films, art, and life. Yeah, reality can suck sometimes, but thanks to groups like Improv Everywhere or shows like This American Life, we can find the little dreams to offset the tragedies.

The unconventional stories and existential tidbits are worthy of the visual narrative. There is more to the story as it is presented here than if you just downloaded a radio podcast. This American Life offers everything that the TV news magazine can’t or won’t. While it could even be considered reality TV, This American Life proves to be television storytelling at its finest. Good luck getting that from any other non-fiction program.