Has anyone watched this new series yet? It’s on AMC (started on Sunday) and stars Jason Segel, Sally Field, Richard Grand among others. I read about it in the Sunday newspaper’s Parade magazine. It sounded interesting so I DVR’d it. I tried watching it last night and just couldn’t finish it. It starts out very weird. I’m wondering if anyone watched the whole episode and if it got any better. Should I stick with it? I haven’t deleted it yet!
I think it’s one of those things that it would hurt to try to make sense of it, and it’s better to just go with it. (Like the latter seasons of ‘Lost’, I kind of lost the thread on first viewing, and just watched anyway). Somewhere online are reviews that I read the next day for illumination. The first episode centered around Peter, last night centered around Simone. Next week: Sally Field’s character. I mildly enjoy it so far, but just mildly.
I also caught the one episode, and it seems vaguely familiar-- do you know what source material it is based on?
I only saw the one episode, though, so cannot tell you whether they take things in a good direction. Guess I have to watch some more…
Looks like it’s based on the documentary The Institute. Apparently it was a reality game in San Francisco.
I watched the first episode, and part of the second. I was reminded, continually, of M. Night Shyamalan—not with regard to the theme or plot, particularly, but with regard to ‘the auteur refuses or ignores all feedback, despite the fact that the work could be greatly improved if feedback were listened to.’
I gather this is a “passion project” for Jason Segel, and that he has enough juice in the industry to get this made. But heavens, it’s slow-moving and precious. Some changes could have made it far more watchable.
Meh. I may give it another try, but…Shyamalan. An object lesson for all filmmakers.
As I said, I only watched part of the first episode. Last night I went back in and I lasted about 5 minutes. It just doesn’t hold my attention at all. I am now convinced that’s enough for me - I’m out.
I watched the first two episodes and enjoyed the hell out of it. I loved the work conversation with Jason Segal’s character and his boss.
I enjoy this kind of storytelling and look forward to finding out where it all leads, but the real draw is that since I live outside Philly I get to play “Ooh! I know where that is!” in almost every scene. I’m in it until the end for sure.
I’m enjoying it. I love quirky shows like this.
Also, like JohnM, I’m familiar with Philly and like seeing famliar areas. Everything doesn’t need to be set in NYC or Chicago.
It’s pretty rare for me to turn on a show and go: “This shit’s too weird for me.” But that’s what happened.
I must be the exact target demographic for this show because so far I adore it. I am ashamed to admit I rarely actually watch TV-- instead it’s just kind of on in the background while I do other stuff-- but this one I pay attention to.
I can absolutely see how it might be too twee or too weird for some people but it’s got the weirdness of a Lost or a Legion while still being emotionally grounded so… I dig it and look forward to seeing where it goes.
My wife and I are enjoying the show so far, for all of the reasons mentioned above by others who liked it.
The show is on the weird side, yes, but some of the responses in this thread have me wondering: for those who find the show too weird, are you aware of the basis for the show, and are you familiar with ARG’s at all?
I may be wrong, but it seems that, to someone coming in blind, the show would come across as really bizarre and surreal, depicting a world at least as strange as in Lost, or Lodge 49, or a little less so than that in Legion. But for me, judging from the first two episodes and having a passing familiarity with ARG’s, the situation as depicted comes across as quirky rather than surreal.
Although the show seems to be leaving open the possibility of some real weirdness (“Do you think it could be, you know, real?”), so far it just seems to me to be a (perhaps a bit too precious for some) fictionalization of something that actually occurred. Does that make sense?
Well, yes, don’t you think playing the actual game was more fun than watching a television show about it? If you like that sort of game; if you do not, then watching a show about it is definitely not that much fun.
Interesting you should ask that. When I say I have a passing familiarity with ARG’s, I mean I’m only a little tiny bit experienced/knowledgeable. I played the Lost one, which barely qualified as a game (as opposed to just a website about the show), but we all know how Lost panned out. That was actually pretty painful for me, as I had such high hopes that the writers were taking us somewhere worthwhile. Other than that, I looked into ARG’s a little and tried playing a couple that seemed to be starting up, but both times the game went defunct right after the trailheads appeared.
So, aside from just liking weird shows in general, I’m watching this show and hoping that I’ll be able to experience something like what it would have been like to play a successful version of an ARG.
BUMP
I’m watching this show now for the first time, though I am disappointed only the first three episodes are included with Amazon Prime Video(I now have the DVD set on hold at the library).
Is…this show coming back for a second season? Was it intended to be a one season event?
To the best of my knowledge, it was intended to be a one season event. A Limited Series.