looks good - reasonable reviews - good production values.
I can totally understand the viewpoint of those who can’t stand the show or the character. The enforced quirkiness of the Elsbeth character does grate on me a bit. With Columbo, at least, there was a bit of mystery about how much of his absent-minded, bumbling, rumpled persona was actually him, and how much of it was a ruse to let the bad guys think they were superior to him. With Elsbeth, her persona is 100% non-ironic; she just happens to also be a smart crime-solver.
And yeah, the setup of the show is pretty unrealistic, but that’s the case with 99% of cop shows. At least Elsbeth is tongue-in-cheek about it. Last season they had a show where they investigated a murder on the set of a TV show where a priest and a cop teamed up to solve crimes. Elsbeth’s cop partner said to her “a cop pairing up with a non-cop? I thought only we did that”.
I agree. That looks good. Sad, but fascinating, story.
Very atmospheric show, we like it.
Not so much. Let’s take “The Rookie”- not much unrealistic, but they do concentrate a years worth of action and gunfights into one episode. Of course Barney Miller was the most realistic American cop show, with several others- The Wire, Homicide- Life on the Street, etc., being touted as fairly realistic.
Elspeth and High Potential are pure fantasy.
Yeah, and so what? Sometimes I want grim, gritty realism, sometimes I want fantasy and escapism.
Boston Blue started out good, but here in the 3rd? episode, they already dug out that tired trope of a woman belaboring the DA in Public for “justice”- and the DA not only taking her seriously, but doing it herself- rather than assigning it to any of a dozen ADAs.
Then the Superintendent leading a team into some dark tunnels. No, no no. That high of a rank doesnt do that sort of crap.
Huh? I think we’ve all seen a lot of series where that does happen. I think the first series I can recall wondering about that is Startrek where Kirk and most of the other top people go out on the lander to explore new worlds…
My wife and I are enjoying:
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Witcher season 4 (better than season 3!)
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Squid Game Challenge 2 - excellent
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Celebrity Traitors - so much fun
Agreed, although Liam Hemsworth is not better than Henry Cavill. As I noted in another thread, his base expression is too happy (for one thing).
Sheriff Country premiered on CBS Nov 9
I enjoyed the premiere. There are several interesting characters. Morena Baccarin is the new Sheriff. I found her a little wooden, but hoping she’ll grow into the part.
W. Earl Brown plays her ex con, pot growing dad. I’m curious to see how his character develops.
There is a ex husband and kids to fill the cast.
I will watch for awhile. Probably on Paramount+
The Tick (2001)
I was a fan of the comic and the cartoon and the 2001 live action show was one of those things where there were rumors and stories about it, but nobody knew if it would ever see the light of day. Of course there was executive meddling and there were rights issues with side characters but the creators of this show (I think) did a good enough job of overcoming those problems.
The Tick, played superbly by Patrick Warburton, is big, strong, nigh-invulnerable, and seems to have a tenuous grasp of reality. I think he’s played a little too stupid here at times, but the “loveable oaf” aspect is on point. David Burke plays Arthur, a nebbish accountant-turned-hero, who works as Tick’s “sidekick.” They are joined by Liz Vassey’s Captain Liberty and Nestor Carbonell’s Batmanuel, expys of the cartoon’s American Maid and Die Fledermaus (who couldn’t appear due to rights issues). The two characters stand as their own though, imo, and round out this loose group of heroes.
Oh yeah, they’re heroes but they don’t actually do a lot of heroing. There’s some, but mostly the characters sit around and talk about their problems. There are villains, but most of the action is limited or happens offscreen. This makes an interesting vibe, imo: Heroes who really aren’t that interested in doing the hero work. The City is also an interesting location, filled with oddballs and super characters who have their own issues, something that I think the 2016 series didn’t capture very well.
The 2001 series was fun, mishandled by Fox, and lasted a mere 9 episodes, but it’s free to watch on Tubi for a quick binge.
I remember watching it and wondering why it was cancelled. Warburton is always (seemingly) unintentionally funny.
Warburton is great. One of my favorite scenes from Seinfeld, with PW as Elaine’s boyfriend Puddy:
Elaine Benes: Do you believe in God?
David Puddy: Yes.
Elaine Benes: Oh! So you’re pretty religious?
David Puddy: I try.
Elaine Benes: So is it a problem that I’m not really religious?
David Puddy: Not for me.
Elaine Benes: Why not?
David Puddy: I’m not the one going to Hell.
Doing the whole thing with complete, deadpan disinterest, the way he might say, “If you want some Pepsi, there’s a new two-liter in the fridge.” But maybe with 10 percent less excitement.
The way he acted in the Seinfeld series was a result of him being watched studying the script with that blank stare, which the cast found hilarious. Seinfeld and David told him to play the part just like that, along with the “yeah, that’s right” responses.
Good instincts there.
If I think enough of the elements of a show will make it good I try to go in as blind as I can. Somehow my wife and I watched our first episode of The Lowdown and we greatly enjoyed it only to find out the first episode we saw was the Season 1 Finale. DOH!!! I think I was using the voice recorder on the remote instead of typing it in which takes you to the most recent episode released not the first of the season.
Sure, we were confused through a bit of it but thought that was how the show ran.
We liked it enough to want to see the 7 episodes prior.
Grrrrr.
I’ve done that a bunch of times. Some streaming services (like Netflix) seem to think it’s helpful to list episodes in reverse chronological order.
We started watching this last night. A number of well-known actors in it, including Nick Offerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Shannon, and Bradley Whitford, who seems to be in anything with a political slant of late.