Something new for you to watch
First off, if you haven’t been watching Stargate Universe, you might want to think about it. It’s pretty good stuff — not BSG, but leaps above any prior Stargate series. Good acting and some compelling storylines. Highly recommended. I may consider recapping it, if there’s a critical mass (e.g. 3 people) who are interested.
Also on the new front, try out “Justified.” It’s a new series on F/X about a southern U.S. Marshal, based on an Elmore Leonard character. The characters have been interesting so far and the dialogue is great. I don’t think it is getting much buzz, but frankly it’s one of the better shows on TV right now (no offense to you Parenthood fans). You can watch all the eps so far on Hulu (at least for the next few days).
Posted on April 26, 2010, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 34 Comments.
Steve Evans
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Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
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ninemoons
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Kyle M
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MCQ
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Ivan
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Clark Goble
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Tim J
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It’s a lot better than it has any right to be. I have to say, it’s pretty clear they’re modeling it after BSG, so it has a very derivative feel, but at the same time, there are worse things they could have modeled it on, and they seem to be avoiding the worst parts (so far).
Though I think they way overdo it on the pop song montages. But I watch every week. I think it gets better each week, actually.
You can also see Justified at the FX Network site here.
Justified is probably the show I look forward to the most now. I really didn’t have that high of expectations for it, but it really is great.
By the way, Friday Night Lights’ season 4 premiere was pushed back to next week, May 7th. It’s another show well worth checking out.
Ivan, I hadn’t noticed the abundance of pop song montages… until now. Thanks for ruining my day.
I do agree that it has gotten better each week. Starting right before the midseason cliffhanger ep, I started to realize that this show was pretty great.
Tim, glad to see you’re a connoisseur of fine taste!
I second the motion on Justified. I have recorded and watched them all so far and it has been worth my time.
I love Justified. It really is my kind of writing. I am looking forward to seeing where the ex-wife’s husband goes and where the legal investigation goes.
The Lost guys (Cuse and Lindelof) both mentioned Justified as a show they enjoy in the last Lost podcast.
I saw a little bit of Stargate Universe the other day, and it looked okay. My nine-year-old daughter was disgusted because it’s outer-space sci-fi. Kids today!
Caught the original episode of Justified when it aired, but had the rest in my DVR. Watched 3 more episodes last night. Great writing, and I’ve loved Timothy Olyphant since he played Sheriff Bullock on the underrated and criminally under-seen Deadwood.
Thanks SG. I watched the Justified pilot last night, and it definitely was worth the hour or so that it went. I’m hoping to see more episodes before they disappear from Hulu.
Sadly Justified’s numbers are dropping. It’s getting a 0.8 right now, although FX might accept that given that they reair it numerous times. (Plus it’s still better than their other shows)
It was a 0.8 in the 18-49 demo and 1.3 overall. It’s not stellar, but for basic cable it’ll do. And like you said, with the repeats getting decent viewership, it adds up.
It’s a shoe-in for renewal.
What specifically about the writing do you guys like?
Susan, Elmore Leonard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmore_Leonard
Deadwood was fantastic. I’m still upset they cancelled it – we never even found out who won the election!
You’re right he is basically playing the same character only in the 20th century. I really need to get the short stories and novels the character is in. I’ve only read a few Leonard novels.
I hope the show does catch on as it is one of the better things on TV right now.
Well, it’s certainly not on the same level as Numbers or Criminal Minds, Susan. But it’s pretty darn good.
I want to understand what you like about it. Specifically, what is good about the writing? You say the dialogue is great–but great how?
There’s always a tension in the dialog that deals with the situation. There’s also an ironic humor with unexpected detours in the dialog. The writers don’t necessarily let the dialog go where you expect. The conflict between the characters ends up being expressed in the dialog with a game of cat and mouse going on. Simultaneously it is extremely spare. Tarantino lifted much of his style from Leonard (and even did an adaptation of Rum Punch that largely kept Leonard’s dialog). You might like this NPR story.
Speaking of Justified, there was something in last night’s episode that really bugged me. How did Raylan Givens figure out the sheriff was the bad guy? He leaves the prison and suddenly knows everything. Seemed like some clumsy writing.
OK, thanks Clark. I can see all that.
Boyd Crowder told him. Crowder told Raylan that he was wrong about the Ava being the target (because Raylan was focused on Ava, thus Crowder’s question about Raylan sleeping with her), and that if it wasn’t Ava, it must have been Raylan who was the target, So who wanted Raylan dead? Answer: The Miami mob, thus a contract hit. Crowder also must have questioned (unseen) the sheriff’s involvement because the first thing Raylan said when he saw the sheriff was that Crowder told Raylan he should shoot the Sheriff in the face. How Crowder knew that the Sheriff was one of the conspirators I’m a little shaky on, but I’d guess there were clues there to be caught if I watch the episode again. Might have to do with the Sheriff’s flunky being ‘the spotter’ or maybe some (unseen) history between Crowder and the Sheriff (personal knowledge that he was dirty, or some such).
I think.
I like the show. They have that sparse but heavily loaded Leonard dialog down pretty well.
It’s hard to describe good writing, but you know it when you see it and hear it. Justified definitely has it.
I know what you mean, MCQ, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s really very hard to describe good writing. I could tell you exactly what I think is brilliant about Arrested Development and My So-Called Life, two shows I consider to have really great writing.
I’m curious about the female characters on this show. Are there many? What are they like?
The female characters are fascinating, because they are so different, but all very strong characters. Primarily, there are four:
Ava, the hot (younger) chick that had a crush on Raylan Givens when they were growing up. She was married to one of the Crowders who was abusing her. She finally had enough and shot him about the same time that Raylan arrived back in town. Boyd Crowder was putting pressure on Ava to sleep with him and also threatened to kill Raylan. Ava distracted Boyd by threatening to shoot him and Raylan shot Boyd in the chest but Boyd survived. After initially resisting her charms, Raylan started sleeping with Ava.
Winona is Raylan’s ex-wife and a court reporter. They met in LA and hit it off partly because they were both from Kentucky, but they promised each other they would never go back. Of course, now they are both back. Winona has not had much screen time but when she is on screen you can’t take your eyes off her. My favorite character.
Rachel is another deputy in the US Marshall’s office where Raylan works. She is cute, petite, smart, african-american, and has great hair. She was assigned to a case with Raylan and was given the lead even though Raylan knew the suspect better. She let Raylan know that she thinks he is allowed to get away with way too much. At the end of the case, she learned to respect him a bit more.
Aunt Helen is married to Raylan’s father. She rescued Raylan from his dad’s bad temper when Raylan was growing up. She is very protective of Raylan’s dad.
I would say that the thing that sets this show apart is that it’s original and believable. There few other shows I feel that way about. Mad Men comes to mind.
I should mention that not just the writing, but the casting of this show seems inspired. I really like Jacob Pitts as another deputy in the office. His cold-blooded sniper attitude is just riveting. My favorite line was when he and the chief were under fire from two guys in a pick-up and he calmly picks up his rifle and asks the chief, “You want me to kill ‘em or just wing ‘em?”
JFD, I don’t see how Boyd would have known that the sheriff was behind it. At best he could say the sheriff was dealing. Perhaps this was just a scene deleted to fit the time slot. But I think it was an important one.
MCQ, I agree that the cast has been fantastic
Thanks for the run down, MCQ.
I didn’t find what little of the show I saw believable, but that’s OK.
Well it’s not a highly realistic portrayal of marshals, nor does it pretend to be.
I mean believable in the sense that you believe in the characters and get easily drawn into the story. I’m not suggesting it would pass a fact-checking test regarding the US Marshal’s Service or Kentucky culture. Although, for all I know, it might.
I don’t think it more unrealistic than the typical show, and it’s definitely tons better than shows like Bones, Lie to Me, CSI or that ilk in terms of correlation to reality. And even the most unrealistic aspect (that he could shoot that many people without being put on leave) is coming to a head with his investigation by the DOJ.
I don’t know that his shootings have been that questionable, really. Yes, he would have been put on leave while there was an investigation, but those things are concluded pretty quick, and if someone pulls a gun on a cop, there’s usually not much question that they deserved to get shot.
I think the only question is in his own mind; whether he would have shot the guy even if he didn’t pull a gun.
He shoots in a very controversial move that is being investigated a guy in the first episode. Then he shoots a friend in the second episode. Then he shoots two other guys. This is all supposed to be in the space of a few weeks. And you think he’d still be on active duty? All the while an active DOJ investigation is going on with the first shooting?
Come on.
Now I’ll admit it’s not that big a deal. I can suspend disbelief a little. It’s not like they make the Kentucky Marshall’s office appear to have a budget a few hundred times what they really do (which tends to be par for the course in most TV cop shows). But there definitely is a suspension of disbelief necessary in order to bend the classic westerns with a Tommy Lee Jone like Marshall. Don’t get me wrong – I love how they are injecting so many classic westerns into the show. But realistic it is not.
BTW – I watched the season finale of Caprica. I take back all the nice things I said about the show. Clearly the show doesn’t know what it is doing. It’s too the point I’m seriously questioning whether I’d continue to watch. Ugh.
Clark, the reality is that the DOJ investigation would be over and done with in three days. They don’t let those things drag on. either the shoot was good or it was not. The last thing in the world any law enforcement department would tolerate is an investigation dragging on for weeks. So yeah, in that regard, it’s not realistic, but in my opinion, he would not have been off duty more than a few days for any investigation.
I watched the latest episode of SG-U on Hulu over the weekend. I liked it well enough. Dr. Rush was having virtual reality flashbacks trying to figure out something important (maybe how the craft is operated–something like that) and the Starship Troopers were exploring alien tunnels. I probalby should have tried to start with the first episode, but Hulu’s offerings didn’t go back that far.
I thought the acting was good and the writing wasn’t bad. Production values were also pretty good. Although I never got into BSG, it’s pretty easy to see that the show had a positive impact on the genre.
We’ve watched three episodes now, and I’m ready to give it my endorsement. Good show. Robert Carlyle is a good actor. Casting him was a major coup. Louis Ferreira’s not bad either.
I like how the show makes good use out of its premise without spewing exposition all over the place. It makes it a little hard to follow at first (especially if you jumped in during the middle, like me), but it’s worth it.
The set design reminds me a lot of Metroid Prime. Anyone else? I think Samus should do a cameo.
LOL, I think shooting the doors open would be awesome.