ALCATRAZ on Fox - Page 3

Actually, didn't the first guy, in the pilot, kill some seemingly random, non-Alcatraz person for one of those Mysterious Keys(tm)? That one looked like some kind of programmed assassination, so I was expecting to see more of those types of things sprinkled in here and there. But nope, far as I can tell. Unless criminals compulsively repeating their original crimes without leaving the San Francisco area counts as a mystery. (Holy hell, the crime wave hitting this one city should be national news at this point. Sniper? Bank siege with hostages? Public bomber? All within a month? National Guard!)

I expect new eps will sit in the DVR til I remember em and knock a couple out at a time, but I'm in, for now. Hate to say it, but the cast alone is keeping me from cancelling the season, and I don't just mean the awesome Garcia or Ms. Jones (who's bringing more to the table than her ample talents, TBH; just a shit part so far). If there's anyone who I suspect could break out from this show, though, whether it's a flop or success, it's Jonny Coyne. His warden's my favorite character so far, and he's got a great face, right out of a cartoon.

So, my verdict so far: Past Alcatraz = compelling, sci-fi mystery = still keeping me curious, modern-day procedural = SO bad. So, so, so bad. But a good cast.

Damn this show.  There's a lot of questionable writing I'm willing to overlook, but continually having trained law enforcement types with a drawn weapon on a bad guy not firing whilst said bad guy does some questionable shit is over the line.  Watching a guy pull out a zippo, light it, turn around and light the dynamite he just planted is too damn stupid.

On another note, I wonder if they're dumping episodes now due to the bad ratings or if they just ran back to back last night for some other reason.  I'd be pretty surprised if this comes back next season.  I hope Hotty McBlondie finds another gig.

this show is so poorly written its appalling ... love that the cliffhanger on their penultimate episode was a fact we learned like 10 minutes into the show (the "handlers" identity) ... then for the finale, we get two-fold disappointment -- the secret room is just a lab ( and i guess we are supposed to be excited the scientist appeared, but hes brand new and it has no significance; I think we are all aware he wont spill ALL the beans if the next season picks up at the same spot ... and the other disappointment, their big cliffhanger is that the MAIN character dies ... is ANYONE supposed to beleive that will last, or wont be able to be reversed by some BS alcatraz-related science (... perhaps provided by the new scientist....)

This show is just BAD, and it could be SOOOO good ... the ideas are there, but the idiots writing it should be fired.

And i agree, the warden is easily one the best unknown casting choices in a while... just great.

Here's the real question: is the warden Vince Lombardi?

I feel so bad for this cast. The writing's such a mess, but I like just about everyone on the show! Excellent and fun Bullitt-esque car chase through the hills of SF, at least. Good action direction, there. Plotting, or story? craaaaaaaaap. Such wasted potential so far.

Warden Lex Luthor is one of my favorite parts of the show. 

This isn't getting a second season, ratings for the finale were dogshit.

Good.  It doesn't deserve it.

It feels like it could have been a good show on cable, where they wouldn't have been forced to adhere to a case-o-the-week format. The pacing just felt glacial

The present-day characters never got the fleshing out that the 60s characters did. The result was a show that was half interesting historical fiction and half mediocre Law & Order ripoff.

The capper was that we never really knew the stakes, so it was impossible to feel totally invested. Bad guys from the past doesn't really seem -that- tense on its own; we have plenty of bad guys in the present. We needed a hint of why letting these plans play out would be a very bad thing.

Oh well. I still enjoyed it for what it was, but I really hope that Abrams writes the pilot for his next produced series himself. As a writer, he really knows how to set the table for a series.

I'm convinced guys like JarJar Abrahms start shows like Alcatraz as some sort of vanity thing, just to maintain some kind of street cred and secure a large pay day, then they wait until it's cancelled and then it's on to the next pay day...honestly most TV shows nowdays seem like one good idea with nothing else to back it up.  It's like they worry about the pilot and then just kind of make shit up as they go along.  

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Originally Posted by Ambler 

I'm convinced guys like JarJar Abrahms start shows like Alcatraz as some sort of vanity thing, just to maintain some kind of street cred and secure a large pay day, then they wait until it's cancelled and then it's on to the next pay day...honestly most TV shows nowdays seem like one good idea with nothing else to back it up.  It's like they worry about the pilot and then just kind of make shit up as they go along.  

I don't think Abrams was involved with this show anymore than Spielberg was involved with The River.  Its branding.  I don't even think they had a solid concept / good idea in the first place.  Its a half-baked mess at best, but they could slap the 'JJ Abrams MYSTERY' label on it, and go right for that LOST demographic.  So they did.  Such a lazy boring piece of shit.

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Originally Posted by fuzzy dunlop 

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I don't think Abrams was involved with this show anymore than Spielberg was involved with The River.  Its branding.  I don't even think they had a solid concept / good idea in the first place.  Its a half-baked mess at best, but they could slap the 'JJ Abrams MYSTERY' label on it, and go right for that LOST demographic.  So they did.  Such a lazy boring piece of shit.

Well that's exactly what I was implying...I'm sure JJ had SOME input into what the show was going to entail...besides, it would be foolish putting your name on a product you know nothing about, eventually it will backfire against your name branding.  Guys like JJ (and now his minions Orci and Kurtzman) do these vanity deals and kind of go set up the next deal...

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Originally Posted by Ambler 

Well that's exactly what I was implying...I'm sure JJ had SOME input into what the show was going to entail...besides, it would be foolish putting your name on a product you know nothing about, eventually it will backfire against your name branding.  Guys like JJ (and now his minions Orci and Kurtzman) do these vanity deals and kind of go set up the next deal...

It's not 'vanity' though... it's business.

When you succeed in Hollywood, you gain the money and/or credentials to get things made. More things than you can possibly make on your own. So you pick the projects you love, and make them yourself. Then you pick the projects you like, and produce them. And in either case, when it's done, you move on to the next thing for as long as you want to and can, because that's what the job entails.

Alcatraz failed. Nobody's track record is perfect. Spielberg's had a ton of mediocre (or worse) projects with his name attached.

Like I said, I just hope Abrams writes the pilot next time around. I think he does that better than anyone working today. Alias, Lost and Fringe are three of the best pilots I've ever seen. Most shows really struggle to find themselves in their pilot, and Alcatraz was no exception.

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Originally Posted by Farsight 

It's not 'vanity' though... it's business.

Maybe vanity was the wrong word.  What I mean is, an over reliance on name recognition in order to make money and not necessarily push quality.  If you attach your name to a show and then just leave without having much input over the quality of said show, it's purely to make money.  Why else jump ship?  If you were serious about the creation, you'd stick around to make sure it goes well.  Nothing wrong with making money, but I thought guys like Spielberg and Abrahms grew up with the love of cinema.  I guess speaks to their true opinion of TV that they keep putting their names on shows that end up terrible (or even start out that way in some cases).  

I guess with TV it's different because the show runner takes over.  That's why I probably wrongly used the word "vanity", because your name starts to mean dickall and eventually work against you if you keep putting your  name on projects that fail...leading me to believe that all you care about is your name on screens.  It's one thing to put your time and energy into a show that fails, it's another to put your name on something, have little say to how it turns out and then say "well my track record isn't perfect", like you actually made some kind of effort and failed...all you did was put your name on something that you bailed on for the most part.  And to me putting your name on something and then bailing is BAD business...good business is about ensuring quality.  And if you don't have the time to see a show out, don't put your bloody name on it.  How many millions do you really need?  

Darabont was an example of how to do it right.  Say what you want about the first season of Walking Dead, but he was Johnny on the spot with that show.  And when he was forced out, he left and put his time and effort into another show (L.A. Noir), he didn't spurt his name seed all over the networks to see which one stuck so he could fill his already probably very healthy bank account...again, it's why I used the word vanity for JarJar.  He seems like a serial dater with TV shows, buncha basterd children all over Hollywood.  And I like Spielberg more than his protege, but I feel he's guilty of the same thing with TV.  I mean if Spielberg never even touched TV he'd still be disgustingly rich and respected, that's why his TV behavior baffles and saddens me.

Finally watched the Finale...could they have been more on the nose with the Bullitt references. Good Lord.

Over-all I found this show to be a very boring and underwhelming "case of the week" crime drama with extremely ridiculous sci-fi elements to it.  Particularly hated how these convicts enter the present day and perform tasks associated with the over-all mythology, yet when questioned they're like "I dunno what happened or why I'm doing stuff."

Also, the ending with

was really underwhelming.  I instantly thought "The Silver Blood!" will save her or something.

If this show doesn't return for season 2, I won't miss it.

Can this show be the show that sends a signal flair to all makers of TV that we'd rather see an interesting story unfold naturally rather than be spoon fed a dull case of the week show with a much more interesting story lurking in the background that they absolutely refuse to dive into because of fear of ruining the "mystery"? (Long tangential sentence, sue me.) 

Fox has cancelled the show.

No surprise.  Instead of do or do not, this show was all try.

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Originally Posted by Draco Senior 

Fox has cancelled the show.

Good.