CHUD.com Community › Forums › SPORTS, GAMES & LEISURE › Television › Longmire: The Poor Man's Justified
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Longmire: The Poor Man's Justified

post #1 of 30
6/10/12 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 

Anyone watching this?

 

I caught the pilot.  Thought it was kinda boring, but it has potential.  Sheriff Longmire could be more grizzled and hard-boiled for my liking, but he's an interesting enough character.

Reply
post #2 of 30
6/10/12 at 7:21pm

I've seen the First Look piece at the theater, and can't shake the feeling that in an alternate universe, this is Harrison Ford's dive into network television.

Reply
post #3 of 30
6/10/12 at 8:20pm

"The Poor Man's Justified"

 

I saw a commercial for it and thought this immediately.

 

Does anyone know...was Steven Segal not available because it seems like it could be one of his dtv movies that he was unavailable for and since no 'Segal', the creator sold it to A&E for pennies...??

Reply
post #4 of 30
6/10/12 at 8:27pm

The books the series are based on, written by Craig Johnson, are pretty well done.  It really has nothing in common with Justified aside from the main character is in law enforcement in rural USA.  That's about it. 
 

Reply
post #5 of 30
6/10/12 at 8:32pm
Thread Starter 

I've heard good things about the books, but from the pilot, you still have a lot of "backwoods" characters very much like Justified, only with Indians thrown into the mix.  There's no Big Bad at this point, and that seems to be what the show is missing.  But the character of Longmire and Rayland Givins are very similar.

Reply
post #6 of 30
6/10/12 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai View Post

The books the series are based on, written by Craig Johnson, are pretty well done.  It really has nothing in common with Justified aside from the main character is in law enforcement in rural USA.  That's about it. 
 

 

I wasn't aware that it was based on a series of books...this could give it some weight...??

 

I can't but help get the Hollywood/television "clone" vibe from this-

 

 

TV executive:  "hey, isn't that tv show really  popular right now?"

 

TV producer: "Yeah, that show is really popular.....are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

 

TV executive: "yeah....can you say  'Mentalist'

 

TV producer: "damn right, 'Mentalist' is nothing like 'Psych'....

 

 

....fuckin' hollywood  :)

Reply
post #7 of 30
6/10/12 at 10:35pm
Thread Starter 

Just finished watching episode 2, and its a dramatic improvement over the pilot episode.  The mystery was very good and Longmire is like a cowboy Colombo.  His prowess at deduction was very much on display here as opposed to the first episode.  And the secondary characters were better fleshed out here, along with a few set-ups that seem intriguing that could play out over the season (His daughter's relationship with his deputy, and the story behind the mysterious scars on his back).

 

If the rest of the season is like this, it could be a very enjoyable show.

Reply
post #8 of 30
6/10/12 at 10:59pm

Well he wears a hat a lot, that's pretty much where the comparisons to Justified end. This is way more in the mold of the Jesse Stone flicks, which is why my pops will end up loving this show.

 

I'm digging Robert Taylor in the lead. He's about what I imagine a widowed Wyoming sheriff would be but the cases so far haven't really grabbed me. I'll give it a few more weeks mainly because we're in a real dead zone for television from now until July 15th.
 

It's keeping Lou Diamond Phillips away from celebrity cooking shows. I'm thankful for that.

Reply
post #9 of 30
6/11/12 at 9:46am

The books are good. By Craig Johnson, y'all should try them. They never tried to be like Elmore Leonard.
 

Reply
post #10 of 30
6/11/12 at 1:54pm

I watched the first two episodes and it was pretty good. I get the Justified comparison, will keep DVRing it.

Reply
post #11 of 30
6/12/12 at 3:20pm

I'm enjoying it, I like that it's low-key. 

 

Someone needed to teach Robert Taylor how to pronounce 'Rainier' though.

 

Random sadness: I can't enjoy justified, because I irrationally hate Timothy Olyphant.  

Reply
post #12 of 30
6/12/12 at 6:10pm

Comparing this to Justified is giving the show far more credit than it rightly deserves. This is no better or worse than any of the countless police procedural programs on CBS.

Reply
post #13 of 30
6/12/12 at 6:20pm

Those CBS shows, like the CSI programs and Blue Bloods, are basically crap.  At times the writing is worse than Three's Company, but without the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. Roper.  Longmire may not be Justified - but that's a pretty limiting comparison.  It's a solid show, and hopefully it'll build on its characters.    Plus, if they film in New Mexico, there's always the chance Val Kilmer will do a guest spot.

Reply
post #14 of 30
6/12/12 at 6:28pm

It doesn't have that cruddy faded out look that all CBS shows seems to have, I'll give it that. I'm hoping the plots will get a bit more interesting as the season unfolds because I don't know if Taylor alone can keep me on board.

 

Any theories on what his big dark secret is that prompted those flashbacks? I'm guessing he had some accidental part in his wife's death.
 

Reply
post #15 of 30
6/12/12 at 6:41pm

The books have some interesting stories which would be tough to adapt for a single episode but could be condensed into a 3-episode arc.  Those wounds we see hint at a darker side of the books which hasn't been seen in the TV series; the show seems to have been made somewhat middle-America friendly, which is a shame.  Still, I'm hopeful, and this season is only 10 episodes, so it doesn't require a huge commitment.  It's doing fairly well in the ratings, it seems.
 

Reply
post #16 of 30
6/18/12 at 12:58pm

Eh, I love 'westerns', the setting and Starbuck so I'm on board. Though I gotta say, Wisconsin sure has more than it's share of sex trade crimes, judging by this. 

Reply
post #17 of 30
6/18/12 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelios View Post

Eh, I love 'westerns', the setting and Starbuck so I'm on board. Though I gotta say, Wisconsin sure has more than it's share of sex trade crimes, judging by this. 

 

Not to be an ass, but maybe you're thinking of Wyoming?

Reply
post #18 of 30
6/18/12 at 1:47pm

Don't agree with the Justified comparison, but it's certainly the poor man's Battlestar Galactica redo.


Edited by Kevin Matchstick - 6/18/12 at 2:10pm
Reply
post #19 of 30
6/18/12 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bendrix View Post

 

Not to be an ass, but maybe you're thinking of Wyoming?

 

Not an ass at all. Wyoming it is.

Reply
post #20 of 30
6/18/12 at 6:14pm

Unfortunately, they really have simplified the writing from the novels, as well as Longmire's character.  Still, it's a look at a part of America that doesn't get enough attention and I appreciate Phillips as Standing Bear; he speaks just as the character from the books, no contractions, a strong sense of propriety.  Hopefully he gets a little more screen time.
 

Reply
post #21 of 30
6/26/12 at 5:07pm

It's true that the plots have been somewhat predictable, although the nature of the relationship between Walt and Larry (the pizza guy) was quite surprising in the last episode. For me, the big strengths of the series are Robert Taylor as the title character, and the setting itself. I kind of like seeing a procedural in a fresh (or at least different) setting.

 

Including contemporary American Indians in the show also helps the series stand out a little bit. I'll watch Katee Sackhoff in just about anything, and while I enjoy her character, it isn't exactly a stretch from her BSG work. But that's still cool. Cassidy Freeman (from Smallville) is also a plus, although I hope her character can have more screen-time.

 

(Also, just read somewhere that Robert Taylor played "Agent Jones" in The Matrix. Hunh. Now I'm gonna gave to put that one in again sometime soon, here.)

Reply
post #22 of 30
6/27/12 at 9:19pm

40590-24459.gif

 

 

Trippy.

Reply
post #23 of 30
6/27/12 at 11:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post

40590-24459.gif

 

 

Trippy.

 

 

EQW6y.gif

Reply
post #24 of 30
6/28/12 at 12:32am

830px-The_Matrix_Dodge_this_%28HD%29_1823.jpg

 

"...Dodge this."

Reply
post #25 of 30
7/20/12 at 3:29pm

This show has been slowly but steadily improving; took a big jump forward by adding Peter Weller as Longmire's predecessor, the previous sheriff of Absaroke County.
 

Reply
post #26 of 30
7/20/12 at 4:23pm
I've been meaning to dive into it. Got 6 episodes stored up. I know we don't need another crime series but I love the landscapes and it seems lile an interesting spin on
these types of shows.
Reply
post #27 of 30
7/20/12 at 4:35pm

I hate the title of this thread. The books and the show are not like Justified and don't try to be.

Reply
post #28 of 30
7/20/12 at 5:06pm

Agreed.  We'll do a better one for S2.
 

Reply
post #29 of 30
7/25/12 at 4:38pm

I've gotten tired of nearly every episode having some kind of action climax.

Reply
post #30 of 30
8/13/12 at 9:06am

Solid end to the season with some nice setups for next year.  See you in eight months.
 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Television
CHUD.com Community › Forums › SPORTS, GAMES & LEISURE › Television › Longmire: The Poor Man's Justified