Friday, February 10, 2012

It's Only The River

I just caught the first two hours of The River, yet another entry in the recreate Lost sweepstakes.  Dr. Emmet Cole is a famous TV naturalist who disappears one day while traveling up the Amazon.  His wife and grown son, who appeared with him on his show, star in a new show (which bankrolls them) to find him.  The first season--which will only be eight hours--is about mom, son and crew as they travel through an uncharted bend of the Amazon (do uncharted sections exist?) and uncover the deeper mystery.

I suppose it's well done for what it is, but what it is isn't something I generally go for.  It's created by the guys who did Paranormal Activity, and has a similar format in that everything we see is shot by cameras that exist within the story.  Maybe putting up with that as a one-time twist in a movie can work, but it gets tiresome week after week (and also makes it hard to buy--the camera always conveniently catches what it needs to?).

What they find is an awful lot of magical stuff, which, as a plot device, tends to cheapen drama unless handled well--there are no rules, after all.  Also, it's horror, one of my least favorite genres, and as such often relies on cheap tricks to give us a jolt.

I could forgive everything if it had solid characters, but so far, I don't particularly like these people, nor do I find them that interesting.  I'm sure much more will be revealed, but I think I'll disembark now. (I watch too much TV anyway.)

3 Comments:

Anonymous Denver Guy said...

I can't take on any more shows. I haven't even watched the last two episodes of Alcatraz.

It seems to me that the last ten years has really seen a change in how the networks introduce new shows. The mid-season entry now seems to include expensive, first tier productions that I would think one would want to reserve for September starts. Mid season shows used to be "also-rans" that replaced only the worst of the new seasons shows.

Also, why are reliable shows returning mid-season? I haven't caught 30 Rock yet this mid-season, because it runs opposite a new show I like and am now invested in. I guess I'll try to catch up during summer re-runs.

7:34 AM, February 10, 2012  
Anonymous Lawrence King said...

DG, I'm starting to think that the solution is to wait until a show is done and then watch it.

I didn't watch Lost, Buffy, or Firefly until they had run for quite a while (indeed, Firefly had been cancelled by then) and I had heard tons of people raving about them. Then I got into them and never regretted it.

But in the past two years I watched two heavy-arc shows whose previews intrigued me: Persons Unknown and The Killing. And both of them turned out to be hastily assembled by writers who didn't give a d--n about continuity or logic (or bothering to give the characters personalities, for that matter).

The fifth episode of Alcatraz showed some real promise and even revealed a few minor things. But it's still hard for me to believe that they plan any major revelations early in the show, and even harder to believe that they have a plan in mind already.

10:17 AM, February 10, 2012  
Blogger LAGuy said...

I've already given up on Alcatraz. I guess I give up pretty easily, but as I said, I watch too much TV already. Perhaps if I hear how great the show is I'll give it another chance.

There are a number of shows on my list I'm waiting to discover when I have the time. I did it a while ago with The Wire. It's a very different experience to watch all the episodes in a short period.

11:08 AM, February 10, 2012  

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