hossman writes,
Last week fox aired the first two episodes of New Amsterdam in some choice time slots after American Idol, but going against Lost during its second episode; tonight it moves to it’s regular time.
What do people think of the show so far?
I Like it
I have not seen the third hour yet; but after two I like this show much more than I was expecting after seeing the ad-spots for it.
They are working a what could easily be a campy, trite story. But they have managed to keep everything human enough that IF you can swallow the background concept of a guy getting immortality until he finds his true love, because of a Native American ritual Then everything else falls into character.
And I like what I see as one major difference between this mythos and the other immortality-based Sci-fi plots of recent memory: The fact that he has children and watches them grow old. I think that is why I feel the character is, as I put it, more human.
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Re: I Like it
Your last point is a big one for me. That’s what makes this show worth watching. Immortal, blah blah blah, love story. While his back-story is interesting, it’s how his relationships are depicted and evolve that have kept me watching so far. I, too, haven’t seen ep 3 yet, but I’m looking forward to it.
Re: I Like it
(columbo)Oh, there’s one other thing…(/columbo)
They’re not making a mystery of the main character and where he came from. They got that out of the way real quick. We’re not dragging through seasons worth of mystery for one little revelation, we already know. Now the story is about his journey, and that’s refreshing.
Re: I Like it
I like the fact that he’s always telling people how old he is, he’s not trying to simply play off the idea that he’s well versed in damn near everything thats happened in the past 350 years, he lived through it and he’s not afraid to admit it.
Re: I Like it
Could be worse: could be he’d turn evil then, because of gypsies…
Re: I Like it
Actually, I like this show as well, and find Coster-Waldau’s performance of the lead character to be reasonably compelling. However….even though credits show Allan Loeb and Christian Taylor as "creators," this entire plot line is a blatant ripoff of Pete Hamill’s novel, ‘Forever,’ published in 2004. Read the book and you’ll see what I mean. By changing just a few minor elements, Loeb and Taylor apparently labor under the illusion that no one is the wiser, therefore no screen credit or other acknowledgement is given to Mr. Hamill. So…although I enjoy watching their version of the tale unfold, I deem it no more than Karmic justice that Fox will probably cancel the series.
My guess is that this show would have enjoyed a short life in any case, since the story is much better suited to the print in which it was born.
late to my own party
here i am the guy that send in the story idea, and most of what i had to say has already been said already…
a) he always tells the truth with a smirk, but no one believes him.
b) he has had plenty of people he’s loved and children he’s watched grow old
other things i really like about this show so far that set it apart from many other "immortal" shows…
1) he’s not seeking redemption for anything, his immortality wasn’t put on him as a curse … all the info we have is that he’s always been a relatively good person.
2) immortality is presented as monotonous and repetitive. while he’s clearly enjoyed living to see so much happen to the world, it’s also clear that it’s taken it’s toll on him — he numbers his dogs instead of naming them, he’s tried pretty much every profession you can think of
3) he’s actively trying to die … he’s searching for "the one" but (so far) his motivation mainly seems to be excitement at the prospect that when he finds her he can finally grow old nd die — not that she’ll be his one true love, because he’s already felt that kind of love for women in the past.
4) he’s the only one. i liked highlander a lot, it had a great premise and some awesome characters; and vampire shows are frequently entertaining … but the notion that this guy really has been "alone" for 400 years wih no one who truely understands what he’s gone through is pretty cool.
if i have one complaint about the show it’s that he isn’t more screwed up.
Re: late to my own party
I’m inclined to agree with Omar that if finding True Love means you’re going to die, it’s not much incentive…seeing other people grow old and die would be painful, but we already deal with that with pets, and many people feel just as strongly about them as other loved ones (though people might get a bit upset at being numbered ;-) ). And while one would want to rap some people upside the head for doing the same stupid things that have been done in the past, there are always new things to do, and getting moreso. I don’t think monotonous and repetitive would apply — I don’t have time to do near the things I’m interested in, but it would depend on the person.
Re: late to my own party
There was a little blurb from the Actor on scifiwire about this just before the show premiered actually…
I like it but….
1) A little bit too name-droppy.
2) Will there be enough going on in each episode to keep people interested, long-term?
3) Fox.
I do love that he’s not angst-ridden. And yes, the bits with Omar and 36 are a nice touch. We’ll see, but the last several Fox shows I watched got cancelled…