Looks like it could be all-time fun-bad. I'm giving episode one a shot.

_________________
-- source

Looks like a limited-run kind of deal.

Good actors and interesting premise; horrible title.

_________________
Not a mult.

this show has been sarsgaarded.

Don't make me slap you.

_________________
-- source

It's a remake of an Australian show. Directv ran the original show on their audience network. Never watched it.

Wow that's very Shark-y.

_________________

I assume the Australian used his left hand?

_________________
-- source

I don't get what it's about. It seems like a little shit kid gets slapped by a an adult who isn't his parent after kicking the guy. You have to stretch reality pretty far for lawsuits and financially ruined lives to result.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

From the commercials I've seen I don't really get it, either. You can hear one of the other adults in the background referring to the guy as a "maniac."

Maniac?

Going to be a mega hit in suburbia!!!!!!

Saw the promo on the GUIDE channel, wasnt sure if it was a joke or not.

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

it was originally a novel before being adapted into the miniseries in australia. internationally it was a pretty big hit (the book was especially popular in britain).

it's not about someone hitting a kid, that's just the trigger. it's more about the flaws of everyday people magnified due to an event that exposes a lot more about everybody involved. it's just a catalyst.

i'm definitely going to give it a try, hoping it's not just another dumbed down american adaptation. from the trailer it seems like most of the emotions are intact. the biggest difference i see immediately is that there was more ethnic diversity in the novel and original series. that played a key role in the characters' behavior.

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

i was impressed with the first episode. i thought they did a good job of showing convincing emotions and the lead-up to the incident was well done. it's so typical that white actors are playing greek characters (brian cox?) but they do a good job. quinto can definitely pass off as a greek american (he can speak it, but he has a regular american accent).

there were some other things going on besides the actual slap that will play a bigger role in the issues of these characters' lives...this show seems to prove worth it to stick with it.

They did a good job of making me dislike most of the characters already.

_________________
-- source

I'd like to know what you mean by showing convincing emotions. If you mean that you were convinced that those people would act the way they did, I would agree. However, there is nothing true about any of these characters. They are stereotypes, not characters. That is fine if the writers are trying to prove something deeper but from the future episodes it does not appear to do so. I don't believe in a single one of them. This is an adult John Hughes movie.

That said, I got a little chubbed up seeing Thandie Newton pulling up her undies in the bathroom.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

"Chubbed up" will never NOT make me laugh. I think the first time I heard it was Dahl many moons ago.

Yes, I mean it didn't seem contrived or forced. I believe the characters are meant to be more representative of a type than be full fleshed out people, in a narrative sense, because this is about how things fall apart and it's a statement about society's downfall. So I don't think you're meant to necessarily "like" the characters. However, each part is told from a different character's perspective. I've heard even the Aussie version started off weak and got better.

I don't think it was weak. I kind of enjoyed it. I just don't think there is any real character throughout the show. They are just exaggerations of a type...the overbearing mother in law who adores her adult children, the wise but henpecked father, the wealthy moron who thinks money means brains, the hippie artist, the clinging mother, etc.

On there own, these stereotypes become tedious. I guess the interesting part will come in when their positions of power become switched. The hippie becomes the aggressor, the A type personality has to say sorry. I assume the MIL will need Newton's character at some point for medical help.

It has my interest.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Yes, I agree that they are exaggerated. I think in a story like this it has to be that way, because the characters have to represent an entire populace in some cases. they have to be instantly identifiable, because the chain reaction will be too quick to sit back and try to make all these characters be totally 3 dimensional. in stories like this, it's the story that becomes 3 dimensional a lot of times. there's a good review in EW about it, they gave it a B. So far that's what I'd give it to. They used the word "satire" to describe it...I'm not sure it's quite that. I don't think it's necessarily mocking this sort of behavior, but it certainly is making a statement about it. The author of the novel, I think, may just be a bit misanthropic. But if you're going to be critical of the human race, most likely cynicism is going to be a part of it.

The only thing that didn't work for me was the narration. I didn't think it was necessary and it just seemed a bit off. I'm guessing it's used as a device...but I just found it too blunt.

The narration was weird and didn't fit. I did like the show and plan to watch.

Nobody noticed the goofy kid grabbed a real bat? Everybody sucks at that party.

_________________
favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

This is more than 1 night?

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Mini-series. Hopefully the kid is slapped in every episode. Make it a OMG-they-killed-Kenny running joke.

_________________
-- source

.

The narration's still not working for me but this second episode definitely put me all in for interest. quinto brings a legitimacy to a mostly cliched character...although he does have some surprising attributes and sensibility when he wants to. i feel bad for his son.

_________________

surprisingly emotional episode dealing with annouck. uma will definitely be getting some emmy/golden globe love out of it. probably blythe danner too. this one didn't really propel the plot forward much but it was nice to see a more dramatic and somber episode that dealt with the "humanity" of people's lives more. next week's will probably deal more with the case and everything.

enjoying this little series a lot.

This show is awful and is a terrible lead-in to the best show on television, The Blacklist.

_________________
CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

even though the phrase "whose side are you on?" is rhetorical in this show, it is very hard to side at all with the parents of hugo...that might be the biggest flaw narrative-wise. i like that there was at least a moment where hugo is subdued, informing his mother that it was his bed time. and even in that moment, his mother is more concerned with painting her nails. i actually thought it was an interesting angle, with the drunk dad asleep on the couch (after in a previous scene, he simply shuts the door to hugo banging his truck against the wall when he's trying to paint). i think if anything this show is against the neoparents who treat their children like accessories than people. they may as well have a golden retriever or a pug.

each perspective is strongly written, though. brian cox has always been a good actor, and i like him here as well. he has his heart in the right place more than the other characters, whose hearts seem to be all over the place.

you can't root for harry, but you certainly side on the case against hugo's parents, who as i said, are the most negatively portrayed. there really is nothing redeeming about them at all. you pretty much wish harry would've just slapped them. or taken a hatchet to their face and put hugo in the custody of manolas.

Zachary, that pretty much describes all of the characters.
This is the biggest group of unlikable people ever assembled into one show I can remember, but I am still watching it.

_________________
Host of the weekly "We Fish ASA" podcast
Weekly columnist for the Northwest Herald
Bi-monthly columnist for Illinois Outdoor News magazine
Former host of The Outdoors Experience on WIND and The Great Outdoors on CLTV
http://www.wefishasa.com

I found one person I like:

_________________
favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."