Amazon Prime Pilots: one great, one not-so-great

[amanuensis1]

I watched two of the Amazon Prime Pilot Season pilots this weekend; Amy Sherman-Palladino should have a helluva hit with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, about a 1950s Jewish Manhattanite who finds her talent for stand-up comedy. I'm not saying it will be the next Gilmore Girls, but the concept is fresh and the dialogue deliciously funny. Please,

Comments

[black_dog]

Thanks for the warning on Oasis. I'm getting itchy as Colony and the Expanse near the end of their seasons, and might have been vulnerable to a new sci-fi seduction. I'm with you on stale plot devices (this one sounds like it goes back to Ray Bradbury circa 1940). Actually I only gave Oasis 15 minutes and turned it down on style -- got a manipulative vibe from the dying wife, and sensed a space-vacuum-like lack of cleverness and fun. Also, any protagonist who didn't run screaming from Morgan's crazy message is too dumb to be interesting. :) Although Amos on the Expanse proves, in the right hands, that dumb can be fascinating . . .

[amanuensis1]

I saw the pilot for The Expanse and wanted to see more, but I watch SO MUCH right now. At any given time I'm trying to keep up with at least ten shows, plus those that are off-season probably equal ten more. Aiee. But I might try to go back and see more of it; I didn't join the Battlestar Galactica reboot until the third season and now it's on the list of my favorite shows of all time.

(Do you ever just wish a show would wrap it up already? No more seasons, just give everyone a happy ending so you can move on? Not because it got bad but because you just want to add different shows to your schedule and you're already watching so much?)

[black_dog]

I wish I had half that many shows to follow -- or had enough confidence in new ones being good to want the old ones to wrap up. :) I admit when I get to that point it's usually because I'm getting tired of a series. Hard for me to get hooked on a show, it's always great when I think: Holy Shit, I actually like this! Though (among the non-sf choices) I have lately fallen for Riverdale, so it's certainly not a matter of good taste. Advice and recs definitely welcome.

I loved Battlestar Galactica and didn't understand the grouching about the last episodes. It's due for a re-watch soon.

Expanse is a blast -- not perfect, and there have been slow/silly moments, but generally it's standout solid and fun. Cool world building, nice ensemble acting, plays smart with all sorts of genre stuff, general feeling of intelligence and fun in the writing. I don't know the books, apparently they were big first so who knew?

[amanuensis1]

Riverdale is SO COOL. I am a couple of episodes behind but the first episode just sucked me right in. The show totally has the Veronica Mars vibe! (I have my theories about...one of the absent characters. That's all I'll say.)