Don't watch New Amsterdam

[lastjacobin]

Unless something magical happens between now and when it is aired in January, this show is a complete bomb. I read the pilot last night and it had some of the worst dialogue... God forbid they miss a chance for him to say something "weird" which reminds you that he can't die, like "You remind me of my other six hundred and nine girlfriends." Yeah.

Comments

[shakanaman]

long time no see.

[lastjacobin]

How have you been? I'm watching To Play The King right now and it's making me think of you.

[shakanaman]

I'm good, actually... except an unfortunate run in with the infamous hampshire administration has upset my housing plans, and cat must be left behind. :(

LOVE all three of the installments! House of Cards is my favorite, but wait till you get to The Final Cut.
Hooyeah!

(Don't you just want to maim the damn king? Every time he cries I want to get out a bazooka.)

[sweatervestman]

Got sent a screener of the New Amsterdam pilot, and I'm happy to say that the script problems don't translate too badly to the screen. I think what you missed dwelling on the forced humor (what were you expecting... funny immortality jokes?) was how cleverly they handled Amsterdam's past live... the relationship with the painter, his stint as a famed carpenter, the photos of Times Square year by year... and my personal favorite, the fact that his home has become a giant filing cabinet. I think the pilot's flaw isn't that the character is immortal, but that they've made him a cop. I think New Amsterdam has potential, but since Fox TV wouldn't know potential if it came up and reemed the network up the ass, I wouldn't put my money on the show maturing. It's gonna be a duel between the new possibilities of a 300-year-old leading man and the well-worn cliches of the network police procedural. Guess which one the studio will push?

[lastjacobin]

My money says that during the course of the season he turns into Jack Bauer 2.0 where he does all the things Jack does except crazier because he REALLY can't die, like crashing planes with nukes on them in the desert himself, etc.

[lastjacobin]

God... what they did to Firefly is unforgivable...

And I tried suggesting interpretations of the lines so that way the actresses thought they were coming up with the ideas on their own. I think it might stick.

a couple of things...

[rougestarlet]

a. what did you think about the new 'As You Like it'? did Bryce make the bar?

b. last time we spoke about Mr. Williams you told me clearly that you abhored his works/ that they are over-rated and his prose does nothing for you. Acting school give you a change of heart?

you know I passionately adore his plays and intend to play most of his leading ladies. What about you? Will I see a Hawthorne Smith "Brick" or "Stanley" in the future?

best
-red

Re: a couple of things...

[lastjacobin]

A) Not having HBO, I did not see As You Like It, so I have no idea.

B) I still find Williams to be primarily over rated, and those three plays that they recently discovered did nothing for me. However, there is one quite touching monologue in Creve Coeur like the monologue in Suddenly Last Summer when the woman is talking about the turtles on the Galapagos islands. The poetry is few and far between and, most often, is given to despised characters like Blanche... and they tend to be the part that people get the least excited about. It's like all the students here, at AMDA, etc. who want to be actors and yet would be happy never doing another like of Shakespeare. I find that ridiculous.

[rougestarlet]

JOHN!!!

[lastjacobin]

Que paso?

[rougestarlet]

fill me in! I miss ny... what's going on in acting school?