HBO, you finally pissed me off.
It all started with Six Feet Under, which I began renting seasons of on DVD via netflix last year. I thought, wow, the writing is fantastic - since when did HBO start doing things like this? And then I discovered Deadwood, and fell in love with Shakespeare and spaghetti westerns all over again. As if that wasn’t enough, I stumbled upon Carnivale, which quite possibly is the best series ever invented and executed by people who actually know how to write, produce, and…well…Christ - even direct and act. I was sorely disappointed when after two seasons, right when the story was getting invincibly creepy and wonderful…it was cancelled.
I was disheartened, if not dismayed…but understanding how expensive it was to pull off a new set build for each episode, I let it go. After all, Rome was up on the schedule. Best of all, these were story lines that didn't dumb things down for the audience. Finally, a set of shows to watch for an intelligent mind! I was officially a demographic, even!
Then I caught a few episodes of John From Cincinnati recently. I was completely and utterly lost and unimpressed. It wasn’t the kind of show you could just jump into and assuming it was about surfing, I found it lacking in many ways. I just hadn’t been schooled right, however. With my utter blind faith in the writing associated with the afore mentioned HBO series’ that I devoured like cinematic crack, I was determined to wait for it to show up on-demand via cable and watch it from start to finish. Give it the old 'college try.'
Holy crap, it’s f’ng good…you just have to watch it from the first episode to the next, until you reach the finale. It all makes sense that way, and you can follow the ebb and flow of a great story build, interesting plot with believable characters, and your classic “I’ve lost my spirituality and my life went to shit…so help me find my way back to the zen waves” kind of thing. It shows spirituality without shoving a bible (or aliens landing on earth, if you choose to go in that direction) down your throat. Really tastefully done, and articulates the small beach town mentality and how a community can come together despite individual B.S., for a common understanding or goal. Even when they aren't sure what that goal is.
Not even a few days after the finale for the first season aired on Sunday, I read this article in the LA Times today.
You bastards!! Quit canceling the shows just because the audience doesn't get it in a one-off. That's what on-demand is for, golldernit, and you !@#$ing hollywood idiots knew they wouldn't get it right away when you read that first set of scripts!!! Argh. Commit, and don't divorce, jerks. Why go through spending the money on one (John...) or two seasons (Carnivale), when you know from the script it's a huge risk from the beginning. Are you just shooting money like bottle rockets out of your ass (I witnessed this feat once at a John Shirley punk poetry reading at the Gilman in Berkeley - it can happen, and no it wasn't John...and yes, the bottle rocket almost hit me).
I was absolutely HOOKED on that show after watching 1-9. In fact, I watched them all in one day (save the finale), because it hooked me in that good.
Give me back Carnivale! Give me back John From Cincinnati... and for chrissakes, if you ever get around to the production end of things for George R. R. Martin's SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series, I swear, if you cancel it and it doesn't suck, I will never subscribe to HBO again. Ever.
It's the only freaking reason why I pay so goddamn much for cable - to have access to these shows which I'll never get to see the end of on HBO.
I was disheartened, if not dismayed…but understanding how expensive it was to pull off a new set build for each episode, I let it go. After all, Rome was up on the schedule. Best of all, these were story lines that didn't dumb things down for the audience. Finally, a set of shows to watch for an intelligent mind! I was officially a demographic, even!
Then I caught a few episodes of John From Cincinnati recently. I was completely and utterly lost and unimpressed. It wasn’t the kind of show you could just jump into and assuming it was about surfing, I found it lacking in many ways. I just hadn’t been schooled right, however. With my utter blind faith in the writing associated with the afore mentioned HBO series’ that I devoured like cinematic crack, I was determined to wait for it to show up on-demand via cable and watch it from start to finish. Give it the old 'college try.'
Holy crap, it’s f’ng good…you just have to watch it from the first episode to the next, until you reach the finale. It all makes sense that way, and you can follow the ebb and flow of a great story build, interesting plot with believable characters, and your classic “I’ve lost my spirituality and my life went to shit…so help me find my way back to the zen waves” kind of thing. It shows spirituality without shoving a bible (or aliens landing on earth, if you choose to go in that direction) down your throat. Really tastefully done, and articulates the small beach town mentality and how a community can come together despite individual B.S., for a common understanding or goal. Even when they aren't sure what that goal is.
Not even a few days after the finale for the first season aired on Sunday, I read this article in the LA Times today.
You bastards!! Quit canceling the shows just because the audience doesn't get it in a one-off. That's what on-demand is for, golldernit, and you !@#$ing hollywood idiots knew they wouldn't get it right away when you read that first set of scripts!!! Argh. Commit, and don't divorce, jerks. Why go through spending the money on one (John...) or two seasons (Carnivale), when you know from the script it's a huge risk from the beginning. Are you just shooting money like bottle rockets out of your ass (I witnessed this feat once at a John Shirley punk poetry reading at the Gilman in Berkeley - it can happen, and no it wasn't John...and yes, the bottle rocket almost hit me).
I was absolutely HOOKED on that show after watching 1-9. In fact, I watched them all in one day (save the finale), because it hooked me in that good.
Give me back Carnivale! Give me back John From Cincinnati... and for chrissakes, if you ever get around to the production end of things for George R. R. Martin's SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series, I swear, if you cancel it and it doesn't suck, I will never subscribe to HBO again. Ever.
It's the only freaking reason why I pay so goddamn much for cable - to have access to these shows which I'll never get to see the end of on HBO.