'o dark dark dark. they all go into the dark'

[subtle1science]

Big article in the St. Pete Times this morning on CoE2....Very much emphasizing the American flavor of the show--no need to know anything about TW, because it's all brand new "to keep U. S. audiences interested."

The author (Eric Deggans) of the article thinks Barrowman is the lead in the show (insert *laugh* here) and  identifies Jack as "an

Comments

[suo_gan]

I'm really curious. Granted, Jack is from the 51st century, but when did he ever identify himself as American? And if so, where exactly is the Boeshane Peninsula? Gee, maybe it's in Alaska, and that's what Sarah Palin saw, looking out of her back door.

There's more than a little hint in the Wall Street Journal write up that perhaps this mish mosh of American-British drama might not meld perfectly. She particularly referred to the 'camp' digressions from action, and said the show was a blend of '24' and 'Benny Hill'.

Ouch!

It's called straddling the fence, and it never works. Neither does lying.

[subtle1science]

I suppose it doesn't much matter about Jack--it's just the careless little toss aside of teh characterization....

After all, if Jack is from a 51st century colony of some sorts, that's A. too science fictiony for what Rusty's selling--ie, political potboiler; and B. needs too much explanation--in which case, Rusty might actually need to refer to canon and continuity.

But it's kind of entertaining if one does know anything about the show, since "American" was always Jack's cover story to hide behind.

[suo_gan]

As usual, it's Rusty throwing whatever doesn't fit from TW under the bus to make it fit. That's why I hated CoE - he changed the characters to fit the story he was trying to tell, rather than create new characters. But then he wouldn't have someone from the past who'd sacrificed the children the first time, a real quagmire for someone who excels at recycling.

It does matter that Jack's been changed, too. It's another way of ingratiating himself into American audiences at the expense of the people who paid their license fees and are now being treated like they are second rate. He can blather on forever about the show retaining it's Welshness, but it isn't going to happen. Most people couldn't locate Wales on a map with guidance, and could care less, too, about Welshness beyond the quaint speech.

It's hard to get behind a show where there's a non-existant show bible, and the goal posts are in perpetual motion.

[subtle1science]

There's a Death Poll for CoE2 on LJ....It's pretty funny, actually. I voted for Jack's being most likely to expire: I don't believe a word that comes out of Barrowman, at this point. Rhys, however, is the #1 choice of the voters, though....However, nearly everyone who commented on the voting said there should have been an option to check off more than one name--and they'd therefore check off all of them (except Gwen)....The expectation being that Rusty will provide his audience with a total bloodbath--just because.

You have to figure:

pedophile's out, because he's got a lethal injection to contend with after the "miracle" ends;
Rex is a goner, since he's impaled;
Rhys is a useless character (so's the baby);
Andy's useless, too (he and Rhys must function as Them Cute Furriners in this show);

and all of the women (about whom I admit I know nothing, except one has a crush on Rex) can die, just to show that no one's special--and that Gwen could die: she's not being saved just because she's a woman, because women die, too (just not

[suo_gan]

Oh - it goes without saying that Rusty's going to provide a bloodbath. For one, there's a CIA Agent with a pole through his chest, the living mangled remains of a suicide bomber, Pedo writhing in agony as the lethal injection doesn't kill him and who knows what next. Add to that involuntary incinerations of people in nursing homes and hospitals who refuse to die, and you have the Rusty model of gaping mouth television.

The poll sounds hilarious. It also sounds as though more and more people are wise to Rusty's love of death as a convenient plot device. There should have been an option to check off everyone but Gwen. That would have been realistic, given his love for his Mary Sue and plans for her future.

On a different note, I read there's some unexpected humor at the idea of people rushing in with badges, yelling "CIA!" I guess this is part of what another person reviewed as every 70's action movie ever made.

Tick, tick, tick...

[subtle1science]

Wait--the CIA guys run in with badges and yelling who they are....? Really????

No one on staff gave Rusty the heads up that the CIA doesn't do that? It's kinda more the FBI type of thing?

Then again, I'm guessing no one ever broke it to him that the US President doesn't address the nation on Christmas.

Oh, dear.

[suo_gan]

That's what the person from Wall Street Journal said, and she saw it. I'm sort of surprised Espenson or Egan didn't give Rusty a heads up, but he wrote the first episode. Maybe they were outvoted, which wouldn't be at all surprising.

That CIA stuff will fly in countries that aren't aware of CIA operations, but here? There's going to be laughs where there shouldn't be,.

Yes, apparently he doesn't know our president usually has words on national holidays, rather than the religious ones, seeing as how he's confused over the Queen as the head of the Church of England, and the president as a secular ruler.

Oh, my.

[suo_gan]

A lot of people may be able to predict Davies’ plotting by now, but do you think that it’ll keep them from watching Miracle Day? As far as I can tell from looking through livejournal, a lot of people do plan to watch it, even though they must be able to guess at the gore and horror that’ll be on view. If nothing else, I would’ve thought that people would be getting bored with his repetitive storylines.

Diona the Lurker

[subtle1science]

I'm interested in seeing what the viewing figures are--especially the follow-up episodes. Is it being shown all at once, or spread out over weeks?

There's been a very heavy push going on, recently, about Barrowman's nudity: that's apparently a real selling point for the show. Not surprising, as nudity and gore are the two things Starz is known for, thanks to 'Spartacus'--that's the one reason the channel actually is known. I'm not sure what Starz's viewing figures usually are, nor what they were for 'Spartacus,' which was, for that channel, a runaway hit.

[suo_gan]

According to Wikipedia, Starz has 18 million subscribers; and it says this about Spartacus: ‘The premiere episode of the series set a record for Starz, with 553,000 viewers on their network, and another 460,000 on Encore, where the show was available only that weekend. For the rest of the season the show had 1.285 million average viewers.’ I don’t know anything about ratings in the US, so I’m not sure what this might say about the channel and its popularity. It’d got the impression that Starz was a small channel by US standards

[subtle1science]

Starz is a small channel: it's a premium cable network....That means, in addition to whatever you pay for your cable service, you have to pay even more to get the channel package that would include Starz.

Interesting comments about the female protagonist....That doesn't seem to be the selling point for CoE2: the push seems to be the violence/potential gore and Barrowman's nudity. Myles' face hasn't really been out there....

I saw the UK Radio Times cover--speaking of Myles' face. I actually did not recognize her, initially: she's been given quite the extensive photoshopping treatment. But the US print ads that I've seen have seemed to focus on Barrowman--I'm guessing the draw is supposed to be the DW fans who would know of the actor and the character. Now I'm interested in seeing how Starz tries to sell Myles.

[subtle1science]

Oh, dear....

It sort of does make me wonder if Rusty's confused the functions of the CIA and FBI. I had that sense when I first started hearing details of CoE2....Well, if he's lucky, the people watching his show won't have any more of a clue than he does.