Watching it now. Bits of it are interesting, but the "hey, this town is weird!" steup is really artificial and forced. Need to get past all of that to see what the show wants to be doing.

b!X | April 29, 06:28 CET

My spouse watched it and I was in the room paying partial attention. Well, give it time, few shows hit the ground running and no doubt things will develop.

What I saw was not exactly Hitchcockian in its mastery of tension and release. It was too gory for my tastes ("Bones" has also gone to the point where I no longer watch it very often). I was put off by the opening sequence- although, in retrospect, was that a deliberate William the Bloody reference?

And, as a Minnesotan, just... jeez. First "Fargo" and now this.

Scoffing at Gravity | April 29, 06:32 CET

I feel a little like they're trying to introduce too many things at once in the first hour. There's no real pace or flow, so far. But there are a lot of actors I enjoy in it, apparently.

[ edited by The One True b!X on 2010-04-29 06:37 ]

b!X | April 29, 06:37 CET

Was... okay. <.< Amy wasn't in it much, but still love her. <3

I hope it gets better, which it almost surely will.

Fred_Sonja | April 29, 06:38 CET

I liked it to an extent, it seemed they tried to move it along too fast and I felt confused.

Wanting to see how it turns out though.

IMadeABear | April 29, 07:28 CET

I'm not going to judge it too harshly based on the pilot, because the pilot episode of Dollhouse was my least favorite of the series and it turned out to be my favorite show. However I can't say that I enjoyed it too much, but I will continue watching until at least episode 6. ;)

Amy was great as always though, and looked beautiful. Her daughter in the show annoyed me greatly though, how she pronounces killed as "killeded" and earthquakes as "earthcakes". I found it very irritating, especially because she's supposed to be at the top of her class yet can't pronounce a basic word like killed. And her parents don't correct her? In fact they repeat what she says as if she's saying it correctly. Actually I found the dialogue in a lot of the scenes to be a cringe worthy.

I'll stick with it for a while though because I do enjoy Amy.

JAYROCK | April 29, 07:53 CET

Seconded about the kid's childish talk. I feel like she's too old to keep mispronouncing words like that, at least without correction; it's beyond the point of cuteness.

Other than that, though, I'm firmly in the "like" category. This show has a lot of potential, I think. And it looks like it's going to be a summer show (I presume, right? Why woudl they premiere it this late in the television season?), which means that even with lowish ratings it'll still have a decent chance for renewal.... of course, it could go terribly wrong and be uber boring and painful to watch. But the pilot was pretty good, I think.

jesse | April 29, 08:25 CET

I thought the teen dialogue was the cringe worthy stuff. I mean, no one talks like that. With the kid, I thought that taking the dad at face value about being top of her class was probably the wrong way to approach it. Obviously not everything is as they claim it is in the first five mins. And have you seen the way six year olds spell and pronounce things? There's a reason why me and my brother are Josie and Jon rather than Jocelyn and Jonathan.

rocknjosie | April 29, 08:46 CET

Kids pronounce things wrong, sure, but at her age, she should know how to say a one syllable word like killed. Well, at least I'd make sure my 6 year old (was she 6? Musta' missed that) knew how to say it, because like Jesse said, it is not cute. Jocelyn and Jonathan would be much harder for a child to say, but even then I would think she would be able to say your names.

Unless, there's some reason she's pronouncing really easy words incorrectly, which did cross my mind. Because like you said Josie, not everything is as it appears to be, and I was certainly aware of that while watching. And I hope that's the case, because I really found that daughter irritating.

[ edited by JAYROCK on 2010-04-29 09:11 ]

JAYROCK | April 29, 09:02 CET

Darn, I missed it. Anyway, it was Hamlet night. Hopefully it's On Demand.

redeem147 | April 29, 12:37 CET

I gave it a 6.5/10.

I thought it was actually good until the kids got to school, then it started to go downhill. I cringed at the mention of Romeo and Juliet. That scene felt really awkward. I actually felt...embarrassed for the show when the Sheriff was out talking to those dudes at the dump, or, whatever it was. It was weird. I also found it silly every time someone said "Magic Man".

The last few minutes piqued my interest, however. I try to give shows at least 6 episodes, so I'll keep watching for now.

goodridd | April 29, 13:02 CET

Amy was great, and beautiful as always, despite only being on for a bit. However, I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so in your face about how "this towns weird and the name happy is ironic".
I feel like it tried far too hard to be Twin Peaks, but they didn't feel like being subtle and bringing out the mystery piece by piece.
All that being said, the show was alright, and I'll give it a few more episodes to decide if I keep watching it.

Tyler823 | April 29, 13:07 CET

I had watched it at San Francisco's WonderCon, and even though I didn't love it, I did find myself thinking about it and wanting more... so I'm definitely planning to watch this show regularly and see how they build up and pay off all the plots they have begun. I'm sure Amy's part will get bigger... I hope so!

embers | April 29, 13:09 CET

Only 13 comments... that can't be good. I was also sad to see that one of my favorite critics (and noted Whedon fanatic), Matt Roush, just totally ripped into it. I think the producers did themselves no favors by deliberately invoking Twin Peaks. Don't set your benchmark as one of the greatest shows in television history, if your pilot is so mediocre. Hope it gets better, but I'll probably wait until I start to hear positive buzz, then catch up online or buy the dvds.

drnotsobad | April 29, 18:38 CET

Honestly?

That was one of the worst pilots I've seen a while. Show is a complete mess, from writing to acting. And I really don't need to be told every 5 minutes about how god damn weird the place is.

nuccbko | April 29, 18:44 CET

I have it PVR'd and plan to watch. I don't like gory either though...How gory? I can mostly handle Bones (with minor cringing and hiding eyes behind hands).

Candace | April 29, 18:48 CET

The way characters behaved reminded me of Previously on Point Doom, but while in a tree minute parody of soap opera web series it's highly entertaining, in an hour long TV show it's irritating and idiotic. Sorry, Amy, I am glad you are getting a paycheck, but I am done.

And yeah, the kid was supper annoying, and the teenagers couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. There are some very good actors on this show, but the directorial and stylistic choices are not doing them any favors.

Alpert | April 29, 19:02 CET

I liked it. Lots of specific imagery which I'm sure will come into play later. (Anyone else love the blue light seeping from the 3rd Floor in tandem with "The Blue Door"?)

I love the creepy crazy Chloe talk from the Sheriff, and I think the rest of the dialogue will get better.

All in all, my first guess: Mr. Greaves is hypnotizing people with "The Blue Door"

We shall see.

mariec | April 29, 20:58 CET

Happy Town will be the second show Amy has been in that has/will be cancelled this season. But (unlike Dollhouse) this show "Happy Town" is a stinker.

Little Green Kid | April 29, 21:24 CET

Just found out that it comes from the geniuses who brought us October Road. That explains a lot. This is where my spoiler-phobia bit me in the behind, since if I knew this in advance, I wouldn't bother tuning in.

Alpert | April 29, 22:55 CET

I stopped watching halfway through. The one big thing that bugged me was notifying next of kin of a death in a factory with coworkers and a field trip class in earshot. I get that they're the cliche inept cops of a small town but really that's just not a human thing to do. Maybe it's part of the plan but I don't know if I'll keep watching. Not to mention the weird time slot at the end of ABC's Comedy Wednesday which I mostly enjoy.

DarkMorning | April 30, 01:00 CET

I missed the first fifteen minutes, but I thought the rest was cringe-worthy in places. For AA's sake, I hope the series improves. But I'm not certain I'll be watching to find out.

palehorse | April 30, 01:59 CET

Oh, you guys are terrible. Once I got past the opening sequence (not a fan of gore), I thought it was great. I'm really looking forward to next week; I like mariec's theory and want to see how it goes. Yes, the teens were over the top, but I'm willing to give the show a few more episodes, at least.

DarkMorning, I didn't like the next-of-kin notification, either. Not right.

asterizk | May 01, 05:45 CET

As long as they can let up on the HORRIBLE expository dialogue (and give Acker and Sam Neill as much screen time as possible), I'll keep watching. Otherwise, though...

SpendTheNightAlone | May 03, 14:46 CET