In article <mMWdnYu0CN2JWHbanZ2dnUVZ_vOlnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
"Chuck" <somewhere@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
edgeofthings.info> spake thusly:
>
> "Mordechai T. Abzug" <morty@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:I6adnROaV_cpfnTanZ2dnUVZ_g-dnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > [spoiler space:
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[snip]
> When I read these critiques of New Amsterdam I become
> confused. People dont like it because it is a Highlander
> copycat..... people dont like it because it isnt enough of a
> copycat......
Um, the earlier discussion was not dislike because of copying
Highlander, it was annoyance that the NA guys did not admit it. I
have no problem with them copying Highlander. And I wish they had
copied Highlander here, too, because that aspect of NA was really
lame. Highlander did the immortality reveal really well. NA's
immortality reveal sucked. The reveal should be a dramatic event.
Stabbing yourself in the stomach in the middle of a secret room full
of mysterious antiques and historical artifacts is dramatic. A
discussion in a park is not dramatic. The woman John has been waiting
almost 400 for is running away because she thinks he's lying about his
past, and he is an immortal cop presumably carrying a gun. Why not
pull out his gun and shoot himself?
And another thing -- watching the show, I really don't get the feel
that John actually loves Sara. There is no chemistry. It feels like
he is just manipulating her so he can achieve mortality.
> It can be argued that the only reason TV Highlander had any success
> was due to the dynamic of syndication.
There's not much question of this. Of course HL only succeeded
because of syndication. The first season sucked, far worse than NA is
now. HL didn't really pick up until late in the first season, with
Band of Brothers. Had it been a network show, it would have been
canned before then.
> I'm enjoying the program. But then I'm not looking at it as a
> Highlander imitator, but a police show. The flashback stuff is of
> interest, but not critical.
That's funny, because I didn't think it did very well as a cop show,
either. "Life" has redefined the cop show drama for me. As a cop
show alone, NA is inferior -- John's character is a relatively
cookie-cutter character, the maverick cop who solves crimes that seem
impossible, doubts the simple explanation, and tends to get his
partners killed. So far, so good -- but his partner and his boss seem
to like and respect him, so no conflict/drama there. Plus, we don't
actually see him getting his life threatened, and we the audience know
he wouldn't really be in danger even if it appears his life is
threatened. So the cop part of the show is more like an armchair
mystery than a normal cop show. There is very little dramatic
tension. We're not getting car chases, gun battles, or other staples
of the genre, and even if we were, John's life wouldn't be in danger,
so who would care?
I think it's clear that the writers of NA are capable of more.
They've done some nuanced work. And I was impressed at how much they
packed into the pilot. However, I don't think that they've really
found NA's niche yet, and it sounds like Fox won't get them a chance
to discover it.
- Morty
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