How do YOU know authors don't talk to any potential readers to help them craft a story? I'll tell you they absolutely do...in the name of research, feedback, ideas, etc. If Hemingway went to Stein for his thoughts on a book, it was because he wanted to discuss it with a peer. And that's what we (should) all be considered here--peers....people who have an interest in dialogue about TV and film....no one opinion any more right or wrong than the other. No one opinion being any more valid, having any more weight.
As for your insistance that I have some sort of inability to recognize cliches. Let me verbally slap you again in your simple head, you foolish little man. I never said LWS doesn't have some cliches, for starters. Here's a clue: Virtually every show you'll ever find on TV has them, you moron. Hell, the Godfather has cliches! So yes, sure....it has cliches....I never said it doesn't. And the presence of cliches doesn't automatically make something bad. Moby Dick has cliches!
My assertion is simply that, DESPITE the cliches, which every show has.....it is an interesting show, with complexities a lot of people seem to miss, expecting a more formulaic, episodic cop show like the many others they are used to. And this is just my take. My opinion has no more weight than anyone else's. And no less.
Citizen Kane....has cliches. Gone with the Wind: cliches. Casablanca....cliches. I could keep thumping you with these, but it would be pointless. Cliches are omnipresent...and they don't make a show or film bad. Sometimes, they are 100% necessary...or at least unavoidable. It would be virtually impossible to create a show without them. So your whole simpleminded platform: There are cliches....and this makes the show bad....is weak, IMO.
To Kill a Mockingbird: cliches. Shakespeare...cliches.....The Bible...cliches......
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chadevan
11 years ago
Here's the crux: you refuse to accept that most of the people who are criticizing the show AREN'T comparing it to episodic, generic procedurals and finding it boring; they're comparing it to The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire and The Shield and finding it mediocre.
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Okeelani
11 years ago
No, I don't hear many people at all making that distinction. Most complainers are simply saying it "sucks"...or, it's "boring", etc, etc.
Very few have actually qualified that with a comparison to other shows they favor on AMC. Either way, who the eff cares. To each their own. I don't feel like wasting any more time with this bs. Hate it for all I care.
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jbeck2010
11 years ago
If you aren't hearing people comparing this to the Wire, the Shield, and Breaking Bad the only explanation is that you're ignoring them on purpose. That's all that's been going on for weeks.
Unbowed,Unbent,Unbroken
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cj71378
11 years ago
Really, I heard most of the comparisons to things like The Wire after the pilot, when we barely even knew what sort of show it was. My opinion is many people formed their thoughts out of the gate and it became an echo chamber of negativity.
Reminds me of when I visit a political blog where all the conservatives or liberals sit around with their preconceived thoughts of how the other side is evil. Anything and everything they try to pigeonhole into what they already think.
If someone saw the ads back in July and thought "Hey this is about a dirty cop like The Shield and it's set in a decaying city like The Wire" then right off the bat they're going in sorta annoyed and believing it's just a cliched program. Then ANYTHING that could be perceived that way, will be. Let's face it, many of the reviews, whether from average Joe's or critics, are complaining just as much about the anti hero genre (saying it's run its course, etc) as anything.
I guess I don't think any show about a corrupt police department needs to be dismissed straight away, but I have the feeling that is gonna be tough sledding for series of this type for the forrseeable future. After enough time away from the anti-hero sub-genre, it may return.
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chadevan
11 years ago
Off topic, but this "both sides" crap is a lazy cliché of the highest order. The difference is that only one side actually elects its' crazy people into office where they can threaten to shoot the world economy in the head if they don't get their way--despite not being able to win an election on that platform.
Or some of them only want to shut down the government so my Aunt who is putting her life on the line in Afghanistan won't get paid.
Yeah, neither party is close to perfect, but did you ever notice how it's only one side that pulls this extortionary crap? Once they regain sanity (hopefully soon) we can all go back to poxing both their houses, but until then, that attitude is not only inaccurate and lazy, but dangerous.
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