TV The Americans- Weds on FX
- Thread starter AlanSmithee
- Start date
Great show. It's nice to have this and Justified in the middle of the week to tide a feller over until the good Sunday night shows.
I don't know where they found the male lead actor, but he could not look more like a creepy Soviet who can also pass as a suburban American guy.
I don't know what was better--seeing Keri Russell get raped or hearing her finger that guy's butt while sucking his cock on the cassette. Ballerism all around.
I don't know where they found the male lead actor, but he could not look more like a creepy Soviet who can also pass as a suburban American guy.
I don't know what was better--seeing Keri Russell get raped or hearing her finger that guy's butt while sucking his cock on the cassette. Ballerism all around.
This is the consensus of some of the Wackbaggers who watched this season:
"Great buildup, lazy payoffs".
"How many plotlines this season were really necessary? At least in the previous season most things had some connection to its overall concept, but this season it felt a lot more like a bunch of random ideas thrown together".
"This was my thought on it; way too many stupid side-track plots that didn't add to the overall story. At least in S1, the entire story was one coherent whole".
"Great buildup, lazy payoffs".
"How many plotlines this season were really necessary? At least in the previous season most things had some connection to its overall concept, but this season it felt a lot more like a bunch of random ideas thrown together".
"This was my thought on it; way too many stupid side-track plots that didn't add to the overall story. At least in S1, the entire story was one coherent whole".
I really liked the pilot and the whole idea of these people looking at us as the evil empire, but don't know how long you can stretch this idea out for. Season four when the Berlin Wall comes down and their checks start bouncing is going to be kind of sad.
American Horror Story was garbage this year. There's articles about Ryan Murphy, that he has never been to sustain a TV show past the first season.
American Horror Story was garbage this year. There's articles about Ryan Murphy, that he has never been to sustain a TV show past the first season.
After reading this thread I decided to give it a viewing so I dvr'd the replay of the pilot. I just finished watching justified so I'm watching the pilot right now. Ill give my opinion when it ends but I already like the chick. She's sexy and she's been sexy forever. It's like she never ages in real life
FX has been turning out quality dramas since The Shield (which is as far back as I can remember I'm getting old lol). I think it has a lot to do with the lack rules on adult content. After watching a show on FX I find myself completely unable to get into shows governed by "broadcast tv" standards. Even shows I grew up loving like Law and Order (I only liked the original series) I can't watch anymore because the dialogue feels phony. I pretty much only watch shows that are on FX, hbo, starz, and showtime now (documentaries and the like being the exceptions obv)
Just read a post on uproxx yesterday about this. Pretty much boils down to the fact that the network president used to work on the creative side 13-15 years ago, saw all the idiocy from suits (getting notes to make a character more "likeable") and has taken to a policy of not interfering with show runners after picking them up (paraphrasing...posting from phone, hence no article link)
Edit:
The Secret To FX’s Success: A Chief Executive Willing To Give His Writers Creative Freedom
Edit:
The Secret To FX’s Success: A Chief Executive Willing To Give His Writers Creative Freedom
If you haven’t noticed, we take a lot of pride around here in celebrating the best scripted shows on television — the smartest, the funniest, the most clever, the most groundbreaking, etc. — while also setting rhetorical fire to the worst shows on television.
With that said, no single TV network has more shows on its roster that we regularly shower with love and affection than FX, shows like Archer, Justified, Louie, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sons of Anarchy, The League and, more recently, American Horror Story, and The Americans.
Ever wonder why that is, specifically why FX just seems to “get it”? I know I sure have, and I honestly didn’t know who or what the secret to the network’s success was prior to reading New York Times media reporter David Carr’s column this week.
The prime reason for this, it appears, is that John Landgraf, the president and general manager of FX Networks, was once on the other side of the table, someone who actually developed TV shows as a creative and who knows the absurd frustrations of dealing with boneheaded network executives intimately. So he knows it’s best to just hire smart people and get the f*ck out of their way.
Writes Carr:
Never change, FX.
Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/02/fx-john-landgraf/#ixzz2K8tAhVYX
With that said, no single TV network has more shows on its roster that we regularly shower with love and affection than FX, shows like Archer, Justified, Louie, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sons of Anarchy, The League and, more recently, American Horror Story, and The Americans.
Ever wonder why that is, specifically why FX just seems to “get it”? I know I sure have, and I honestly didn’t know who or what the secret to the network’s success was prior to reading New York Times media reporter David Carr’s column this week.
The prime reason for this, it appears, is that John Landgraf, the president and general manager of FX Networks, was once on the other side of the table, someone who actually developed TV shows as a creative and who knows the absurd frustrations of dealing with boneheaded network executives intimately. So he knows it’s best to just hire smart people and get the f*ck out of their way.
Writes Carr:
He learned early on that the guidance he received from the networks was not going to lead to remarkable television.
“I always got the same dumb note from the networks. ‘Can you make the character more likable?’ ” he recalled last week in a phone interview. “Not make them more exciting, more compelling, more interesting, no, it was always make them more likable.”
Mr. Landgraf, who worked as a network executive at NBC during the ’90s and had a hand in “Friends,” “ER” and “The West Wing,” went on to form a television production company with Danny DeVito. He had 53 projects in development from 1999 to the early 2000s — nine that became pilots, six that were made into shows and one, “Reno 911!” that made it beyond a single season, albeit on Comedy Central.
“It was crazy-making,” he said.
He became convinced that network television was broken — that in an effort to make characters more likable, the industry made television that not anyone much liked.
Mr. Landgraf’s turn on the other side of the table came in 2004 when he became president of FX, the basic cable channel owned by News Corporation. He inherited “Nip/Tuck” and “The Shield,” but they were aging and he needed to replace them, so he went on a spree — of saying yes.
“We wanted to adapt our process to what the creatives needed and have a more efficient outcome,” he said. “We write a check to fund the production and they send us the shows. By trusting the people you work with — sharing the authority — and being willing to fail, things have gone pretty well for us.”
He said yes to a lot of dark and spicy fare — it is not as lurid as pay cable can be, but it is only technically less naked. And it is clearly intended for adults.
So simple, yet so unbelievably rare. Sadly, the GIF below is an accurate dramatization of what it’s like for most TV writers out there…“I always got the same dumb note from the networks. ‘Can you make the character more likable?’ ” he recalled last week in a phone interview. “Not make them more exciting, more compelling, more interesting, no, it was always make them more likable.”
Mr. Landgraf, who worked as a network executive at NBC during the ’90s and had a hand in “Friends,” “ER” and “The West Wing,” went on to form a television production company with Danny DeVito. He had 53 projects in development from 1999 to the early 2000s — nine that became pilots, six that were made into shows and one, “Reno 911!” that made it beyond a single season, albeit on Comedy Central.
“It was crazy-making,” he said.
He became convinced that network television was broken — that in an effort to make characters more likable, the industry made television that not anyone much liked.
Mr. Landgraf’s turn on the other side of the table came in 2004 when he became president of FX, the basic cable channel owned by News Corporation. He inherited “Nip/Tuck” and “The Shield,” but they were aging and he needed to replace them, so he went on a spree — of saying yes.
“We wanted to adapt our process to what the creatives needed and have a more efficient outcome,” he said. “We write a check to fund the production and they send us the shows. By trusting the people you work with — sharing the authority — and being willing to fail, things have gone pretty well for us.”
He said yes to a lot of dark and spicy fare — it is not as lurid as pay cable can be, but it is only technically less naked. And it is clearly intended for adults.
Never change, FX.
Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/02/fx-john-landgraf/#ixzz2K8tAhVYX
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I think it has to do more with FX trying (and failing miserably) to develop late night programming than it does being politically correct.
To be honest with you, those two shows as bad as they're isn't even FX's worst programming decision. That honor belongs to overestimating the power of tiger blood and going all in with Charlie Sheen.
To be honest with you, those two shows as bad as they're isn't even FX's worst programming decision. That honor belongs to overestimating the power of tiger blood and going all in with Charlie Sheen.
Good 2nd episode last night. Mathew Rhys is amazing in his role as Phillip. I'd never guess from his previous work that he could be such a physical actor with the ability to portray a genuine bad ass.
It appears from next weeks preview that Kerri Russell has been hooking up with a darkie. She sure doesn't fit the description of what a black guy is looking for.
It appears from next weeks preview that Kerri Russell has been hooking up with a darkie. She sure doesn't fit the description of what a black guy is looking for.
