Karen: I'm only watching The Flash, and so far I find it to be about a C+ for me -neither terrible but not really a 'must-see' show. It seems to have potential so I'll hang with it (I stuck with Smallville for years so I must have some masochistic tendencies). I saw two episodes of Constantine and dropped it. I have no interest in Arrow (or "we wish we could do Batman on TV" as I see it) or Gotham -a Batman show without Batman? Anyone else watching any of these shows? What do you think of them?
13 comments:
I absolutely love both Arrow and The Flash. Yes sometimes you can tell they would really like to do Batman (as Ra's Al Ghul is going to be the big bad this season)but I'm loving it. As far as The Flash goes it's been a long time since a show has grabbed me so quick.
I'm with you on Gotham, don't care to watch it. I always thought it was funny in the trailers it said Before Penguin..Before Catwoman..Before Poison Ivy..well there was no before until AFTER Batman came along.
Haven't watch Constantine yet, so can't comment.
Karen- my wife and I watch Flash, and are enjoying it pretty well. Have only seen Arrow once, and haven't seen Constantine at all. However, we do watch Gotham, and absolutely love it! It really matters not that Batman actually doesn't appear; the show grabs you with the storylines and characters. There are plenty of "Easter eggs" to identify, and I get the added bonus of explaining them to my wife. Gotham has featured quite a few familiar characters already, and introduced several new ones as well. I must give a shout out to Robin Lord Taylor, who absolutely rocks as Oswald Cobblepot! He isn't the Burgess Meredith type we are more familiar with, but his portrayal adds a new dimension to the Penguin. The show is definitely worth a look...
On the prompting of my nephew, I tried watching the Flash one evening.., it didn't really grab me. I missed the reunion show with seeing Mark Hamill, John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays again, will have to view it on-line somewhere.
Gotham and Arrow..? I never watched Smallville or any other WB show like that.., so these don't particularly grab me either; hate to say but I lump SHIELD into that as well. To me they're just taking a concept juicy enough to grab viewers and going their own direction on 'em. Which is fine, but it seems to have a lot of 20something quasi-dark stuff going on and it's kinda boring, to be honest.
I'd much rather go larger-than-life and old-school about my viewership 'heroics', if that makes any sense.
I enjoy the Flash and like that they have included a lot of the Rogues Gallery. Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, even hints of Gorilla Grodd, etc are nice. I also like that they have started to introduce Firestorm and some of those supporting characters as well. I've seen Gotham a couple of times; it doesn't grab me as much. I may not have seen enough but some of the rougher characterization of Alfred and Gordon surprised me, but I have not seen the whole story so maybe missed something. Have not seen the others.
I haven't seen any but I plan to watch some Flash episodes in the new year.
Gotham is a show that doesn't interest me. If Batman isn't there, shouldn't the bad guys win in every episode? If not, then why does Batman ever need to show up?
I gave up on Gotham about 6 episodes in. It just was trying too hard to be serious all the time - but worst of all the acting is pretty bad and the writing is even worse. It would be a better show w/o Bruce Wayne or Selina Kyle appearing in it at all.
I have no interest in Constantine. Maybe if it was on HBO.
I love The Flash. There are problems, of course. No show is perfect (Barry was acting like a real creep in his interactions with Iris West as Flash). However, it is heck of a lot of fun. I love the casting, and the writing doesn't make me cringe. I am of the belief that all superheroes are campy by their nature, so don't mind a little camp.
The Arrow looks terrible and the Flash has been weakest when it crosses over with that show.
I am still grudgingly watching Agents of SHIELD, but it is not high on my priorities (and piles up on the DVR). I am REALLY looking forward to Agent Carter, which I even convinced my wife she should give a try b/c I describes it as Alias (remember that show?) set in the 1940s. I'd watch a special agent show about a woman dealing with that time period w/ no superhero/sci-fi elements.
Am I forgetting anything?
Yes, my dad (he's a real TV hound) and the people I work with can't believe I don't watch ANY comic-related TV shows! I watched the first season of SHIELD, but it just doesn't do much for me.....Gotham just doesn't appeal to me (seems more like a cop/detective show than super-heroic), ARROW looks ALOT like SMALLVILLE, cheesy, but ALOT of hot ladies! I keep wanting to start watching FLASH, but I'm not really a big Flash fan......
I'll probably check out Agent Carter, looks pretty cool...
The show that has REALLY struck a chord with my tastes is the cartoon, STAR WARS REBELS.....it's great and caters to my nostalgic tastes! Check it out!
starfoxxx
The Flash: I watched the pilot and liked it well enough, everything was in place and all, but didn't feel that sense of excitement I was hoping for. Always liked Flash, but the show was just...kind of...there. I'll give it a couple more episodes though ' cos I like the character.
Arrow: Watched the first 4 or 5 episodes, then got bored, then thought I'd try them again. Like Flash, there's just something missing. The stuff on the island's great, but it's all just too drawn out. Also it does my absolute bugbear by being embarrassed about the hero's name ( see also Doc Doom in the FF movies and Supes in Man Of Steel ) I think they just call him The Vigilante or something. His name's Green Arrow, use it!
Gotham: yeh, the guy who plays Penguin is great, but the show? Repetitive and pointless. Gave it 3 episodes before giving up.
Constantine: Gave it 2 episodes. The lead actor is trying too hard, and it just doesn't engage.
Poor old DC, they just can't seem to get it right...
I watched Arrow for half of the first season and liked that they were providing an interesting backstory (though I take it the narrative does come from a comic arc), though the soap-operish aspects bored me. It felt like Smallville, with its dull scenes of standing around in Luthor's castle replaced by the Queen castle.
One thing I noticed right away: diversity in casting. Not just the major roles, but in crowds. Someone was making an effort.
Gotham is just too morbid, and the hybrid past/present set design makes me feel aware that I'm not seeing a lived-in environment. The guy playing James Gordon is fine, as is The Penguin, but the hammy style undoes the feeling of realism they seem to want.
The Flash is the most fun of those series I've seen. However, the writing goes from mediocre to dreadful. It seems like they ask an illiterate 12-year-old to write the dialogue for Cisco. It's embarrassing. The actor should protest.
Agents of SHIELD has been great. It started slow, and I didn't like the characters of Skye and Grant, but what's been done with both characters--and with all of the characters--has been startlingly good, as they've all become people you believe in and who can still surprise you. This season, the show has been consistently good, and, unlike the soapy DC shows, has found a way to advance character while moving plot forward.
I stopped watching Arrow a few episodes into the first season, but recently went back and caught up; I think binge watching made it flow really well...I really got into it.
I like Flash so far...interesting villains, cool easter eggs, and it's fun to speculate on who might show up.
Gotham's pretty good, but it misses in places; it's interesting to see the lead-up to Batman, but I think it'll really drag before a decade goes by (if it isn't already).
Mike W.
Starfoxxx called it on Gotham- I look at it as a detective show with a particularly familiar cast. The show seems to avoid superheroics, focusing on Gordon, Bullock and a widening array of criminal elements. Perhaps as Bruce Wayne moved up to his heroic new role, his future opponents also powered up. Or vice- versa ( which came first, the chicken or the egg?).
Compare this to Flash, in which superheroics are integral to the storyline. At any rate, we are tuning in for both...
I watch Flash and I think it's a little overly complicated for no good reason, but I like it OK. There are some little things that they do that puzzle me. Like the way they kept calling him the Streak for the first 5 or 6 episodes. Why didn't they just call him the Flash from the beginning? I find unnecessary things like that distracting. I do think it's cool that the "original" Flash is playing Barry's father.
I tried to watch Gotham (I really did). I stuck with it for about 5 or 6 episodes and then realized I was watching a show that was never going to have a real payoff (until possibly the very last episode). A Batman show that has no chance of ever having Batman in it is just pointless in my opinion.
I watched the first couple of episodes of Arrow when it came out, but I thought it was kind of stupid, and I quit. I mean how come calling a guy "Arrow" is OK, but calling him "Green Arrow" would apparently be dumb? Stuff like that really irritates me. That being said, I kind of wish I'd stuck with it as it seemed to get better as it went along. However, I've missed too many episodes to just start watching now.
As for Constantine, I really thought I was going to like that one because it looked like they were trying to be very comic accurate. However, the show is just way to corny. It comes across as total schlock for some reason. I can't put my finger on it, but it's really bad. I mean, really bad.
Basically, most superhero TV shows pretty much fall short of hitting the mark. It's seems like they'd be a no-brainer, but the Hollywood types just can't seem to make them work on the small screen for some reason. Oh well, I still have some high hopes for he upcoming Marvel stuff like Daredevil, Iron Fist, and etc. But I'm sure I won't be disappointed by the fact that they will probably disappoint.
Unfortunately, I just haven't had the chance to try any of these new shows out. I have watched several episodes of Smallville, and I would say that Karen and I are on the same page with that one, based on her comments. I found it a bit boring, and more like a soap opera than a superhero show, which may have been the point.
Most of the current crop of live-action shows, and movies, have our "heroes" either dressed in black leather, or no costume at all, and seem to be trying to hide the fact that they're based on a comic book.
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