Tuesday, December 10, 2013

26 Days of Christmas - Almost Human

Maybe networks are finally realizing they're never going to have the market share they used to and are taking more chances. This year is the most I've watched network TV since Angel and Friends went off the air in 2004.

Almost Human is basically a rip-off of the Will Smith version of the motion picture I, Robot. But any other comparison stops after the pilot when it turns into an almost-typical buddy-cop series. I'd be happier if there was a little more fleshing out of the secondary characters, more issues of Kennex's memory loss from the ambush were he lost his leg, and a season-long story arch dealing with the very bad girlfriend who betrayed Kennex.

Why I'm hooked: Frankly, Alter Ego would like to be the middle of a Karl Urban/Michael Ealy. Pervy thoughts aside, Karl and Michael take a preposterous concept and manage to throw enough heart and humanity into the mix to make it work.



10 comments:

  1. Two hot guys? I may be middle-aged. I'm not dead!

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  2. Let's see if it will let me post this time. =)

    A few months ago, my brother asked me if I'd seen the long preview for the show and when I said I hadn't, he showed it to me.
    Ever had those moments of dawning joy where your heart starts to sing inside you and you just willingly embrace much-love instantly? It was one of those - and then...
    ...it came to the end of the trailer and said : This fall on Fox"
    I'm not exagerrating - I teared up. My heart crumpled as though betrayed by a new lover.
    I've not watched the show at all at all. I'll wait and see if it gets to a season two first.

    Sad but trure - because we learned long ago what the Fox says..." Cancel,cancel,cancel,cancel..."

    -Dee

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    1. Oh, Dee, I know exactly what you mean. I refused to watch the first season and a half of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, because I was absolutely SURE the WB would cancel it any second.

      With Almost Human, I took a chance. It can't disappoint me any worse than Revolution or Hawaii 5-0 has.

      And I'm going to address your private concern about the LOGIN here because there may be other lurkers with the same concern.

      There's two situations:

      1) Google IS messing with logins for all their products, ostentibly to make a uniform login but really to try to force every one to use Google+, which they view as their answer to Facebook. *cue hysterically laughter by me, or one of my regular commentors Angie grumbling under her breath*

      2) I have had to tighten down on the commenting. As blog's audience has grown (Good thing!), more and more spambots try to seed it (Bad thing!). I've got nothing against porn, but if anyone's going to make money off it on my blog, it's going to me. And, well, frankly, this is a geek girl/writing business blog, not a porn blog.

      Hope that helps!

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  3. It does - Thanks. =)

    -Dee

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  4. I've been enjoying it -- I think there are a couple more episodes on the DVR, since it took me a while to convince the husband to watch it. (I didn't want to start without him if he was going to decide later that he liked it.)

    I'll admit that what attracted me, aside from the possibility of a new SF show, was Karl Urban. I've been a fan of his since Lord of the Rings, so... you know. :) And you're right, Michael Ealy isn't bad either.

    I hadn't noticed the resemblance to the Will Smith I Robot, probably because I've done my best to sandblast that thing from my brain. I really hate it when Hollywood takes the title of a classic SF book and slaps it onto their own whatever movie, just to lure the fans into buying tickets. (Starship Troopers, anyone?)

    I wouldn't be surprised if we do get more long-term story arc, though, if the show lasts. Most shows are kind of a jumble their first season, while the show runners try to figure out what they're doing and how it'll all work and what they can and can't get past the suits. So if we all keep a set of virtual fingers crossed for a second (third, etc.) season, I'll bet a nice stack of cookies that they'll pick up on some of the cool stuff from the pilot.

    I also like the Captain, BTW. She shows a lot of promise as both a female cop and a female boss. [more crossed fingers]

    Angie, who doesn't even want to think about Google's crap today [mutter]

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    1. I was wondering if your ears were burning yesterday, Angie.

      I'm hoping the team-up of Almost Human and Sleepy Hollow continues as appointment night TV for a while. And I've cut AH a lot of slack because I like the premise. So I hope you're right and it's a matter of the writers and cast getting a better grip on their characters.

      I won't even get into the studios f***ing up a perfectly good SF classic, but I did like Starship Troopers because the cast was having fun and it was obvious. Where else would you get the fabulous Rue McClanahan as a sharp-tongued military veteran. *grin*

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    2. See, I liked the movie as a movie -- it was fun, had some great action scenes and all -- but it wasn't Starship Troopers. :/ If they'd changed the names and called it Bug Hunt In Space or something, I'd have been delighted with it. [sigh]

      Angie

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    3. Well, the producers at least gave Heinlein credit and paid his estate. Unlike James Cameron when he ripped off Harlan Ellison and had to be ordered by a judge to credit Harlan and pay him.

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