Just watched: Falling Skies

Supposedly 'Falling Skies' is a new sci-fi series on TNT.  I say supposedly because I just watched it for 45 minutes and I saw nothing new at all.  It was one cliche leaped upon another with a dollop of trite military nostalgia added in for flavor.  Not a sprig of a fresh idea was to be found.  Barf.

The whole post-apocalypse suburb genre is tired - I'm looking at you Walking Dead.  Using empty suburban sets has become the modern TV equivalent of the substituting the California desert for an alien planet.  Both scream budget constraint.

And this being a Spielberg production it's all about the kids.  We gotta save the kids.  This is the sort of show that will add a cute robot in the second season - Biddi, biddi biddi.  No, wait that was another sci-fi hack job.  Forgive me, there's been so many they all run together.

I admit a few minutes of satisfaction as the various troops of surviving humans marched out to raid the same grocery stores in central MA that I shop at but I found the usage of the Civil War era naming conventions forced:  "The 4th Massachusetts is at your command, Sir!"  Really, you're all in Massachusetts.  Perhaps they can get Jeff Daniels to do an episode where he leads the 20th Maine down to support their flank on a hill they'll call Little Round Top. 

It's not like I have a lot of good shows competing for my time either.  The bar really isn't set very high.    I actually watched every episode of Stargate Universe and the whole first season of Warehouse 13.  No one thinks these were good shows but they at least had some novelty to their premises.  Even the ridiculous V gave me a few episodes of enjoyment before the suckage took over.

The same can't be said for Falling Skies.   I couldn't even finish the pilot before I removed the recording from the DVR schedule.  According to some news I read TNT is so high on the series they've already committed to a second season.  As my buddy Kudla says: I just don't get it.

Comments

ShugBear said…
Spot on. I watched the first hour of Falling Skies and found no reason to continue watching it. I am however not tired with the post-apocalypse suburb and can't wait for Walking Dead to return.
m@ said…
The pilot definitely gets better in the second half but I agree, overall it was a let down. I'm going to give it a few more episodes though.

I loved The Walking Dead and I think Falling Skies is basically The Walking Dead but with aliens and Steven Spielberg's name on it.
Pete Lyons said…
I liked the first half of Walking Dead a lot and I liked the last couple episodes too. It was the middle of the season that I thought was treading heavily worn ground. I still hold out hope for it and look forward to its next season.

Even though I hate what I've seen so far of Falling Skies, this is the sort of show I could see myself giving a second chance, if I hear enough good things about it. Keep me posted Matt on your opinion.

Popular posts from this blog

Running roughshod or ripshod

Axis, Axes, Axii?

Gay Cowboys