Hatfields & McCoys, 9pm tonight, History Channel

[Temis the Vorta]

Hillbillies beat zombies!

Those numbers are HUGE. Bigger than I expected. And that's another sign of the under-served male audience, just like with TWD, there are too few dramas pitched at men nowadays.

History Channel is in great shape to advertise to men, because of their male-skewing reality shows. They should get started on a series about the Civil War right now. And they should take a look at the pilot that AMC passed on, about spies during the Revolutionary War. A spy-based war drama would have the advantage of not requiring pricey battle scenes. They need to figure out a way to get war on TV in some cost-effective manner.

 

[Warped9]

I tried to watch it, but not by DVR (don't have that). The sound was terrible and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Fixed some of that by adjusting the sound system, but that didn't fix the frequent and overlong commercial breaks. As such I just really couldn't get interested and I'm not likely to bother watching the next instalment.

What this did do was remind me of how much I've come to despise commercial television. I'm so fed up with it. Once you watch some shows "on demand" or on disc from a box set it becomes next to impossible to tolerate commercial TV anymore.

 

[Worf2DS9]

I also enjoyed H&M last night and look forward to the next two instalments. The production values were very good and I had no complaints with the acting. Nice to see some familiar faces too. Aside from Costner & Paxton, there was Mare Winningham, and that blonde girl from "True Blood," and that guy from that other show, you know? And I didn't even recognize Tom Berenger as the psycho uncle until he shot the captive soldier and I suddenly remembered he was in the show.

 

[Neroon]

For those who might be interested, the song playing over the commercials is called "Bartholomew", by Second Comedy.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC9POpjnB9g[/yt]

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I recognized Johnse as the dimbulb frat boy from Harper's Island. I kept expecting him to act like a jackass and call everyone "dude." I guess I have to accept that he's a nice guy this time around. I hope he survives tonight's episode.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I The sound was terrible and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Fixed some of that by adjusting the sound system....

Thank god you said that. I was beginning to think I was the only one who was having a problem with the sound. Have to turn it way up just to be able to hear properly, but then the sound is saturated. Very compressed mix, I'm guessing.

 

[Warped9]

I The sound was terrible and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Fixed some of that by adjusting the sound system....

Thank god you said that. I was beginning to think I was the only one who was having a problem with the sound. Have to turn it way up just to be able to hear properly, but then the sound is saturated. Very compressed mix, I'm guessing.

The sound was crap. Sadly I find that in a lot of shows today. Too much background noise, too much crappy music in the wrong places and too many actors that mumble instead of enunciate clearly.

 

[T'Bonz]

^While the details were probably fictionalized somewhat, the romance between Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy is factual.

Actually, the show is making him look better than he was. It shows him trying to do the right thing by Roseanna, but thwarted by families, when in reality, he was still canoodling with her while she was at the aunt's house (pregnant) but then for whatever reason, he dumped her and married *another* McCoy - her younger cousin, within the same year.

I like how gritty the show is. It looks like I imagine the era looked - no easy access to bathing/showers, washing machines, etc. It looked grimy and dirty. In so many historical pieces, they look too clean and pristine.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I The sound was terrible and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Fixed some of that by adjusting the sound system....

Thank god you said that. I was beginning to think I was the only one who was having a problem with the sound. Have to turn it way up just to be able to hear properly, but then the sound is saturated. Very compressed mix, I'm guessing.

The sound was crap. Sadly I find that in a lot of shows today. Too much background noise, too much crappy music in the wrong places and too many actors that mumble instead of enunciate clearly.

Yeah, that's something I've noticed quite a lot lately as well.

There was one show on the History channel that I've seen recently where they have a bunch of experts at a table all dishing out their advice and comments over items and the volume levels were different on all of them, where one person would be louder, and another quieter. It was very amateurish and I couldn't believe it had made it on the air.

 

[Amaris]

^While the details were probably fictionalized somewhat, the romance between Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy is factual.

Actually, the show is making him look better than he was. It shows him trying to do the right thing by Roseanna, but thwarted by families, when in reality, he was still canoodling with her while she was at the aunt's house (pregnant) but then for whatever reason, he dumped her and married *another* McCoy - her younger cousin, within the same year.

I like how gritty the show is. It looks like I imagine the era looked - no easy access to bathing/showers, washing machines, etc. It looked grimy and dirty. In so many historical pieces, they look too clean and pristine.

That's a complaint I have with a lot of such period pieces. Everyone looks like they just showered and shaved not 10 minutes prior.

 

[Mr_Homn]

I tried to watch it, but not by DVR (don't have that).

Say what??? in the 21st century?

You can't complain about commercials when you don't even bother to go with DVR/tivo/something. Seriously... you will never look back.

If not for DVR I would have given up on television years ago. What a waste of time that would be.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I could not agree more. It is a labor now to watch "live" tv. So I try to avoid it at all costs.

If not for DVR I would have given up on television years ago. What a waste of time that would be.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I'm enjoying it a lot - it's very well made, if a bit confusing with all the bearded grubby guys.

I could have sworn I saw Zach Galifianakis.

I The sound was terrible and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Fixed some of that by adjusting the sound system....

Thank god you said that. I was beginning to think I was the only one who was having a problem with the sound. Have to turn it way up just to be able to hear properly, but then the sound is saturated. Very compressed mix, I'm guessing.

Are you using a satellite dish?

 

[Owain Taggart]

I The sound was terrible and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Fixed some of that by adjusting the sound system....

Thank god you said that. I was beginning to think I was the only one who was having a problem with the sound. Have to turn it way up just to be able to hear properly, but then the sound is saturated. Very compressed mix, I'm guessing.

Are you using a satellite dish?

No, just cable.

 

[Briquettes]

^While the details were probably fictionalized somewhat, the romance between Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy is factual.

Actually, the show is making him look better than he was. It shows him trying to do the right thing by Roseanna, but thwarted by families, when in reality, he was still canoodling with her while she was at the aunt's house (pregnant) but then for whatever reason, he dumped her and married *another* McCoy - her younger cousin, within the same year.

You are correct. Johnse Hatfield had quite the reputation as a player. In fact, after he and Nancy McCoy split up the guy got married four more times!

On that note, I've noticed the writers seem to taking liberty with a lot of the characterizations. Devil Anse in particular is being portrayed far more sympathetically than I remember from WV history class. Also, they tried to make it seem that Harmon McCoy's loyalty was unusual when in reality most of the McCoy clan was pro-Union. They got Jim Vance right, though. Everything I've read about him implies he was a real psychopath.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

More Big Ratings For History’s ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ On Night Two

After breaking basic cable ratings records with its premiere, Night 2 of History‘s Hatfields & McCoys scored more big ratings. It garnered 13.1 million total viewers, 4.7 million adults 18-49 and 5.8 million adults 25-54 from 9-11:05 PM last night. In total viewers, the mini held onto 94% of its premiere audience; in 25-54, the retention was 100%. Among total viewers, Part 1 & Part 2 of Hatfields & McCoys now rank as the #1 and #2 entertainment telecasts of all time in ad-supported cable.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I wanted to like it, especially being the history nut I am (and especially for that time period), but I just couldn't get into it. I watched the first hour and gave up after that. I liked the "look" of things, the production was great, but I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on for the first half hour. They committed the unforgiveable TV sin of not properly introducing the characters, so that I had no idea who was who, which people are family members and which are enemies, etc. It didn't help that all of the men looked extremely similar - the only way to tell which family I was with was by the wife.

If I watched some more of it I'm sure I could get a better handle on who's who and what's actually happening, but it just isn't worth the effort. If I have to watch the first half hour more than once just to understand what I'm watching, then it's not worth watching at all.

I The sound was terrible and I couldn't understand half of what was being said. Fixed some of that by adjusting the sound system....

Thank god you said that. I was beginning to think I was the only one who was having a problem with the sound. Have to turn it way up just to be able to hear properly, but then the sound is saturated. Very compressed mix, I'm guessing.

I had the same problem - I don't believe it was with the sound per se, it was just that the actors were mumbling terribly. I've noticed this in a lot of Kevin Costner films actually. A large part of why I was so lost was because it was really difficult to understand what they were saying. Definitely a show that requires closed captioning on while you watch.


I'm glad it is doing so well in the ratings though. Hopefully this will lead to more historical miniseries or TV shows, which I am usually a big fan of.

 

[Briquettes]

I had the same problem - I don't believe it was with the sound per se, it was just that the actors were mumbling terribly.

I think the problem is that the actors are trying (and failing, for the most part) to sound like they're from rural Appalachia. A lot of people in this part of the country don't enunciate very much. I've lived here my whole life and even I have a hard time understanding people from the backwoods.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I had the same problem - I don't believe it was with the sound per se, it was just that the actors were mumbling terribly. I've noticed this in a lot of Kevin Costner films actually. A large part of why I was so lost was because it was really difficult to understand what they were saying. Definitely a show that requires closed captioning on while you watch.

Yeah, that's more or less what I was experiencing. Thanks for confirming it for me. I was really lost as well due to how hard it was to hear. I still think that the mixing is at fault though, but the mumbling didn't help either. Every sound seems to bleed into each other, and the voices don't stand out like they should.

I'm going to watch it again though.

 

[Starbreaker]

I'm absolutely astonished this thing has drawn 13 million viewers both nights. I didn't even know it aired until today. I'm eager to watch it On Demand though... if just for Jena Malone.