No, they're not.
Alcatraz picked up to series by FOX
- Thread starter Temis the Vorta
- Start date
I think Damon Lindleof will be busy writing Prometheus and Trek 2, not sure what Cuse is doing but I thought they'd help JJ produce this in some capacity. Oh well.
Depends how shaggy the dog turns out to be. At least by that stage, there won't have been any time to inset any pseudo-religious guff that poisons the whole thing.
Cuse developed a Civil War series for ABC this pilot season, but it didn't go beyond the script stage. I guess it's possible he could come aboard Alcatraz, but it looks like Elizabeth Sarnoff, who was part of the writing staff on Lost, is moving up to showrunner on this one.
I thought the same thing about Fringe way back when it was in season 1 and was so bland but I think the fact that Fox recently renewed Fringe despite its horrible ratings suggests that they might be a little more lenient with Abrams projects.
Check out the reason they greenlighted this project (which was iffy up till yesterday):
Oh, the fools, the unmitigated fools. I'm pretty sure the inventive writing on Lost that kept people watching was Lindelof and Cuse's handiwork. And I've lost count of the number of Lost wannabees that have blundered into the quicksand of trying to re-create that show. The Alcatraz cast is nice, but I don't really see any Terry O'Quinns or Michael Emersons who will grab the audience by charisma.
So, yeah, if you want to "wait for the final season," I'd say jump in right away in Sept.
Oh, the fools, the unmitigated fools. I'm pretty sure the inventive writing on Lost that kept people watching was Lindelof and Cuse's handiwork. And I've lost count of the number of Lost wannabees that have blundered into the quicksand of trying to re-create that show. The Alcatraz cast is nice, but I don't really see any Terry O'Quinns or Michael Emersons who will grab the audience by charisma.
So, yeah, if you want to "wait for the final season," I'd say jump in right away in Sept.
See that is what I was afraid of--I don't want a procedural with the occasional myth episode. That is what Fringe has done and the procedurals have been weak, bland and predictable while the myth episodes were much stronger which led to a very uneven quality to each season of Fringe--I want to be consistently entertained not the occasional good episode here or there. The X-Files could pull this off but it seems these days when shows adopt this approach they end up telling warmed over dull interchangeable disposable plots. This also hurt Flash Forward as well and what little I sampled of SyFy's Haven and The 4400.
On the otherhand, I agree with FOX in not wanting Alcatraz to turn into a big behemoth mythology show with dozens of unanswered questions, stalling and ultimately ending up with a convoluted mess. That's why I've been a vocal proponent of going back to basics in terms of the approach serialized primetime dramas have used for decades with self-contained season long arcs--we still get arcs, viewers can follow along easily enough without a massively complicated mythology but answers aren't dragged out for years and the season arcs don't roll over into the next new season. Shows like Dallas and St Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues succeeded with this style for years--straightforward linear storytelling without going overboard with keeping their cards close to the vest. Those shows had no filler, every episode advanced the various arc threads and told their story at just the right pace--not the ADD pacing of shows like LOST but not the glacial pacing of Mad Men or Caprica. They just moved onto a new season long storyline at the start of each season.
To me it is the perfect middleground between episodic and overly complicated mythology-driven serialized dramas like LOST.
On the otherhand, I agree with FOX in not wanting Alcatraz to turn into a big behemoth mythology show with dozens of unanswered questions, stalling and ultimately ending up with a convoluted mess. That's why I've been a vocal proponent of going back to basics in terms of the approach serialized primetime dramas have used for decades with self-contained season long arcs--we still get arcs, viewers can follow along easily enough without a massively complicated mythology but answers aren't dragged out for years and the season arcs don't roll over into the next new season. Shows like Dallas and St Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues succeeded with this style for years--straightforward linear storytelling without going overboard with keeping their cards close to the vest. Those shows had no filler, every episode advanced the various arc threads and told their story at just the right pace--not the ADD pacing of shows like LOST but not the glacial pacing of Mad Men or Caprica. They just moved onto a new season long storyline at the start of each season.
To me it is the perfect middleground between episodic and overly complicated mythology-driven serialized dramas like LOST.
Last edited:
I love Jorge Garcia; I'll give this a look. I'm not terribly optimistic, but I'll at least give the first episode a try.
There's no way they can ping pong between a regular FBI procedural and the sf/f story. That would be too weird. How can anyone do a regular job when there's some time travel stuff going on! I know I sure couldn't focus on regular old crimes.
So maybe it's other time travel or sf/f weird stuff, interspersed with the Alcatraz-related story? All that stuff could be related to the main story, we just don't know how. (In fact, they'll need to broaden the story.)
I think they just want something that although scifi in nature, is easy to understand and follow. People can jump in in the middle easily unlike late Lost. Something in the style of early X-Files I guess, with a cop show feel to it.
Of course the creators would say stuff to ease their concerns. All shows with a mythology would get wrapped up in it as the seasons progress. If they had known Lost was going to get complex like that beforehand, they wouldn't have green lighted it and it would have been a mistake.
Of course the creators would say stuff to ease their concerns. All shows with a mythology would get wrapped up in it as the seasons progress. If they had known Lost was going to get complex like that beforehand, they wouldn't have green lighted it and it would have been a mistake.
ew.com interview with Abrams. http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/18/alcatraz-abrams/#more-44752
Abrams is saying the very same things he did when LOST first launched(they knew the numbers, smoke monster and was kept secret etc) and look how that turned out. And viewers have every right to be wary given the absymal track record for pulling off a successful serialized storyline B5 did but that's about it. LOST didn't pull it off, The X-Files didn't, nBSG didn't, The Event didn't, Heroes post S1 didn't, The 4400 didn't etc. It seems these limited premise dramas just try to get by on intrigue, atmosphere and piling on of numerous mysteries without trying to have a good idea of how to pull it altogether and by the time the how wraps up it is all made up at the last minute and turns into a convoluted mess.
Also I guess they are doing standalones with the prisoners committing some crime every week that may or may not tie into the arc every given week a la Fringe. Not really crazy about that with standard FBI/cop cases and then the occasional myth episode.
We already have enough cop shows, so I hope they can make the weekly cases sci-fi enough to differentiate them from every other cop show.
I'm starting to think that Fox apparently must refuse to allow shows like this to focus solely on their mythology. Didn't they pretty much force Joss Whedon to make Dollhouse more episodic before he was able to get into the story arc towards the end?
I'm starting to think that Fox apparently must refuse to allow shows like this to focus solely on their mythology. Didn't they pretty much force Joss Whedon to make Dollhouse more episodic before he was able to get into the story arc towards the end?
I think it's another Lost wannabe with such a specific hook that it won't last long... Prisoners reappearing. So, each week one reappears in San Francisco? In Alcatraz? Meh. Seems more like a movie idea than something that a network wants to run for years and years.
It sounds kinda like The 4400 where people are removed from the timeline and returned in a specific point for some mysterious reason. The writers there weaved standalones in focusing on the 4400 returnee that didn't necessarily tie into the mythology.
Really shows should aim for more of an open more generalized premise and then craft season long arcs from that rather than doing these limited premises where the writers have to drag it out for years otherwise they'll run out of story because they have to give away too much too soon.
I wonder if that interview with Abrams refers to the mysterious 11th hour meeting between the producers and FOX that salvaged the show and got it on the schedule?
FOX trailers here, including Alcatraz.
After seeing the trailer, my hopes have risen. I think they do have a good shot at melding X-Files episodicy and Lost, errr, I shouldn't say idiocy but it does sorta rhyme...
FOX trailers here, including Alcatraz.
After seeing the trailer, my hopes have risen. I think they do have a good shot at melding X-Files episodicy and Lost, errr, I shouldn't say idiocy but it does sorta rhyme...
After seeing the trailer, my hopes have risen. I think they do have a good shot at melding X-Files episodicy and Lost, errr, I shouldn't say idiocy but it does sorta rhyme...
Wasn't that the pitch for Fringe too?
I didn't watch 4400 so I don't know, but, didn't they ALL return at once? Rather than 1 a week?
It's going to get repetitive. And if they all return to Alcatraz, just close Alcatraz, there, you've captured them.
I don't expect it to be hit they hope it will be.
Yep and for me the format on Fringe never worked, You get mostly standalones--which are fine if done well--the problem though was the Fringe writers never did them well. They were stale and predictable and you sat through them anxious to get back to the more interesting mythology material.After seeing the trailer, my hopes have risen. I think they do have a good shot at melding X-Files episodicy and Lost, errr, I shouldn't say idiocy but it does sorta rhyme...
Wasn't that the pitch for Fringe too?
An that is the inherent problem with doing a mix of standalones and arcs on a show--the standalones have to be really interesting to capture the audience's attention and make them forget that the more interesting arc material is being halted and set aside. That's why I've felt shows should choose one and stick with it--either be all episodic like TNG or be heavily serialized like LOST.