f13.net

Please don't suck. (http://youtu.be/uPE2oBnzROY)

Is that a good Scouse accent? I can't tell.

I'll be disappointed if he doesn't smoke like a chimney.

Looks promising overall.

The actor's at least making an attempt, so right out of the gate it beats the movie.

I'll have to keep a note to check on this when it hits. Of course that means it will only have a season or two before it is canceled.

I read that they were trying to work something out about his smoking on the show.  However this is NBC and not AMC, so I doubt they will let them go that route.

Slotting it for Friday already means they expect it to do poorly.

I bet they are partnering it up with Grimm.  Grimm pulls in good enough ratings to get it renewed.  So its possible it could survive.

Grimm and Hannibal as a thriller/horror block with Constantine?  Besides the bar for success at NBC is much lower than the other networks.

No smoking is an immediate no thanks if it's the case or god forbid anything like e-cigs. It's less that it is integral to the character and more that the network is going to play it safe and not let the show take any chances.  It's like the big networks haven't learned how to make a good series by watching cable.

Vaping.

It's funny because people want to push e-cigs but hardcore smokers prefer the cancer sticks.  Vaping is only for trendy people that were never that addicted in the first place. 

It didn't save Revolution. :awesome_for_real:

... and thus the decision to have a vaping Constipatatine was made.

This is NBC... does nobody remember how they butchered their last comic concept?

It looks fun.  Hope it's good, too.  As for vaping... I vape and I'm not in the least trendy.  Sometimes I even look homeless!  Oh wait.  I am.  I know several people who are using vaping instead of cigs... one is a two pack a day guy.  Or was.  Anyway, if you just look at some of the people here on this site, you'll see some hardcore smokers  who are vaping instead of using cancer sticks.  Having said that, if someone came out with a harmless tobacco that tasted just like Camel Lights, I would SO be smoking that.  Probably still vape, too, though.  I'm addicted to it now.

No Keanu Reeves is a huge selling point for me, btw.

But how much of a hardcore smoker were you? It's for trendy people and light smokers but if you were up to a pack a day or more I doubt you'd prefer ecigs.

I'm sorry for putting this thread off track with discussion of vaping... there is a thread for that elsewhere.

Yes, this.  So I posted my response in the vaping thread.  :)

Speaking as someone who knows smokers who have been smoking for almost 30 years and have switched to vaping I can comfortably say you're full of shit.

Oh, and this show looks ok but it's on NBC which gives it only slightly better odds than if it was on Fox.

This. The trailer looks really good, better than I would have expected for NBC. The fact that he's not American is a start and they seem to have captured a lot of the story bits from the comic accurately. It's on my list of must watches until it proves itself to suck.

No.  No, it's the worst accent ever, actually.

He moved to London as a teenager, though.

Either way, it's not accurate but it's at least a fucking attempt at being British. It's close enough for American audiences.

I Weep Openly.

Keanu set a very low bar.

Yes, but Peter Stormare didn't.

Matt Ryan is born and raised in Wales.  So I doubt he is faking his accent.

It's still woeful.

And Constantine isn't Welsh.  :why_so_serious:

You guys are picking some serious nits here based on a 3 minute trailer.

Um, you don't think how the named character in the series comes across is important ?

Of course not.

It's perfectly OK that the Buffy Remake will have her be an Emo Goth named Tamara.

And that Captain America is going to emigrate to Canada.

 :oh_i_see:

Hi! Welcome to F13. Enjoy your stay.

....  I'd watch that.

And seriously, Cap was so polite in the movies, he certainly came across as Canadian.  And he never once waterboarded Anyone ?  What's up with that ?

(But seriously, bad fucking accent and no cigarettes.)

I wouldn't be that upset if they made the character Welsh to be honest, if that helped the actor. Or if they just gave him a London accent.

But he seems to veer from passable Scouse right at the start of that trailer to a sort of weird Yorkshire accent to I dunno what the fuck. Yes I agree that it won't stop the show being a good show if his accent is weird:) I imagine it might settle down after a while too.

But it's not about having the "wrong" accent, it's about the fact that he has an accent that sounds really odd.

See, for all the crap Reeves gets, he get the body language and the attitude of a passive-aggressive asshole right.

This guy, this guy just comes across as a hobbit that's skipped breakfast & drunk too much coffee.

I'm not exactly a huge fan of Constantine, but more than the accent and the smoking what I consider central to his character is his sort of anarchist, dystheistic (god is evil) beliefs that seems to inform every decision I've seen him make. The movie, from what I'm told, made him a Christian and I'm betting they did the same thing here.

The trailer flips between Manchester and Liverpool, with more Manchester than Liverpool. But it is a believable accent someone could have imo.

And is appropriate I suppose as I imagine being in hell is a lot like being in Manchester. I'm going to assume he picked up the mancunian part of his accent on a trip to the other side.

Uh, not at all. His quote on God was (roughly as I cant remember word for word, its been a while) "God is a kid with an ant farm. There is no plan." There was demons and Angels and so forth, but they are in the comics as well.

I quite liked the Reeves film overall. but then I'm not that familiar with the comic book character other than "complete asshole in a trench coat." I read one of the collections when I was a teenager and that was it.

I didn't mind the accent at all.  The one review I read said that British (verging on Welsh) (err...???) is what the accent the character in the comic is best known for... I never read the comic.  I would have read more reviews but I'm still trying to suss "British (verging on Welsh)".   :ye_gods:

That and Harold Perrineau.   :heart: :heart: :heart:

Same. I watched it again recently and liked it more than the first time I saw it. I also know nothing about the comics, so I don't really give a shit if he had the right accent or not.

I wasn't impressed by the promo for the NBC series. Hard to put my finger on why - too much of Constantine blasting people with magic maybe.

See, the trouble with that view is that you could have been watching 'THOROGOOD'.  It really doesn't matter a FUCK what label you slap on that Constantine film Keanu did because those in the know knew it was shit and those not in the know don't give a fuck.

Which would be why I'd be happier if you were saying 'hey, I liked that Thorogood film, it was rad' and I could be happy that no-one had well and truly fucked an iconic character.

And then you'd have to go back to the 80's when people said 'rad'.

'Rad' still has a decent amount of usage in California.

 :why_so_serious:

I liked the comic and I liked the movie. Both had something to offer.

And yeah, Stormare. And Tilda Swinton rocked the shit out of that suit she was wearing at the beginning.

She made the movie for me, along with Stormare. I actually had a hard time remembering who played lead for bit.

Gonna watch it and spend the whole time wishing it was on HBO.

At least Priest made it to AMC.

Seriously ?  That seems unusual.

Rachel Weisz.  And it was the last time Shia Lebouf was basically likeable, IMO.

Now that this has kicked the movie into view, the cast was actually pretty good. Djimon Hounsou as Midnite was pretty good, though I would have liked to have seen a bit more, though that would have been outta the scope of the movie (I have a thing for Voodoo after living in Louisiana). Pruitt Taylor Vince was good, hell even Rossdale was respectable.

That said, now I have to put this series on my list for sure to see how it develops. I never read the comics so I am going in blind which will probably allow it more leeway that you other people.

Aye, but sometimes a cast just can't save a movie;  It was entirely forgettable, except for the cat bit.

I thought that Keanu Reeves was a terrible choice for John Constantine. However, as horky as his voice was for that role does anyone really want to have heard Keanu Reeves trying to do any sort of English accent. It would have been like the vocal travesty of Dracula over again. Reeves and Ryder should just never try to do anything other than their own voice.

But as a generic supernatural thriller Constantine was top notch, as a Constantine it was an exercise in WTF that ignored the source material except for the cancer part. As great as Stormare was they fucked up even the casting for that character. They needed someone like an '80s David Bowie.

I still think Keanu's greatest acting asset is being so boring that everyone else in every movie he is in comes into focus more, except for the Bill and Ted movies.

He's basically Bella.

Heh.

As for the trailer for this, it felt like a doctor who spin off.

Maybe I need to rematch it.

Watching that trailer while my wife is catching up on Supernatural on Netflix.

Someone on that show was a Constantine fan, if the way Castiel dresses is any clue.

As to the movie -- eh, it was fine I thought. But then I've almost always been able to separate adaptations, so I rarely get the nerd rage over that sort of thing. Except the Dark is Rising movie, which killed my childhood and raped it's corpse and everyone involved should be drawn, quartered, dipped in lemon juice and then set on fucking fire.

But that wasn't because they raped the source material. It's because the movie was that goddamn shitty. The utter destruction of all that was good about the story was just insult to injury.

The Constantine movie I enjoyed. This? I dunno. Kinda feels Supernatural-ish, jump on the urban fantasy bandwagon -- but trailers are liars. No telling what you'll actually get out the back end.

Have you ever heard him in that Dracula movie??? :ye_gods:

The Dracula Movie was an abortion that Almost got me walking out of it.  And back then I was young and stupid and would watch anything.

Hot naked gypsy vampires > anything else.

Bram Stoker's Dracula was fantastic.  It is one of my top ten despite Keanu's acting.  Gary Oldman carries that movie all the way.

Gary Oldman carries a lot of movies. He's one of the most under-rewarded actors in the history of Hollywood. Meanwhile TOm Cruise is getting 20 million per picture to sleep through a performance.

So, the first episode was decent. By the end of the show I got sort of a Angelish vibe. The Constantine character worked, although he needed to have been smoking the entire show. Or at all. I want the girl to put on the Dr. Fate helmet so it can become an awesome mismatched buddy show. Other than that, not bad but not great.

Did it air tonight? I'll have to check on-demand.

The pilot leaked, like 3 days after the Flash pilot leaked.  You will have to do a little "treasure hunting" to find it.

Bah, ain't nobody got time for dat.  :grin:

"My name is John Constantine and I am an exorcist." Barf...

Voices unheard, pleas unanswered.

It was not horrible, but it was not good... and the ratings were so bad that Constantine truly is damned to early cancellation.

For a pilot, I thought it was alright.  I mean, compared to shit like Bad Judge, this was downright good.

I liked it enough, there are some changes coming in the first few episodes.  They canned the girl from the pilot and are bringing in Zed next episode.  Also the ratings were fine considering it ran against the World Series last night.

Viewership was down from the lead in Grimm, and the World Series ended ... and was ~20% weaker than Dracula from last year.  Yes, the World Series was opposite Constantine, but it was also opposite Dracula, IIRC.

Well Variety and other sources are saying it's solid ratings.. you seem to be the only one crying doom already.

Expand your search.  I posted here after seeing a few articles that mentioned the sub-Dracula numbers...

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, “Constantine” averaged a 1.4 rating/5 share in adults 18-49 and 4.3 million viewers overall at 10 p.m., retaining more than 90% of its demo lead-in from the fourth-season premiere of “Grimm” (1.5/5 in 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall). These are the Peacock’s best in-season results in these time periods since March.

A year ago, NBC fared better with both its “Grimm” premiere (1.8/6 in 18-49, 6.2 million) and the series premiere behind it, “Dracula” (1.8/6 in 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall), but last night’s combo faced tougher competition in the form of Game 3 of the World Series.

Dracula started with great numbers on name alone, it's only when people realized how bad it was that it tanked.

I watched the pilot. It wasn't BAD, per se... it wasn't great either. Best part was Dr. Fate's helmet. Worst part was knowing they will probably never use it. The main actor got the look down but something seems not quite right with him. He's not... limey enough? I'm not entirely sure. And Atlanta... really? Why? I'm assuming film crew tax incentives.

Regarding ratings, Constantine only has to be competitive with other shows on NBC in order to survive.
So even if its numbers are terrible, you have to bear in mind that all shows on NBC have terrible ratings.

I didn't think it was terrible. Worth keeping an eye on for sure.

I thought it was ok.  Which gives it a chance because any show I love get cancelled fairly quickly. 

I just watched the pilot - not too bad at all.

Second episode was about the same. Not great, not bad. Somewhere right in the middle, enough to be memorable but if I never saw the show again, I'd probably not miss it a lot. Is it just me, or does Constantine's hair look like a bad greenish-yellow dye job in some of the light?

Probably the dye job combined with lighting.  I do like Zed more than the girl from the first episode, and I do like how they showed he was a smoker but didn't actually smoke on screen. 

Did the comic give him a female sidekick?  Does he really need one?  I'm a bit tired of the man-woman sexual tension in every episode sort of series.  I think he seems more like a loner.  The show is okay.   I thought the first episode was a bit better than the second.  Hopefully that's not a trend.  I guess I should just be thankful that they didn't hire Sting to play Constantine.

The girl from the first episode was made up for the show, but she didn't test well with audiences I guess.  Zed is from the Hellblazer comics and is an on and off romance for Constantine as well as one of his sidekicks/partners.

I haven't read Constantine in years but he often had "sidekicks/romances" that would last a set run and then move on or die (usually when a new writer took over).

I haven't read Hellblazer in a couple of decades but he never had a regular "partner" of either sex. He would sometimes team up with people though. If the other person wasn't an established character they seemed to always get screwed over by him and used in horrible rituals.

I want to like this show, it's got some good elements.  It's not a bad show really but there's just something...off about it and I can't figure out what.

The accent?

Actually it could just be the dialogue, doesn't feel like there's enough wit.

Or enough cursing.

Disclaimer: I've never read the comics but am aware of the character and his general traits.

I like the show well enough. I think, though, that it'd be much,much better if it was on HBO or Showtime or something where they didn't have to dial things back for broadcast TV. The main actor seems to be good in his role and the new woman seems interesting so far. That's about all I have at the moment but I'll keep watching for a bit. That said, I fully expect this show to be on the bubble and possibly get cancelled.

He looks like a cosplayer rather than a real character.

He does a little but I think it's on purpose because of the whole comic thing, no?  I like that look when it's in context and it's not totally cheap and tacky looking.  I also like those films and shows that use saturation and that sort of stuff to make the world more comic-y.  In fact the one thing I LOVE about Gotham is the way they make the city look.  They could probably use even more of that sort of stuff in Constantine.

If they really wanted to be ballsy they could mute all the colors and give it a real sin city look(without going full B&W)  it's a really bright show for the content.  Actually this may be it, compare this to say hannibal when it comes to brightness and color, it just doesnt match the content of the show here.

Poorly done.  That's what everyone is trying to put their fingers on.

Psychic playing card and a base that's bigger on the inside...

And he wears a trenchcoat!

I always thought the Doctor (Tennant's incarnation in particular) felt like a sci-fi version of John Constantine.

Remember Harry Dresden?  I sort of wish they had just brought him back instead.

Starz/Netflix/HBO really need to grab the Harry Dresden series and really go with it.  It's the only way it will be a hit.  They messed with it way too much when it was on SyFy.

I'm likin this one.

I liked the vinyl episode alot more than I did the mine episode (which in return was better than the pilot episode).

Yep, each episode has been a little better than the previous one. Almost like a bunch of cast & crew are getting into the swing of things.

Although his accent isn't improving yet. He veers between Welsh, scouse and geordie, often all three in the same sentence!

Because I am a culturally ignorant American, I can't tell the difference. Therefore I give no shits about his accent.

I only wonder how hilarious the Brits would find it, like when I watch British actors try an American accent.

My initial thought on hearing Constantine was going to Chicago was scoffing. If there'd be anything worrisome, Dresden would have already set it on fire.

Try being an Aussie - our accent gets butchered every time.

For some reason his totally made up accent suits him.  He gets a lot of the pronunciation right but he delivers his lines the way only the Welsh can.  It's kind of fun when he does it.  I agree about the episodes getting better.  I thought I would have a problem with the location but it doesn't seem to matter much in reality.  I still think the series would have been way more interesting if they had filmed it differently. 

It's still just teetering on the edge between worth watching and not. I think I finally figured out what I don't like. It's not funny. It TRIES to be darkly funny, to toss out that Constantine wit but the actor just doesn't seem capable of delivering the lines in a way that makes it funny. He absolutely is a dead ringer on looks but the personality isn't clicking for me yet. I'm not finding Zed interesting at all either.

What is it with all these former British punk rockers going into the occult?

Yeah! Constatine is totally copying Giles from Buffy!

I'm fully aware Constatine predates Buffy and am just being silly!

Another part that's off is that they are attempting to be almost slavishly literal to the best Constantine comics, which were all done in the early '80's and '90's down to Constantine's choice of Sex Pistols music and talking about being in a punk band. It's like they don't realize that for those details to make sense, Constantine would have needed to have been a teenager in the '70's. Which would make him like 60 in 2014 and the actor is clearly in his mid-30's to early '40's. Just little details like that which are off to me.

Well, we do have magical lives and whatnot, with the cabbie friend still being alive in the pilot.

I keep forgetting about this, too.  I should set it to record on the DVR but I already have MAoS and Sleepy Hollow and I'm usually at least a week behind watching those, not sure I can fit another hour long show in there.

I like to think that Giles and TV Constantine used to be in rival bands and would beat each other up.

For what it is worth, the actor was born in 81.  I knew a lot of kids that listened to the Sex Pistols in the 90s....  The punk culture was not dead during those years... just different than the one of the 70s.

What, you want him to listen to Green Day instead?

Shut yo' mouth.  :awesome_for_real:

I guess I'm just lucky he's not listening to fucking Good Charlotte or Fallout Boy.

Or Oasis.

Thought this was a pretty good episode.  Show is getting better weekly.

Yeah, this was the first episode where I felt like they REALLY got the character. I'm still not a huge fan of Zed. Kudos to them for not pussing out on the ending too.

Stop nerding about it. You'll enjoy the show more.

It's not even nerding - the show has been ok but not spectacular. This last episode really did raise the bar.

I agree.  I watch it because it's on after Grimm which my sister loves and thought it was okay.  I probably wouldn't have specifically sought it out,  but after this last episode I'm definitely interested in watching the next one.

Two episodes in a row where I really don't have much in the way of complaints. Matt Ryan is really starting to hit his stride and fuck yeah...

Aaand its done...

http://deadline.com/2014/11/constantine-stop-production-13-episodes-season-1-nbc-1201294518/

Yeah, that's probably the kiss of death. Even if they do order another season, the time between the end of this and the beginning of next will be so long, it'll lose viewership.

The real kiss of death for these types of situations is the inevitable retooling that comes between Season 1 and 2.... not a good sign.

Reportedly not being picked up for a season 2 on NBC.  Still a chance some other channel could pick it up.  It seems like a show Syfy would be well served to grab.

I just think that without much more of the weirdness of a superhero universe, this can't distinguish itself from all the things that the original comic helped to give rise to.

Doesn't help that Grimm is still the better supernatural type show.

It could get saved by a move to Syfy with a rebranding and refocusing... I think I'd prefer the refocused version based upon the snippets I see...

http://www.blastr.com/2015-2-9/nbc-looking-move-constantine-new-home (http://www.blastr.com/2015-2-9/nbc-looking-move-constantine-new-home)  

EDIT: Or not. http://tvline.com/2015/02/16/good-wife-season-6-spoilers-alicia-kalinda/ (http://tvline.com/2015/02/16/good-wife-season-6-spoilers-alicia-kalinda/)  Long list of info including spoilers for many shows, but one is a note that Syfy will not pick up Constantine.  That was the last crumb of hope, AFAIK.

Well fuck. I enjoyed the hell out of this show.

Hope not entirely dead yet, but this screams of Hail Mary territory: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/02/19/daniel-cerone-tweets-status-constantine/ (http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/02/19/daniel-cerone-tweets-status-constantine/)

Confirmed, show is dead.  Got shopped around but no takers.

It'd be great if the CW was able to get permission to work the show into their shared universe and bring back Ryan as a guest star. Won't happen, but it'd be great.