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Title: Almost Human
Post by: Evildrider on May 13, 2013, 04:26:14 PM
Official Trailer. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCdHiZsSPjg)

Police drama set 35 years in the future centers around the unlikely partnership between a part-machine cop and a part-human robot.

I'm in, looks decent plus Karl Urban.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on May 13, 2013, 04:53:22 PM
Premieres on Fridays this Fall :awesome_for_real:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Evildrider on May 13, 2013, 05:16:01 PM
It'll be going up against Grimm I think.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on May 13, 2013, 05:19:36 PM
Guessed wrong, it's on Mondays (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-ct-2013-tv-upfronts-fox-schedules-20130512,0,6689783.story). Which will push Bones to Fridays, boo!


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Samwise on May 13, 2013, 05:23:17 PM
That looks really good.  Shall we start the pool on how long before Fox starts shuffling it around?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Evildrider on May 13, 2013, 05:29:20 PM
Mondays are a rough slot too.  I predict that if it doesn't do well they'll move Bones back to Mondays and push this to Fridays.  Bones has a strong enough fanbase that it will do fine on Fridays.  Plus I think Bones is gonna end soonish, if not this next season the one after.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on May 14, 2013, 12:01:24 PM
I am so there for the three weeks it will take Fox to completely fuck this show up with scheduling snafus.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MrHat on May 14, 2013, 01:38:59 PM
That looks awesome.

Can't wait for it to be canceled.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ironwood on May 14, 2013, 02:19:24 PM
Yes Please.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: JWIV on May 14, 2013, 06:29:23 PM
Yeah - I'm in. Trailer looked surprisingly good and I'm a bit of a Karl Urban fanboy.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: sickrubik on July 15, 2013, 09:40:09 AM
Glad I checked to see if there was a thread, but here's a poster and a link to the trailer.

Looks promising. Still a bit too "clean" for my tastes. I like my future urban stuff a lot more gritty, but I really enjoy Urban in everything, so will give it a shot.


http://www.slashfilm.com/check-out-the-poster-for-j-j-abrams-new-show-almost-human/


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on November 18, 2013, 07:41:20 PM
This show is pretty good.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on November 18, 2013, 08:22:40 PM
Fuck, FOX changed the premiere date so many times I forgot to record this. Oh well.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lakov_Sanite on November 18, 2013, 08:34:09 PM
First episode seemed good, it's got a really great angle. I am cautious though because I'm worried this could lose itself in the technobabble.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on November 19, 2013, 07:10:05 AM
First episode was ok if you ignored every single cop and sci fi show cliche they managed to fit in there.  The second episode was an improvement though.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: satael on November 19, 2013, 07:28:59 AM
My only problem with the first episode was that
but on the whole I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to watching the second ep later.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Signe on November 19, 2013, 08:53:26 AM
The first episode wasn't terrible but I thought the second one was rubbish.  I waited throughout the entire episode for the sad human cop and his very sensitive robot's first kiss but it never happened.  I have to say, however, that when they looked so lovingly at each other  it made me a little misty-eyed.  I found the dialog and plot to be predictable and kind of boring.  The cop should have stayed angry or something, I think.  I was embarrassed for the lovey dovey robot.  However, I do like the cars.  When I saw the completely round one on the highway, I thought Number Six was going to pop out. 


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on November 19, 2013, 08:58:17 AM
Watched the first episode and while I wasn't BLOWN AWAY ZOMG, it was a very solid episode especially for a pilot. The two main characters seem to have found their footing in their roles very early and the tech was well-done. The tech was also very understated which I love - the writers didn't feel the need to hit you over the head with technobabble explanations that will get lost on non-sci fi geeks quickly.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Surlyboi on November 19, 2013, 10:13:32 AM
"You're scanning my balls?"

Ealy's got solid chemistry with most of the people he plays off of and Urban is Urban.

I like it so far.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Merusk on November 19, 2013, 10:17:25 AM
I enjoyed the rerun on Sunday night, but I'm disappointed its on Mondays instead of Wednesdays when I have nothing to watch.  DVR it is!


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: jgsugden on November 19, 2013, 11:23:22 AM
Did not read the recent entries in this thread because I have not seen Monday's second episode, but it strikes me that the last season of Fringe looks like it was a test run for this show.  I liked Urban in the pilot, but they need to slow the show down a bit and develop the characters.  The thing that worked with Lost was that the entire 2 hour pilot was pretty much character development.  They need that in his shows.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on November 19, 2013, 11:33:59 AM
2nd episode had a lot of character development. The robot partner starts to make more sense.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MahrinSkel on November 19, 2013, 12:33:55 PM
Fuck, FOX changed the premiere date so many times I forgot to record this. Oh well.

Fortunately, I had set a blanket series recording as soon as it showed up in the guide, so I got both of the first two episodes.  It's good, so far, although I hope they do more with why the 'emotional' robots were discontinued.

--Dave


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: kaid on November 19, 2013, 12:49:46 PM
Fuck, FOX changed the premiere date so many times I forgot to record this. Oh well.

Fortunately, I had set a blanket series recording as soon as it showed up in the guide, so I got both of the first two episodes.  It's good, so far, although I hope they do more with why the 'emotional' robots were discontinued.

--Dave

Given some of dorians responses I am guessing at some point the emotional ones realize humans treat robots ad disposable slaves and rebelled or just said fuck you I won't work for "the man" any more.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Hayduke on November 19, 2013, 01:09:51 PM
First episode was promising.  Second, not so much.  I can see it getting kind of old though in that it seems to be just a standard cop procedural with some "reverse the polarities" technobabble thrown in to move from scene to scene.  But if the cast has enough charisma I guess it could work.  No one except Dorian and Gareth from the Office has made an impression on me yet though.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 19, 2013, 01:52:56 PM
I just saw the pilot and I must say I was impressed; especially with the acting.  Really, this show is just Cyberpunk2020 from the Cop's perspective; which would seem too niche at first glance, until you realize the possible directions they can go (assuming they channel neuromancer et. al).

It has a lot of potential, but it'll be predicated on the amount of world-building they're willing to do, e.g. not over-doing the cop-drama aspects.  That being said, the show ended with me wondering "exactly why the heck we don't already have a Cyberpunk TV series."


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on November 19, 2013, 02:02:59 PM
I liked when he's going to that black market area for those memory treatments, it's chiba city right out of neuromancer.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 19, 2013, 02:13:08 PM
I liked when he's going to that black market area for those memory treatments, it's chiba city right out of neuromancer.

The still shot was pretty much stolen from BladeRunner.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on November 20, 2013, 12:41:44 AM
This is a good show so far. Which means it won't be long till FOX moves it to Fridays :awesome_for_real: :oh_i_see:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on November 20, 2013, 02:53:52 AM
I'm enjoying it and my boss started with the second episode and didn't feel like he was missing anything.  Urban rocks and the tech is cool.  Don't fuck this up Fox!


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 20, 2013, 08:29:47 AM
I like the smart, yet hawt analyst girl in this show too - who for once isn't overbearingly 'perfect' and annoying.  Much like the show as a whole, most everything has flaws which adds character.

Haemish, having scriptwriting urges?  This is the show for you no?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Signe on November 20, 2013, 09:11:54 AM
I like the smart, yet hawt analyst girl in this show too - who for once isn't overbearingly 'perfect' and annoying.  Much like the show as a whole, most everything has flaws which adds character.

Haemish, having scriptwriting urges?  This is the show for you no?

She has the prettiest smile ever.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Nevermore on November 20, 2013, 09:23:29 AM
Do you mean the one who was really inappropriately dressed for being a police officer?  The one that the main dude who's name I can't remember offhand apparently likes?  Also, why is the stereotypically socially inept science geek kept in what looks like a dungeon?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on November 20, 2013, 09:27:56 AM
I like the smart, yet hawt analyst girl in this show too - who for once isn't overbearingly 'perfect' and annoying.  Much like the show as a whole, most everything has flaws which adds character.

Haemish, having scriptwriting urges?  This is the show for you no?
She has the prettiest smile ever.
That's Minka Kelly from Friday Night Lights.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on November 20, 2013, 09:28:32 AM
Also, why is the stereotypically socially inept science geek kept in what looks like a dungeon?
Cause he likes to be left alone?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on November 20, 2013, 09:45:44 AM
Haemish, having scriptwriting urges?  This is the show for you no?

I've dabbled with a screenplay for my first novel, and I've got somethings in the fire I haven't announced yet.

But yes, this would be the show I could easily write for.  :awesome_for_real:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Signe on November 20, 2013, 11:13:17 AM
Do you mean the one who was really inappropriately dressed for being a police officer?  The one that the main dude who's name I can't remember offhand apparently likes?  Also, why is the stereotypically socially inept science geek kept in what looks like a dungeon?

Yes, that's the one.  I never saw Friday Night Lights so I didn't know where she was from.  I also never remember where tv actors are from.  The geek is Gareth.  I love Gareth.  He was my favourite character from the first "The Office".  I can imagine him in a dungeon.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: kaid on November 20, 2013, 11:56:40 AM
As a tech worker currently in working in a similiar dungeon I have to say it is probably accurate. Tech workers often get stuck where ever there is space and higher ups are unlikely to wander into I don't see 40 years in the future changing that.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Hayduke on November 20, 2013, 12:11:42 PM
Gareth is awesome, and he was one of the best characters in those Pirates of the Carribean movies.  So I'm glad he's on the show.

Karl Urban on the other hand did his best work with his non-speaking role in that Bourne movie.  So the casting is all over the place.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on November 20, 2013, 02:10:01 PM
Really? I thought he was great at McCoy and Dredd and Eomer.  Actually haven't disliked him in anything yet.  He does the 'noble yet world weary' type well.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on November 20, 2013, 02:13:53 PM
Yeah and his built-in scowl works well for this role too.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 20, 2013, 04:46:18 PM
Really, all he's doing is channeling his inner Dredd - he succeeded.  I thought Dredd was very good btw.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lucas on November 20, 2013, 04:57:06 PM
I liked the first episode, still have to watch the second one. Yeah, I too fear that everything might get too predictable and full of stereotypes, we'l see. Oh, and I really liked some of the background ambient tunes, they often often had a nice Deus Ex vibe  :heart:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on November 20, 2013, 06:14:04 PM
Watched the first episode and while I wasn't BLOWN AWAY ZOMG, it was a very solid episode especially for a pilot. The two main characters seem to have found their footing in their roles very early and the tech was well-done. The tech was also very understated which I love - the writers didn't feel the need to hit you over the head with technobabble explanations that will get lost on non-sci fi geeks quickly.

Just finished watching the first episode. I completely agree with everything Haemish said. As someone else said, there are the usual buddy cop dramas with the Alien Nation-style angle and the I, Human love-it/hate-it relationship with technology. But all of it seems handled with a nice balance, without going into the LaForge nor anti-intellectual fringe ends of the spectrum.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lucas on November 21, 2013, 03:59:14 PM
Just finished watching the second episode: really liked it. You know, I'm also a fan of Person of Interest; beside the whole "Machine" business, IMO that show works because every episode has a very good flow and, most importantly, there's chemistry between the actors, something that I'm starting to see between the two cops and the geek tech guy. So far, yes, "balanced" and entertaining at the same time.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on November 21, 2013, 06:15:48 PM
Just finished the second episode as well. Kinda didn't like the overt sexual stuff at first, kneejerking into bottomfeeding viewership grabbing of their obvious target demographic. But in the context of the setting, it makes sense. Long precedent set by permissive societies in sci-fi settings. Not everyone goes all prude like The Next Generation :-)

I really like nuMcCoy for this role too. He pulls off kinda tough guy with a heart well, and I like that they quickly got past his anti-Android sentiment to get quickly to buddy-cop-with-a-quirk.

The writing is pretty good, but it's the story developers who seem to have been let loose.

I like it enough that I'm actually worried it'll be cancelled. Usually I don't care that much.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lakov_Sanite on November 21, 2013, 07:13:53 PM
"Don't ever scan my testicles again"  is possibly the best line I've heard on network tv ever.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lucas on November 22, 2013, 12:58:19 AM
Yeah, that was fun, also the whole discussion about children and cats  :grin:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on November 22, 2013, 02:42:51 AM
It's a sci-fi show on Fox, enjoy it while it lasts.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lucas on November 22, 2013, 02:58:02 AM
Ratings:

1x01 -  9.18 mil viewers (3.1)
1x02 -  6.76 mil viewers (2.3)


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ironwood on November 22, 2013, 03:03:16 AM
Don't think we get this yet.  :(


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on November 22, 2013, 07:40:05 AM
Ratings:

1x01 -  9.18 mil viewers (3.1)
1x02 -  6.76 mil viewers (2.3)
To be expected since the pilot was after a football game and the 2nd episode was up against Dancing With The Stars and The Voice. The 2nd episode also did slightly better than Bones was doing at that spot so FOX will likely keep it there as long as it does comparable or better numbers,


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Signe on November 22, 2013, 09:55:11 AM
Don't think we get this yet.  :(


I just read something a few days ago(forget where, sorry) and remember that this was one of the programs that hasn't been picked up yet in the UK.  I'm sure it probably will eventually.  It's pretty well made (even if I do find it predictable and the robot overly sensitive) and there's some very funny dialog.  I like the main character the most.  I liked him Red and Dredd, too.  I think he mostly makes films that rhythm.  I watch this and it's entertaining but I still think it could be lots better.  I need surprises!


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lakov_Sanite on November 22, 2013, 10:21:32 AM
I'm ok with the android being overly sensitive because his emotions are artificially created, if his personality had zero quirks it would feel odd to me.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Thrawn on November 23, 2013, 12:37:40 PM
Just watched the first two episodes with my wife, both enjoyed it very much.  So I fully expect it to be canceled soon.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on November 24, 2013, 12:02:35 PM
Watched second episode, digging the chemistry between the two leads. Again, they do a really good job of not making the tech seem strange to the characters who live with it every day. Also, Minka Kelly is HAWT.  :drill:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 24, 2013, 03:48:40 PM
Honestly, the entire cast is knocking it out of the park (even the MX droids, sexbots, etc.) and the production crew is giving them almost exactly what they need to do it (ex. Minka being hawt w/o needing to be).  If Monday's epi. holds to form then I daresay we can call this a trend.

They need to change the scheduling badly though.  Going against MNF and <insert dumbfuck competition reality show here> is not very wise.

I also still need to see more augments.  Rippers, deckers, tweakers, and the like.  Also, they need to give the cops more tech. to use aside from bots.  Obviously, if they've got androids to help them, then it's logical to surmise they have quite a bit more then just a laser-sighted pistol to play with.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on November 24, 2013, 04:32:54 PM
Monday's are fine. Bones was there for a few seasons and like I said above as long as the show can pull comparable numbers they'll keep it there. Tuesday's will be the new comedy block midseason (Glee plus 2 30 min comedy shows) and American Idol will be Wednesday and Thursday (currently taken up by X-Factor). So basically the only two days to schedule Almost Human are Monday's and Friday's and you don't want it to be on Friday's.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Draegan on November 25, 2013, 09:05:03 AM
THis show is pretty good. Just watched the first two eps this weekend. Will keep it on the DVR.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Surlyboi on November 25, 2013, 09:16:35 PM
Third ep was as solid as the first two. Don't fuck this up, Fox.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Nevermore on November 25, 2013, 11:40:34 PM

This show actually annoys me because there are parts that I really like but there are also parts that are exceedingly dumb.  Overall it's not bad but it could be so much better without the dumb parts.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MahrinSkel on November 26, 2013, 12:13:05 AM

--Dave


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Nevermore on November 26, 2013, 12:21:34 AM



Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MahrinSkel on November 26, 2013, 12:32:13 AM

--Dave


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Hayduke on November 26, 2013, 06:36:31 AM


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 26, 2013, 09:04:22 AM

This.
Another awesome epi really, but I'm partial to "tower crawls" ("The Raid," etc.)  

I'm starting to think this is likely one of the best acting duos on network TV.  It's shaping up that well.  Also, thank GODS Abrams finally gives us an episodic-procedural show, rather then some horrible serial.  The cops have a task, they solve it, and there's a hopeful reward at the end.  Beautiful simplicity especially when this well writ.

Also, this last epi. (and the show as a whole) has some nice twists that weren't obvious, which was a breath of fresh air...  and cliche's in general seem minimized.

I'll take back my last statement about the show not utilizing tech. enough with the cops, because evidently a premise of the show is "the cops are behind the times."  In this timeline they really dont have access to all the crazy shit the private sector is experimenting with, hence their best hope is the 'droids.  Supposedly, the show is partially about that struggle and why we see ebil tech. like in epi. 3 and once again the cops only have their wits to deal with it really.  This is contrary to the neuromancer/cyberpunk vision unfortunately, wherein the cops and soldiers have some of the most badass tech. available; though not very fringe and not overtly inhuman.

Did I mention this is partially an Abrams show??  Yah like, who knew.  I almost don't want to watch it now.  Almost.   :grin:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: jgsugden on November 26, 2013, 09:47:29 AM
Go back and watch the first few episodes of Fringe.  Each episode stood alone.  Over time that show evolved into the season long story arcs... and I think that will happen here, too.  Somewhere around the middle of this season we'll get an episode focused on the ex-girlfriend... and that will begin the transition from episodic TV to season arc TV.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 26, 2013, 11:12:39 AM
Wut?  Uhh no, Fringe was completely serial from the get-go.  Sure, there were episodic things that happened during the show, but each epi. still had an overarching theme/mystery that didnt get solved till way later (uhh Peter?  Olivia's powers? and on and on).  Hell, even the Fringe events themselves played a roll in the long run - which was the whole point of the show.  As Fringe as they were, they weren't... and after each epi. you were still left wanting, which was one of the drawbacks of the show imo.

Almost Human leaves you fulfilled at the end.  It has a very 'Leverage' feel about it.  Fringe had none of that.  Regardless, AH has been penned procedural by its creators, not serial.  Which may or may not be its undoing, dunno.  I've come to believe that geeks prefer episodic shows rather than serial, but network TV is not very good at committing to that kind of design, so you may be right and we'll end up getting a seasonal arc.

Really though, they do not need to do seasonal arc.  They need to dig way deeper into the genre first, then MAYBE start adding in these socio-political/corporate groups (which we've kinda already got I guess, but not distractingly so)


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: jgsugden on November 26, 2013, 11:17:40 AM
TIn Fringe the arc stuff was seeds at the start.  They have seeds in Almost Human.  His GF, the Android/human relationship, etc...  They were more pronounced in Fringe, perhaps (although the Observers were in the background in several episodes before being noted by anyone), but I believe we'll see the same pattern with clear season arc storylines developed during this season and clearer season arcs for every following season.

And I again remind you to return to the first season of Fringe.  Most episodes were monster of the week stories with a little arc mixed into it.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on November 26, 2013, 12:05:11 PM
Third episode was great.  Ripping off die hard is always a plus.  Man i hope the ratings are at least good enough for Fox to keep this going, just let me keep this one sci fi show that isn't all about family pleeease.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on November 26, 2013, 12:32:18 PM

And I again remind you to return to the first season of Fringe.  Most episodes were monster of the week stories with a little arc mixed into it.

Let us just agree that yes, they were "monster of the week"... but at the same time there were clear "elephants" in the room during each episode (many times being simple cliffhangers at the end) that would never get solved unless you committed to the entire series.  And said monsters quite obviously had meaning beyond the episode itself.  More like Lost meets X-Files, only not as good as either.  And, aside from Walter, completely uninteresting characters with little to know synergy.

To be clearer, AH is starting better then Fringe did regardless.   :oh_i_see:     And there is closure at each episode with only a smattering of interference from some obscure overarching theme.  You wont like the show if you're one of those people who love to say "I wanna know what happens!"  and then proceed to organize bourgeois "watch parties" at some hipster wine-bar.

They'll screw it up though, assuming it even survives.  It'll definitely fail if they make it a serialized show w/o fully exploring the world first.  I'm not getting suckered into fanbois-dom after only 3 epis anyways.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on December 03, 2013, 11:21:26 AM
Apparently this is "on the bubble" because of shitty rating.  God damnit.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on December 03, 2013, 11:30:35 AM
Ratings are hardly shitty, though it did do worse than A Charlie Brown Christmas last night :awesome_for_real:

Now Sleepy Hollow, on the other hand, does have really shitty ratings.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on December 03, 2013, 09:00:42 PM
That's as good as it'll do against MNF + The Voice.  Hey, at least it's not on at the Firefly slot of doom.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on December 04, 2013, 05:57:51 PM
Just finished the 4th episode. Shit this show is good. I mean, it feels like it's the second or third season, for how "mature" each role feels.

I wouldn't be surprised if the ratings weren't stellar though. Not because of any efette "masses/Fox-viewers are stupid" reasons though. It's got just enough of a nerd twist that requires years of buildup in other pop culture forms before it becomes something the primetime viewer likes. I feel like it'd have needed to go through that fringe to edgey to cool to interesting to mass acceptable cycle like the last 15 year evolution of zombies or emo vampires :-)

I love the show. I'll be sad but not surprised if it gets nixed, and worried that even if another network picks up the pieces, they won't get the attention to detail the budget has afforded them so far.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Riggswolfe on December 07, 2013, 12:42:11 AM
I quite enjoy this show but I suspect we'll get, at best, 2-3 seasons out of it. If that. I've already read that Fox is showing the episodes out of order (sound familiar to anyone?)

My guess: Season 2 is 13 episodes long and is moved to Fridays. There is no Season 3.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: jgsugden on December 07, 2013, 07:44:40 AM
I quite enjoy this show but I suspect we'll get, at best, 2-3 seasons out of it. If that. I've already read that Fox is showing the episodes out of order (sound familiar to anyone?)
Fox is a different beast than it was a decade ago.  Pretty much every decision maker has been replaced.  The past and the present are going to be unrelated.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on December 07, 2013, 08:52:05 AM
I'm also curious about the out-of-order comment. Is that true? Because it feels like it isn't so far. The sequencing has worked. Each episode is kind of a standalone though, so maybe that gives them more flexibility (another leason learned).

And wasn't the very first Firefly produced not actually the first episode aired? Almost Human's pilot two-parter was definitely first and aired first.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on December 07, 2013, 09:01:27 AM
Seeing as how they can introduce a major antagonist and by the end of the show kill his ass, it kinda doesn't matter what order they go in.  My only "gossip" gripe in reading about production is that they lost the co-creator whatshisface in September (the guy that used to write for Trek [the good epis] and CSI).  Dude had a physics/engineering PhD from Cornell and was well regarded.

It is now strictly Wyman's baby, which means look for more "dumbing down" and hand-waviness... assuming the show survives, which at this point I doubt it will.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on December 07, 2013, 10:39:48 AM
The episode production codes imply that things are slightly out of order. It's been Pilot (at least FOX managed to get that right), 5, 6, 7, next new episode is 8, and then it jumps back to 3. We'll have to wait and see if there's any noticeable change in the story at that point. Maybe 3 continues the ambush storyline and FOX wanted to have that as a mini-cliffhanger before the Winter break.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on December 10, 2013, 07:18:16 AM
That was so fake... Americans watching soccer? This is unbelievable even for sci-fi.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on December 10, 2013, 05:34:39 PM
Another good epi. though.  Really like the thing growin' between Dorian and psychic-girl; not to mention they decided to add some mysticism in the first place.  Hopefully they run with it a tad...  good Cpunk has to have Intuitives, so maybe bring her in as a pinch hitter when there's a tough case.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on December 10, 2013, 07:59:13 PM
Seriously, what other show can actually make continuous dick jokes that are actually funny?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: kaid on December 11, 2013, 06:22:36 AM
Is that all for one person??


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Draegan on December 12, 2013, 12:42:24 PM
This show is so good. I like how they are adding psychics. I'm willing to be that if the show lasts long enough, Urban's character is going to get fucked up and we might so a bit of Robocop coming into play. Or maybe some other crazy tech shit.

While Dorian's character trends to be more and more human.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Surlyboi on December 13, 2013, 10:41:54 AM
More human than human?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: EWSpider on December 16, 2013, 07:58:16 PM
I liked the first episode, still have to watch the second one. Yeah, I too fear that everything might get too predictable and full of stereotypes, we'l see. Oh, and I really liked some of the background ambient tunes, they often often had a nice Deus Ex vibe  :heart:

The music is The Crystal Method.  New album dropping next month!  I've been enjoying this show and definitely love the music.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: kaid on December 17, 2013, 07:30:37 AM
God last nights episode had some pretty hilarious moments with the other dorian model. I really hope this show lasts a few years it is both enjoyable and at times hilarious.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: satael on December 17, 2013, 07:53:44 AM
They've managed to keep sci-fi in the episodes' plots so far (and not turning it into just another cop show). Hopefully they can keep it up for a long time to come  :awesome_for_real:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Surlyboi on December 17, 2013, 08:09:12 AM
My favorite part of that episode was toward the end. There was an aerial view of the city with a Vangellis-esque sting and then a quick cut to a guy walking with an umbrella with a light in the handle. This show knows where to take its cues.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on December 17, 2013, 08:57:09 AM
It needs to go a bit more hardcore though.  They still cover up a lot of the tech.   Granted, this is the chardev phase but by the end of the season it should be more like watching Ghost in the Shell  (I hope). 


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on December 17, 2013, 06:08:06 PM
Only thing that could've made that episode better would be if they called it "Thanks Obama".  Also, bitcoins? lol.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on December 17, 2013, 06:23:45 PM
Yah, I just watched it (DVR).  Was really goddamned good (I honestly expected a falloff midseason); though an obvious ripoff of "In Time."  It's almost like this show doesn't really kickass per se, but it's just such a "watchable" show.  You sit down, relax, and have a good story told with a hopeful ending.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Pennilenko on December 17, 2013, 07:45:20 PM
It's almost like this show doesn't really kickass per se, but it's just such a "watchable" show.  You sit down, relax, and have a good story told with a hopeful ending.
I think we can all agree that there isn't nearly enough shows of this quality.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MediumHigh on December 17, 2013, 07:56:21 PM
The show is rather smart and interesting and deserved all the marketing that went into it. Fox will cancel this though. It'll last at least 2 seasons.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on December 18, 2013, 02:47:30 AM
Yah, I just watched it (DVR).  Was really goddamned good (I honestly expected a falloff midseason); though an obvious ripoff of "In Time."  It's almost like this show doesn't really kickass per se, but it's just such a "watchable" show.  You sit down, relax, and have a good story told with a hopeful ending.

Well said, that's how I feel. 


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: CmdrSlack on December 26, 2013, 08:51:32 PM
My favorite part of that episode was toward the end. There was an aerial view of the city with a Vangellis-esque sting and then a quick cut to a guy walking with an umbrella with a light in the handle. This show knows where to take its cues.

I am guessing that wardrobe sourced it from Thinkgeek.com. I got one for free with loyalty points. I now go out in the rain at night just to use it.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on January 07, 2014, 10:59:16 AM
ticking bomb plotlines are such lazy writing... they should be ashamed to serve up these half ass attempts especially after such masterful implementations of the premise like 24.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: croaker69 on January 07, 2014, 11:16:39 AM
ticking bomb plotlines are such lazy writing... they should be ashamed to serve up these half ass attempts especially after such masterful implementations of the premise like 24.

 :oh_i_see:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Pennilenko on January 07, 2014, 12:26:32 PM
ticking bomb plotlines are such lazy writing... they should be ashamed to serve up these half ass attempts especially after such masterful implementations of the premise like 24.

The ticking bomb wasn't the real plot line. Instead it was about an artificial intelligence deciding to endanger itself for humans, and a man growing ever more respectful of his artificial partner. As well as the general growth of human acceptance of things outside their parameters of understanding and identification. There might have even been a hint of forgiveness morals in there too.

Or I could be wrong and it was just lazy writing.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on January 07, 2014, 02:49:29 PM
Meh, it felt phoned in.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on January 10, 2014, 02:24:21 PM
The ticking bomb wasn't the real plot line. Instead it was about an artificial intelligence deciding to endanger itself for humans, and a man growing ever more respectful of his artificial partner. As well as the general growth of human acceptance of things outside their parameters of understanding and identification.

Kinda agree with part of that, but I don't think it was Kennex growing more respectful as much as it was Detective Paul. I don't go for arbitrary timers, but at least they had a bunch of different ones running at the same time. I also liked that DRN didn't save Kennex directly but instead Kennex did it himself concurrent to DRN taking down the guy.

But they have this wierd inconsistency about the tech they use in the show. I know they don't want go all tachyon emitters with a Fox show, but the same police force that can put up largely impenetrable force fields can sniper a guy less than 1000m away with an electromagnetic bullet?

And it would have been nice if they had at least mentioned DRN couldn't climb the stairs in the building because of cameras instead of saying "all approaches can be watched [between all these tall ass buildings] / go Donkey Kong on the building".


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: jgsugden on January 10, 2014, 06:52:29 PM
I was not pleased with the 'when low on juice he goes crazy' thing, but am still pleased with the general show - but I forgive a lot more of the tech inconsistency that many hard core people do not. 


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MahrinSkel on January 10, 2014, 08:22:20 PM
They're not using technobabble to pull rabbits out of hats, if tech is relevant to a plot point they explain why well before the pivot (and the tech they use is not magic wands dressed up in nanobots).  I'll allow them a little Idiot Ball passing and handwaving in exchange.

--Dave


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Surlyboi on January 11, 2014, 10:57:27 PM
ticking bomb plotlines are such lazy writing... they should be ashamed to serve up these half ass attempts especially after such masterful implementations of the premise like 24.

The ticking bomb wasn't the real plot line. Instead it was about an artificial intelligence deciding to endanger itself for humans, and a man growing ever more respectful of his artificial partner. As well as the general growth of human acceptance of things outside their parameters of understanding and identification. There might have even been a hint of forgiveness morals in there too.

Or I could be wrong and it was just lazy writing.

Most of what you mentioned was on point, but if all you noticed was the ticking bomb, you're a moron.

There was the interplay between Kennex and Dorian and the bigger piece was the whole, "I'm an asshat on the interwebs, those cops need to die, lolz" bit. The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory writ large.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on January 12, 2014, 10:10:34 AM
I like that they're not afraid to blow someone's head off or turn them into orange goo in this show.  It seems family-oriented, but it's not. (thankfully)


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on January 12, 2014, 11:23:49 AM
It did seem a little silly that Dorian would start going haywire at 50% charge, specially since it cost him the last 15% just to climb the building.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on January 12, 2014, 03:18:15 PM
the techno magic explanation was that certain non-essential systems shut down first


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on January 12, 2014, 03:53:14 PM
Right, still if systems have to start shutting down the charge should be at critical level not half.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Wasted on January 12, 2014, 05:39:15 PM
He changed his power setting from performance to power saver early on when the solar flare started, hence the early shut down of non-essential systems.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: jgsugden on January 12, 2014, 06:30:50 PM
He changed his power setting from performance to power saver early on when the solar flare started, hence the early shut down of non-essential systems.
The explanation, even as you present it, was awkward and fairly nonsensical.  'Running on low power makes you crazy' is disappointing.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Wasted on January 12, 2014, 07:50:10 PM
I thought it was fun, especially the 'humans off!' line.  Its also an interesting little point that the systems designers put a low priority on his 'emotions' and adds to the side theme in the show asking if AI should be given emotions and their value.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on January 12, 2014, 08:24:30 PM
I thought it was another well done epi. with that particular "mechanic."  Also, it showcased Ealy's abilities, which have been historically pretty darn good.  If he keeps this up he'll get a few whispers for an Emmy and/or a few b-list awards.  Would end up as another Brent Spiner situation though.  Androids dont get awards.   :awesome_for_real:

Also, ratings seem to have stabilized now that MNF is done with.  Hopefully it'll see a bump.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on January 15, 2014, 06:07:03 PM
That anger management meeting was fucking hilarious.  The episode seemed out of order though.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on January 15, 2014, 06:33:29 PM
I loved this episode. I didn't dislike the last one, but this was far better. I didn't think it was out of order, and I liked how a lot of the interactions were handled. They have a god handled on seeming like they're going to do the expected thing but then veer just at the last minute.

Which is why last week's stands out for me, because it mostly did all the expected things.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on January 15, 2014, 09:00:08 PM
That anger management meeting was fucking hilarious.  The episode seemed out of order though.
It was out of order. It was the 2nd episode filmed.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MahrinSkel on January 15, 2014, 09:07:05 PM
The order has been 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 3, 2, and next is apparently 9, which means that we still have 4 to get dropped in grossly out of place.  It's been hardest on the attempt to show the evolution of the relationship between the leads, as that has been the intended arc (and is now hopelessly scrambled).  If the episodes didn't do such a good job of standing alone, whatever executive is trying to pull a Firefly on this would already have succeeded.

--Dave


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on January 16, 2014, 08:26:11 AM
Last nights episode was the first time i had a problem with the episodes being out of order, that was clearly meant to be the second episode shown.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on January 16, 2014, 06:32:33 PM
The order has been 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 3, 2, and next is apparently 9, which means that we still have 4 to get dropped in grossly out of place.  It's been hardest on the attempt to show the evolution of the relationship between the leads, as that has been the intended arc (and is now hopelessly scrambled).  If the episodes didn't do such a good job of standing alone, whatever executive is trying to pull a Firefly on this would already have succeeded.

--Dave

Shit, that fourth wall stuff again, I really try not to know this stuff :-) I was all fine with them dredging up an "old" enemy last night, not realizing until now that it was actually just episode #2. I agree though this really highlights how well the episodes stand alone. And fuck that executive trying to torpedo it.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on January 25, 2014, 12:50:30 AM
Last nights episode was the first time i had a problem with the episodes being out of order, that was clearly meant to be the second episode shown.

Yeah, there was some jarring shit in there. I also thought it was the weakest episode of the bunch. Magic bullet? Really? Why would you pay for that when you can hire a disposable hitman for less? And the episodes being out of order really fucked it all up because there were so many character interactions that had already gotten beyond that point.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MahrinSkel on February 04, 2014, 07:10:31 PM
Anybody else still with this?  It went from generic buddy-cop in the future to cyberpunk in a rather lurching turn last night.

--Dave


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Reg on February 04, 2014, 09:02:54 PM
What the hell is "the Wall?"  Has that been mentioned before or is someone fucking with the episode order again?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on February 04, 2014, 09:15:02 PM
Yah, the dystopia finally showed up.  Doubtful it'll last, but definitely was one of the better epis.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Surlyboi on February 04, 2014, 09:29:31 PM
Gina Carano as a psycho android? Fuck yes. This is what I signed up for. And the wall is new to me too.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ghambit on February 04, 2014, 09:36:31 PM
I guess technically that was the last epi?  Only one left is 4.
edit: check that, there are four more epis but I'm not sure the order.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: 01101010 on February 05, 2014, 06:46:38 AM
I like the show. Not so much on the execution. I have never seen a new show actually go out of order in presentation. What the ever-living-fuck were they thinking? These shows really rely on continuity and pacing for development of the characters and story. That magic bullet episode placement was really jarring. That said, if you go back and watch in proper order, it 'feels' right. I like the show, I like the concept, but I am fearful it will get cancelled because of the execution.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on February 05, 2014, 07:08:07 AM
How come those DRM bots die so easily ?? You'd think they would slap some heavy armour on them at least for assault missions. That superdroid was mowing them down with a normal looking rifle, and meanwhile tons of bullets were just bouncing off her and she had a scavenged retail hookerbot body not even military grade or anything.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: 01101010 on February 05, 2014, 07:50:37 AM
New hotness > old and busted.  :why_so_serious:


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MediumHigh on February 05, 2014, 08:03:58 AM
How come those DRM bots die so easily ?? You'd think they would slap some heavy armour on them at least for assault missions. That superdroid was mowing them down with a normal looking rifle, and meanwhile tons of bullets were just bouncing off her and she had a scavenged retail hookerbot body not even military grade or anything.

She was wearing body armor and everyone was aiming for center of mass. Also your confusing DRM (its DRN) with MX. Granted the XRN (superdriod) is probably the reason why future robots used for civilian purposes are on the "easily disposed" side of things.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on February 05, 2014, 10:02:41 AM
I like the show. Not so much on the execution. I have never seen a new show actually go out of order in presentation. What the ever-living-fuck were they thinking? These shows really rely on continuity and pacing for development of the characters and story.
This happens all the time on the broadcast networks:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OutOfOrder

Around here Fox gets singled out because of the way they brutally butchered the episode sequence of Firefly, among other shows, but all the broadcast networks do it.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on February 05, 2014, 10:32:43 AM
How come those DRM bots die so easily ?? You'd think they would slap some heavy armour on them at least for assault missions. That superdroid was mowing them down with a normal looking rifle, and meanwhile tons of bullets were just bouncing off her and she had a scavenged retail hookerbot body not even military grade or anything.

She was wearing body armor and everyone was aiming for center of mass. Also your confusing DRM (its DRN) with MX. Granted the XRN (superdriod) is probably the reason why future robots used for civilian purposes are on the "easily disposed" side of things.

Yeah I meant MX. I guess the easily disposable answer makes sense incase of haywire, otherwise them not having armour is pretty dumb (I guess they are cheap to replace?). Still you'd think the XRN superdroid being so dangerous would be better at combat than just sitting around in open soaking bullets and shooting back.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: MediumHigh on February 05, 2014, 11:10:37 AM
I think its primarily because her AI makes her more blood thirsty while the MX doesn't have much of an AI to begin with. I think the future is rather self conscious about the potentional for an SkyNet style uprising. The DRN has plenty of horror points. They can run down and flip over moving vehicles. Superior reflexes, smarter, and overall better deductive skills than any of the human cast.... even if the DRN's never did malfunction they were kinda over kill at best and walking time bombs at worse. And we haven't even gotten to the main point of glaring flaw with all these cop-droids.... There connected to the internet. The internet. In a future where science has outpaced people's ability to monitor or effectively regulate it. We've seen the freaky friday of hardware capabilities, lets not even guess how many .hack macros that can be built and easily uploading into your local friendly neighborhood robot with a assault rifle.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ironwood on February 05, 2014, 11:18:53 AM
I like the show. Not so much on the execution. I have never seen a new show actually go out of order in presentation. What the ever-living-fuck were they thinking? These shows really rely on continuity and pacing for development of the characters and story.
This happens all the time on the broadcast networks:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OutOfOrder

Around here Fox gets singled out because of the way they brutally butchered the episode sequence of Firefly, among other shows, but all the broadcast networks do it.


I did not know about Father Ted.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on February 07, 2014, 08:14:35 PM
Yea, this felt like it was intended to be an earlier episode, and was one of the most obvious ones to be out of sequence to me. The Wall is an establishing principal that is now occuring too far into the season. It should have been something which said "this world is different" right away. Instead, the season to date has been pretty much LA with holograms. This was capped by Dorian's question to Kennex at the end "still anti synthetic?". That's not something said after the first "aha!" moment in that pre-buddy phase of  a buddy cop show where they still hate each other. Or, in short, this episode was that moment in Lethal Weapon 1 when Riggs shot the guy into the pool cover to save Murtaugh's life.

But still, even with the out of order thing, I love this show, and even putting aside my own preference, it feels like it has a strong enough premise for a large enough audience to stick around.

Any idea on it getting renewed?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Nevermore on February 07, 2014, 08:23:54 PM
This episode reminded me of how much I miss the Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Now that was a good show.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on February 08, 2014, 04:27:44 AM
Amen!  

As for The Wall, I'm 99% certain its never been mentioned before. Not that it matters.  No new episodes have been ordered past its first 13 and Bones is taking its timeslot soon.

Edit:  Added content


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: satael on February 08, 2014, 04:49:16 AM
Is the wall something to keep the people in or out? In one of the earlier episodes (http://collider.com/almost-human-season-1-episode-5-recap/) they were in the woods etc so it really can't be about walling off the city from the countryside.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: 01101010 on February 08, 2014, 04:51:33 AM
I was thinking something more akin to the Berlin Wall. Divides off a part of the city from the prosperous part.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on February 08, 2014, 06:24:04 AM
No new episodes have been ordered past its first 13 and Bones is taking its timeslot soon.

Shit.

I was thinking something more akin to the Berlin Wall. Divides off a part of the city from the prosperous part.

I dunno. There was enough fear expressed about the other side that I got more of a Megacity 1 or Elysium vibe from it.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Speedy Cerviche on February 10, 2014, 07:04:06 AM
Yeah, all the cops so far have been portrayed as morally upright persons, so it seems unlikely they are behind a soviet style oppression. Probably more that it's all mad max out there.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on February 14, 2014, 09:47:11 AM
So I watched the XRN episode.

I can't tell if it's the out of order airing or the writing, but fuck me, this show has gone WAY downhill over the last two episodes (Magic Bullet and Robot Hotness Kill Club). The Wall? WHAT THE FUCK IS THE WALL AND WHY ARE WE JUST NOW HEARING ABOUT IT? So many things in both these episodes have just jumped the fuck up out of nowhere and then been completely left unexplained as if we've missed an episode or 6. Not to mention some of the things in them were just bad. The gratuitous tit shots of XRN getting the hookerbot body felt like a Fox exec just jerking it all over my face. YES GEEKS LOVE TITS THROW THEM SOME TITS!!!! Laroquette's acting has started to bug me, because I can almost see every mannerism he is going to inject into the character before it happens. And we just NOW get to see why the guys were trying to assault the precinct in the first episode? The ordering really is creating a huge narrative problem, and it feels like some of the snappier, more interesting episodes that have been shown have been dumbed down and mucked with by suit-type fuckheads rather than being written that way. 


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Reg on February 14, 2014, 09:55:54 AM
I totally agree. The last episode actually made me angry to watch. From the way people were behaving it looked like it should have been episode 2 or 3. They had the guy going for memory treatments and I don't think I've seen anything about those since the pilot.

I can't believe the showrunner isn't raising a huge internet fuss. Is the show really unpopular enough that some asshole Fox exec can just kill it like this?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on February 14, 2014, 10:03:59 AM
Yes, those were early episodes.  As much as it sucks to have them out of order the early episodes really were much much shitter.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Reg on February 14, 2014, 10:14:41 AM
I went and googled for more info and apparently the executive producer has promised that after the first 7 episodes the rest will be aired in order. And you're right. The early episodes were kind of crappy compared to the later ones. Maybe that's the rationale for showing the stronger ones first.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: jgsugden on February 17, 2014, 10:26:13 AM
With very, very rare exception, sci-fi takes a few episodes to find their world and center it.  AH showed the stronger stuff - after they found themselves - before going back to the sometimes painful stuff filmed earlier on.  We're at the point in the year when I usually drop about half the new shows I'm watching - the shows that showed me enough that I'd give them time to pull it all together, but failed to do so by ~episode 12.  AH showed me enough to stick with it.  I expect a few more failures on the path, but they'll even out and probablt be a pretty great show - about the time they get axed by Fox.
 


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on February 20, 2014, 11:53:26 AM
What the fuck happened to this show? I was cool with it right up until the "virtual hackers party" and Kennex's silly makeup. It was like a producer who knew only the most surface things about cyberpunk or sci-fi came in and rewrote the rest of the episode based off scenes from a Terminator movie he'd heard of but not seem himself. This show just keeps going downhill and the only thing keeping me is the Karl Urban/Michael Ealy chemistry.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on February 20, 2014, 05:45:19 PM
I have the exact opposite opinion. I loved the episode. Typical stuff, but handled well. The only thing that didn't work for me was the actress playing the hacker (hacktress?)

I can't get past how lady cop keeps smirking though. Something about her face makes her seem like she's seconds away from LOLing.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on March 06, 2014, 06:43:40 PM
Just saw the latest.

I don't like the new voiceover throughout the intro. No idea why they didn't want to keep paying the former actress.

Otherwise, solid episode if a bit sappy. But maybe I'm only seeing the sappy because of how out of order the prior episodes were. I also don't like that



Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: satael on March 06, 2014, 08:51:28 PM
I wish they'd concentrated more on the android evaluation instead of the whole Kennex's dad plot (maybe adding some Bladerunner type of reaction test that might have hinted to the memories etc that popped up in the earlier episodes).


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on March 09, 2014, 12:34:03 AM
The season got better the last two episodes - the Chrome murder and Kennex's Dad ones. But yeah, this show is really suffering from the lack of an overarching arc. I know there's one there, they have tried with the whole girlfriend, syndicate, evidence theft stuff. But it never has gotten paid off or made much sense because of how out of order the show is. And the ratings don't point towards an automatic, full season renewal either. It's a shame, because the concept is good at the micro and macro level and the chemistry between Dorian and Kennex has developed real well.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on March 09, 2014, 12:43:32 AM
The show is over for this season. We have to wait and see if FOX will renew it for next season (probably not).


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: satael on March 09, 2014, 12:46:08 AM
The show is over for this season. We have to wait and see if FOX will renew it for next season (probably not).


Didn't notice that the "Straw Man" was the last episode for the season. It wasn't a bad episode but as a season finisher it wasn't very good in my opinion. hopefully the show will come back for another season.

edit: SoundOnSight's article (http://www.soundonsight.org/almost-humans-first-season-fails-to-live-up-to-the-shows-potential/) sums up pretty well what I thought of this show


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on March 09, 2014, 03:29:54 AM
I also liked the last episode.  It quit being so schmaltzy and we got a good "murder" mystery.  Hope it comes back.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Threash on March 09, 2014, 12:13:04 PM
So Kennex gets a new awesome leg, which he then used to defeat the super robot... three episodes ago.  Sigh.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on March 09, 2014, 08:25:07 PM
So Kennex gets a new awesome leg, which he then used to defeat the super robot... three episodes ago.  Sigh.

Wait... seriously? I didn't even notice them saying anything about the new leg during the hottie killer robot episode, but then again, I'd lost interest in that episode long before any ass kicking took place.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on March 09, 2014, 08:44:58 PM
No the last episode shown was the last episode filmed.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Der Helm on March 15, 2014, 04:27:35 PM
Is the season done yet so I can watch it in the intended order ?


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on March 15, 2014, 04:30:40 PM
Yes.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Triax on April 29, 2014, 08:51:20 PM
Dammit, not unexpected, but I'd still like to have seen where they were going to go with it.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Fox-Cancels-Almost-Human-1081058.aspx (http://www.tvguide.com/News/Fox-Cancels-Almost-Human-1081058.aspx)


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Der Helm on April 30, 2014, 04:37:01 AM
Dammit, not unexpected, but I'd still like to have seen where they were going to go with it.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Fox-Cancels-Almost-Human-1081058.aspx (http://www.tvguide.com/News/Fox-Cancels-Almost-Human-1081058.aspx)
Is the season done yet so I can watch it in the intended order ?
So. Does it have an ending of some sorts or a cliff hanger ? I have yet to start watching it.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: disKret on April 30, 2014, 05:03:23 AM
So. Does it have an ending of some sorts or a cliff hanger ? I have yet to start watching it.

No. It just ends like any other episode. Some of the stuff is just unresolved hanging there.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ironwood on April 30, 2014, 05:38:50 AM
That's something, I guess.  I was very, very hacked off at the ending of Alcatraz, leaving us as it did with a hottie with large breasts in a shot condition.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Ceryse on April 30, 2014, 05:45:15 AM
Unfortunate to see it get canceled. I liked the show, even with its flaws. I'm not surprised it got canceled, because, well, Fox. Seemed like they were intent on screwing it up from the beginning, such as with screwing around with the episode order.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lakov_Sanite on April 30, 2014, 06:45:53 AM
They left some stuff hanging but in the last episode they finally accepted each other as partners and friends.  So considering the show was really about that to begin with I'm ok with a couple loose ends, the partnership was wrapped up nicely.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Tannhauser on April 30, 2014, 07:16:54 AM
What a shame.  Good show that never got to be great. 

LOL Fox


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: 01101010 on April 30, 2014, 07:19:48 AM
That's something, I guess.  I was very, very hacked off at the ending of Alcatraz, leaving us as it did with a hottie with large breasts in a shot condition.


I am with you on this one. I miss Alcatraz way more than I will this one. At least that one was released in sequence. I liked Almost Human but once the ordering went sideways, I stopped watching completely.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on April 30, 2014, 08:03:36 AM
Yeah, Fox really fucked this show over. It could have been really good but the Monday night time slot and the continual ordering screwups really hurt the long term potential.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Trippy on April 30, 2014, 09:35:21 AM
Monday is better than Friday which is the only other place it could've gone.

Edit: the


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Johny Cee on April 30, 2014, 02:55:12 PM
Yeah, Fox really fucked this show over. It could have been really good but the Monday night time slot and the continual ordering screwups really hurt the long term potential.

What?

1.  Fox promoted the hell out of it all Fall during sports.  It seemed like every 5 minutes you had a promo during football, and the same during baseball.  I remember constant banner ads as well.
2.  Monday isn't great but its far better than Friday, and there aren't a whole lot of places to slot in an hour long.
3.  They waited until after playoffs so it wouldn't be pre-empted constantly, which happened to Firefly.
4.  Ordering is changed all the time, someone linked to the TVtropes page on it.  It was a procedural with a few continuing overall story elements that weren't dependent on being chronological.  They just changed the ordering to front load a couple of the stronger episodes, as the three episodes were pretty weak. 

All in all, Fox gave the show a decent shot at success.  The problem for me was that it was just a pretty good show, that never managed to provoke any "aw shit!" moments to set the hook in and put up with the passable episodes....  As mediocre as BSG could be, they kept you on the line with the occasional amazing episode or episodes such that you would sit through the awful love triangles and useless delving into secondary characters lives that they dished out as filler.  Or Lost.  Lost was built on having 3-5 excellent to amazing episodes and whole mess of nonsense.


The problem is just Sci-fi on television, and Fox doesn't have as weak a schedule as NBC.  Sci-fi is massively expensive to shoot well, so it's got to have good ratings or else that's it.  Fox's lineup being strong means that you have a higher bar to get over.  Community only continues to exist because NBC is the Network where pilots go to die.

Game of Thrones, for instance, had to be a huge hit for HBO or else it was getting cut like Rome or Deadwood...  great shows with decent viewership that where expensive as hell to shoot (period pieces are nearly as bad as sci-fi). 


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on April 30, 2014, 03:07:01 PM
2.  Monday isn't great but its far better than Friday, and there aren't a whole lot of places to slot in an hour long.

4.  Ordering is changed all the time, someone linked to the TVtropes page on it.  It was a procedural with a few continuing overall story elements that weren't dependent on being chronological.  They just changed the ordering to front load a couple of the stronger episodes, as the three episodes were pretty weak. 

Your other points are valid, but #2 - well, had it been on Friday, it would have benefited from Bones being on the same night as opposed to Sleepy Hollow and the Following. #4 is flat wrong. There were some significant things that happened in the show that were very dependent on being shown chronologically, especially character interactions that didn't make sense when shown out of order. At least 2 or 3 episodes of the season were just plain worse because of the "HUH? WHAT?" moments I had that took me out of the show completely.

The show might not have gotten Firefly-ed, but it sure got fucked around.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: apocrypha on April 30, 2014, 11:08:13 PM
Is airing day as big of a deal these days as it used to be? Is there a Fox catch-up VOD service of some kind? Was it on any streaming services?

I watched a few episodes and just thought it was shit. Terrible acting, dumb plots, mediocre production. Really, Karl Urban is like a plank of wood.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Rasix on May 01, 2014, 12:14:55 AM
As someone that had this flung is his face continually during sporting events, I didn't bother watching it once.  The promos were fucking terrible.  It's looked like imitation Bladerunner, but acted out by mannequins.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on May 01, 2014, 07:27:23 AM
Is airing day as big of a deal these days as it used to be? Is there a Fox catch-up VOD service of some kind? Was it on any streaming services?

Same-day viewing is still a big deal, because that's where most shows get their ratings. VOD and streaming services still lag behind others, plus the advertisers don't like them as much because on some of them, you can skip the commercials. And to make money, these shows need eyeballs on advertising.

It was a better show than it should have been considering how badly TV often fucks up near-future cyberpunk/sci-fi. It had its bad moments, but overall, it deserved a second season.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: apocrypha on May 01, 2014, 08:19:45 AM
Same-day viewing is still a big deal, because that's where most shows get their ratings. VOD and streaming services still lag behind others, plus the advertisers don't like them as much because on some of them, you can skip the commercials. And to make money, these shows need eyeballs on advertising.

Well, fair enough, but I still don't think it was good enough for a different air date to have saved it.

It was a better show than it should have been considering how badly TV often fucks up near-future cyberpunk/sci-fi. It had its bad moments, but overall, it deserved a second season.

Sci-fi etc. is so often badly done on TV (and in movies, and books) because so much of it is so terribly, terribly written. It's a problem with most genre fiction because many genre fans will accept a lower standard than they otherwise might do simply because something ticks their 'fave genre' buttons.

I've been a science fiction & fantasy fan all my life and have been continually disappointed by the quality of most of it, regardless of the media.

Almost Human was shit. It was stupid, it was shallow, it didn't credit its audience with the slightest intelligence and it really, really didn't deserve a second season. In my opinion.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: HaemishM on May 01, 2014, 08:23:57 AM
For some episodes I'd agree with you. For other episodes, I thought it was a lot smarter than you would expect network TV to be. The writing quality was wildly inconsistent on the show.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Lakov_Sanite on May 01, 2014, 08:36:58 AM
Same-day viewing is still a big deal, because that's where most shows get their ratings. VOD and streaming services still lag behind others, plus the advertisers don't like them as much because on some of them, you can skip the commercials. And to make money, these shows need eyeballs on advertising.

Well, fair enough, but I still don't think it was good enough for a different air date to have saved it.

It was a better show than it should have been considering how badly TV often fucks up near-future cyberpunk/sci-fi. It had its bad moments, but overall, it deserved a second season.

Sci-fi etc. is so often badly done on TV (and in movies, and books) because so much of it is so terribly, terribly written. It's a problem with most genre fiction because many genre fans will accept a lower standard than they otherwise might do simply because something ticks their 'fave genre' buttons.

I've been a science fiction & fantasy fan all my life and have been continually disappointed by the quality of most of it, regardless of the media.

Almost Human was shit. It was stupid, it was shallow, it didn't credit its audience with the slightest intelligence and it really, really didn't deserve a second season. In my opinion.

This is exactly why we don't have more good sci fi on tv because the minute anything comes out it's biggest critics are scifi fans.  Execs aren't going to touch a genre if even the people who purport to love it won't watch it or even give it a chance. 

Once upon a time is possibly the worst night time tv in the last decade but it's on what, season 3?  People who watch that show KNOW it's bad but they enjoy dsney or they enjoy the fantasy genre and they still watch it.  What this means is that other shows, better shows in the same vein will come around and you will eventually get quality but as long as scifi fans stay hyper critical it will continue to be a bottom tier genre.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: apocrypha on May 01, 2014, 10:20:57 AM
Ah, probably I didn't see the good episodes then :(  I only watched 2 and a half episodes. I'll stick it on Netflix in the background next time I'm stuck in the studio all day :)


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Johny Cee on May 01, 2014, 11:26:12 AM
Sci-fi etc. is so often badly done on TV (and in movies, and books) because so much of it is so terribly, terribly written. It's a problem with most genre fiction because many genre fans will accept a lower standard than they otherwise might do simply because something ticks their 'fave genre' buttons.

I've been a science fiction & fantasy fan all my life and have been continually disappointed by the quality of most of it, regardless of the media.

Almost Human was shit. It was stupid, it was shallow, it didn't credit its audience with the slightest intelligence and it really, really didn't deserve a second season. In my opinion.

Sturgeon's Law.  90% of everything is shit.

I don't think SFF writing is any worse than any other sort of literature, or any other sort of entertainment.  The really popular SFF?  Its of no worse quality than your average summer blockbuster or the Da Vinci Code or Tom Clancy novel or whatever.  There are plenty of great SFF writers, but like everything else they also don't tend to be the most popular.

There is also a tendency for when genre novels or authors are critical darlings to reclassify them out of the SFF ghetto.  Margaret Atwood writes SF novels, but they have never been placed in the SFF section or sold as SF.  Or Kurt Vonnegut.  Michael Chabon skirts awfully close at times.  Etc.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on May 04, 2014, 04:40:46 PM
Just saw this thread. That sucks. Loved this show, and like Haemish, I thought it was better than it really needed to be for the kind of show it was trying to be.

Almost Human was shit. It was stupid, it was shallow, it didn't credit its audience with the slightest intelligence and it really, really didn't deserve a second season. In my opinion.

Is your opinion based on sci-fi as a whole or sci-fi as delivered on TV? Because to me, Almost Human had moments as good as some of the first season and a half of BSG and some of Firefly. Everything else on TV that weaves sci-fi in some form is either just some retread heartthrob emo crap with lasers.

And the rest of what's on TV? I won't even bother....


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: apocrypha on May 05, 2014, 02:31:44 AM
That particular opinion was based on the 3 episodes of AH I saw, but I accept that I may have just seen the shit ones. I'll keep my eyes open for it and try to catch some more episodes.

However, it premiere's in the UK tomorrow on a channel I don't have access to, so unless it comes onto Netflix I probably won't get a chance.


Title: Re: Almost Human
Post by: Venkman on May 05, 2014, 06:13:40 PM
Lol, there were three pretty weak ones. Be hilarious if those were the ones you saw  :awesome_for_real:

And hey, they needed to make room tu retread Jack Bauer, so I guess it's ok  :roll: