Under the Dome Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

And today CBS announced it has been renewed for another batch of episodes next summer. So those hoping for a final resolution in a few more weeks are outta luck. Why do networks fail to realize that some stories need not be open-ended?

Ugh.. I agree.

 

[Steve Berger]

And today CBS announced it has been renewed for another batch of episodes next summer. So those hoping for a final resolution in a few more weeks are outta luck. Why do networks fail to realize that some stories need not be open-ended?

What I've learned from previous King adaptations is - wait for them to finish before bothering to watch them.

 

[ScottH]

I was laughing out loud at the "rescue" of the guy in the truck having water poured on him. Would love to be a fly in the wall in the writing room of this show.

 

[Nelson Au]

I thought last nights episode was pretty good. Lots of turns of events, deaths and a very "Lost" like feeling.Too bad Alice didn't make it, kinda saw that coming with the birth.

 

[mattCR]

The one problem this show has in killing off characters is that introducing new ones is difficult given the premise.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The dialog on this is still mind-numbingly awful, but I'm definitely invested now in seeing where the show's mythology is heading. Now we have a hint of what "pink stars are falling" was about.

Most of the performances are Syfy original caliber, but I thought the actresses playing Alice's wife and daughter both did a really solid job in this episode. So did Samantha Mathis, but that's to be expected from her.

Does the guy playing Ollie remind anyone else of Brad Dourif a bit?

 

[DaveF]

I was laughing out loud at the "rescue" of the guy in the truck having water poured on him. Would love to be a fly in the wall in the writing room of this show.

where did that truck come from? Who ordered rush delivery on their new couch three days after the dome came down?!?!This was the best episode of the season, save the pilot, for me. I'm ambivalent, largely because this is a crushingly bleak story. It is about accumulated death. These aren't the emotionally compelling death of a unique character (think "Buffy"), but the disheartening toll of lesser characters dying one after the other.I really enjoy Ollie. The actor was born to that role, and he's staying just inside of ham. And I like the tension and fight with Big Jim.

 

[Nelson Au]

When I saw Ollie, that voice was so familiar. Then I realized he played the country western singer who was on an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. He was in a cryogenic tube in a probe that was lost in space with two others who survived freezing from the 1980's and was woken up by the Enterprise crew. That was a good episode and he was in such contrast with the 24th Century crew members. A hoot too!

 

[ScottH]

Does the guy playing Ollie remind anyone else of Brad Dourif a bit?

He reminds me much more of Chelcie Ross.

 

[Jeffery_H]

I'm not sure on many things about this show. First, them changing it from just a one-off mini-series to a serial coming back next season is not something I like. Second, the actors, as mentioned by others, is pretty bad for the most part. Third, having read the book and knowing all about it, I am wondering just what they are going to change to drag this show out and the "NEW ending twist that King said he approved"? I know what it is in the book and that was a let down by the outcome of what the "dome" is, who put it there and why. Not really that detailed or great story telling by King and one of his worst works I thought.

As for introducing new people, just do it like Lost. They are simply other townspeople we have not seen yet (i.e. the tail end survivors). It didn't work for Lost because the characters simply did not gel or fit in with the known characters everyone liked and knew. So they were the "red shirts" of the show and went quickly.

 

[Josh Dial]

As for introducing new people, just do it like Lost. They are simply other townspeople we have not seen yet (i.e. the tail end survivors). It didn't work for Lost because the characters simply did not gel or fit in with the known characters everyone liked and knew. So they were the "red shirts" of the show and went quickly.

LOST introduced plenty of new characters who became fan favourites--Nikki and Paulo are actually the exceptions. Faraday, Miles, and Frank all became generally well-liked, and were introduced (formally) in season 4.

 

[Jeffery_H]

LOST introduced plenty of new characters who became fan favourites--Nikki and Paulo are actually the exceptions. Faraday, Miles, and Frank all became generally well-liked, and were introduced (formally) in season 4.

No, if you read carefully you will see I was referring to the tail section. Most of them were written out of the show, the ones you mentioned came during the chopper rescue that mainly stuck for a while. They quickly wrote out Mr. Eko, Anna Lucia and Libby among others. However, Bernard was one of the key tailies that lived out a long life all the way to the end.

Of course, most of them were written out as everyone knows because they didn't gel with the other cast. Many articles noted how both the actresses Anna Lucia and Libby had substance abuse issues among other problems and Mr. Eko did not work well with other cast, mainly John Locke.

 

[Josh Dial]

No, if you read carefully you will see I was referring to the tail section. Most of them were written out of the show, the ones you mentioned came during the chopper rescue that mainly stuck for a while. They quickly wrote out Mr. Eko, Anna Lucia and Libby among others. However, Bernard was one of the key tailies that lived out a long life all the way to the end.

Of course, most of them were written out as everyone knows because they didn't gel with the other cast. Many articles noted how both the actresses Anna Lucia and Libby had substance abuse issues among other problems and Mr. Eko did not work well with other cast, mainly John Locke.

And those articles would be slightly mistaken, at least if you believe the showrunnners. Although AAA had problems with Terry O'quinn, his main reason for leaving was the death of both parents. Michelle Rodriguez was "always" booked for only a single season, and indeed it was a condition of her joining the cast; Disney's problem with the DUI incident was not a factor (not sure I fully believe this one).

In any event, I thought you were referring to "gelling" with the other characters, and therefore the audience, and not the other actors. Overall, I agree with you--do it like LOST. I think LOST did a great job introducing new characters each season. With the exception of Nikki and Paulo (and Miss Klugh and Isabel, who I think were nothing more than a writer's attempt at making a character to get residuals off of), the new characters always felt organic and believable.

 

[TravisR]

First, them changing it from just a one-off mini-series to a serial coming back next season is not something I like.

Other than maybe when they were first working on the pilot, the series was never designed to end with the first season. From the beginning, they wanted it to be an ongoing, multiple season series. No network is going to make a close ended show. If they did that and the show did well, they'd have basically pre-cancelled a hit.

 

[DaveF]

Somehow, Joss Whedon created 7 seasons of Buffy which all told a self-contained story, while allowing for a new season --new story--to follow. Falling Skies is doing this reasonably well. Each season tells a story and sets up the next season. But if the show doesn't come back, at least we're not completely lost. This can be ok, a series of short stories. Chapters are much harder to pull off, especially if you don't that that you'll be able to create all the chapters.I don't know if Under the Dome is stopping halfway through the story with a cliffhanger or will tell a complete story this season. I hope the latter.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Somehow, Joss Whedon created 7 seasons of Buffy which all told a self-contained story, while allowing for a new season --new story--to follow.Falling Skies is doing this reasonably well. Each season tells a story and sets up the next season. But if the show doesn't come back, at least we're not completely lost.

It's not an apples to apples comparison to compare a book adaptation to something written specifically for tv. Even though "Dexter" stopped following the books early on, each season of tv paralleled the story contained in a single book. I haven't read the Sookie Stackhouse books, but I'd guess those were done adapted in a similar style, though the forum comments suggest the tv writers broke significantly from the book story lines.

No network is going to make a close ended show. If they did that and the show did well, they'd have basically pre-cancelled a hit.

They do, but they're called "movies" and "mini-series." Please excuse the sarcasm. I think both of you have fair concerns about how this is going to play out and what was the best decision about how to bring it to tv. I haven't read the book, so maybe I'm being gullible by taking it one ep at a time. I suppose it all depends on how well the writers and producers can alter the book to bring it to a pace that works for tv. Seems quite a challenge to get something that works ep by ep and also works to provide self contained seasons. I can't guess as to whether it will work, but I'll give it a chance while it's interesting for a summer show.

 

[mattCR]

True Blood is so off the rails from the books that you can't even equate the two.. they are absolutely nothing alike. SPOILERS BELOW

Spoiler

Tara is a minor, minor character.
Bill never becomes any sort of 'king'
There is no "super vampire" thing they are doing this year
Lafyette dies in the first book..

And so on. The books were good for a while, and then the last few books have been pretty terrible.. but the TV show has lost all connection with the books, entirely after season 1.

So, I wouldn't use True Blood as an example.

 

[Nelson Au]

It's only 13 episodes this year. This seems to be a pattern here for ABC. With a show like Rookie Blue, that is a summer show too. So they appear to be having some success perhaps with a shorter season format of shows in the summer season. That might help stretch the story of the book.But with the reveal of the mini dome this past Monday, I would guess its function or raison d'être may or may not be revealed soon. Hopefully not a cliff hanger ending. The fall season is a very long season! Audiences may loose interest. Though it seems to work for Mad Men, but that's a popular show.

 

[TravisR]

But with the reveal of the mini dome this past Monday, I would guess its function or raison d'être may or may not be revealed soon. Hopefully not a cliff hanger ending. The fall season is a very long season! Audiences may loose interest.

I think every show has a learned a lesson from the first seasons of Lost and The Killing where audiences were (somehow) surprised and mad that a show that always ended on a cliffhanger would end on a cliffhanger. My guess is that they'll go with the model that Lost used in most of its seasons- they'll wrap up as many plots elements as they can, set up some new story threads for next season and have a 'Holy crap!' moment at the very end.

 

[Nelson Au]

A hatch under that mini dome!