Fox decided that the best way to launch a series was to deprive the fans of one show so that they could expose them to the new one.
FWIW, this is called a "back door pilot". It happens from time to time:
Mork and Mindy and the "
Assignment: Earth" episode (with Gary Seven and his cat and Teri Garr set in the 1960s) of
Star Trek.
One thing you failed to mention about the back door pilot for
The Finder is that, ignoring its back-door-pilot-ness, it was still awful.
Ah, I didn't know that this was a tradition. I like that I know what to call it even if it does sound a little...odd...as Bruno points out.
And yes, that episode was not good at all. I found the lead actor to be very likable, as is Michael Clark Duncan**, but the show was dumb. Maybe if I'd known that the episode would be a pilot I wouldn't be so resentful, but probably not.
**when isn't Michael Clark Duncan likable? The only problem I had with him as the Kingpin was that I just couldn't dislike him
I did forget to mentioning the Walking Dead - very much looking forward to that even though this season has been relatively slow. Good character-based drama nonetheless.
I didn't mind, as many comic fans did, that they diverged from the comics, just that they've changed Rick's character. In the books he always took charge and made the tough decisions because he had to. The only other complaint I have is one I've had since the show was trotted out at Comicon before it aired: you knew who wouldn't be killed. The great/heartwrenching part of the books was that no character was safe. In a TV show you know pretty well that they aren't going to kill off certain people at unexpected moments.
Anyway, I'd forgotten it was coming back so soon. Thanks for the reminder.
Mad Men is another one I forgot to mention which I'm really happy is finally coming back on the air.
I'm definitely looking forward to this. My wife and I foolishly started watching Mad Men right before it went on break. We watched five seasons all at once, and then had to go over a year to get more. Sure, so did all the other fans, but we seemed to time it really poorly for ourselves
I really liked Alcatraz, saw the first two episodes (previously recorded) last night. Interesting concept, some mysteries outside the main one and IMO, very well executed.
I'd really like to hear about what parts you thought were well executed. We just had very negative reactions to nearly every aspect of the show, from dialog to even the music (which surprised us because it was Michael Giacchino). The script writing was just awful for the reasons I stated in the spoiler tag in my first post.
I won't fault anyone for liking what they like, but I just had fundamental issues with that show that ended any interest in it for me. I also disagree that there were any mysteries at all outside the main one. There's only one mystery: who caused it all and why? (I guess those could be considered two, but they're part of the same)
And a really funny line that fit perfectly well within the episode, but also served as a really great throw-back to Lost. I'd quote it in a spoiler tag if I could remember it exactly.
Go for it anyway. I didn't catch too many funny lines in it, unless the line came in the second part of the pilot, which I didn't see because I gave up.
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