Generally, I don't post Television program reviews, but I thought I'd give it a try. The first one is a current era whodunit. The second is an early twentieth century period piece.
Gracepoint is the American version of the British TV whodunit, Broadchurch, that aired last year on BBC America. I watched the first episode of the mini-series. I was not disappointed. It appears the Fox mini-series is following the British series' script. The location has changed. Instead of a Welsh seaside town, it is set in northern Californian. The victim is a murdered preteen boy. Gracepoint is a ten-episode series whereas Broadchurch was eight-episodes. The reason for the extra two episodes is because Broadchurch was originally created to be ten episodes long. However the British network ITV would only commission eight episodes, forcing the creators to cut two episodes. Fox allowed the creators free choice over how many episodes Gracepoint would be, so they chose to restore the missing two episodes. (IMDB)
The main character is a newly hired detective transferred from another city under a mysterious cloud. David Tennant of Doctor Who notoriety reprises his Broadchurch role. He's supported in this version by Anna Gunn (Deadwood and Breaking Bad), the detective who he beat out for the chief detective promotion. Legendary actor, Nick Nolte portraying a local mariner and potential suspect makes an appearance.
After watching the first episode I decided that I will watch the remaining nine. Though the story should be identical, I hope to see what was left out from the original series. Broadchurch is due back for a second season in 2015. I would not doubt that Gracepoint will follow suit shortly afterwards.
The Knick, airing on Cinemax, is a period piece taking place in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. It centers around a hospital and its staff of surgeons, nurses, administrators and benefactors. It highlights the conditions in 1900 city medicine, where today's modern surgical and medical procedures were in their infancy.
The main character is Dr. John Thackery, the Chief of Medicine at the Knickerbocker, played by veteran actor, Clive Owen, He's plagued by a cocaine addiction and a hospital short on successes and long on patients due to the atrocious living conditions in the city. He is best known to film audiences for his work in Children of Men (2006), Closer (2004) and his breakout part in Croupier (1998). He recently portrayed Ernest Hemingway in the HBO made-for-TV movie Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012). (IMDB) He's supported by other equally successful actors, Matt Frewer (Max Headroom, Eureka and Orphan Black) plays his mentor and colleague who commits suicide in the first episode after their twelfth failed Caesarian section where they lose both mother and baby. His character reappears in flashbacks with Dr. Thackery in the series. The Robertsons are the hospitals benefactors and the daughter, Cornelia, played by Juliet Rylance, is the hospital's chairmen. She pushes her will on Thackery by hiring the internationally successful African-American surgeon Dr. Algernon Edwards, played by André Holland, for the segregated and all-white medically staffed hospital.
It's amazing how cocaine was so readily available, obtained and used. It also surprises me, but at the same time not, that segregation was so prevalent even in a city like New York that had always been in the forefront in social reform . Inasmuch as Thackery fights to keep Edwards from legitimately performing surgery at the Knick.
This show reminds me much of the 1980s hospital drama, St. Elsewhere. Where it departs from its 180s predecessor is the graphic. There's a lot of blood. I mean A LOT. It's a very realistic and scary experience. St. Elsewhere was my favorite hospital drama back then and The Knick would be my favorite hospital drama now. I have viewed the first three of the ten episodes of the first season and I am hooked. Cinemax has renewed the series for 2015.
Gracepoint is the American version of the British TV whodunit, Broadchurch, that aired last year on BBC America. I watched the first episode of the mini-series. I was not disappointed. It appears the Fox mini-series is following the British series' script. The location has changed. Instead of a Welsh seaside town, it is set in northern Californian. The victim is a murdered preteen boy. Gracepoint is a ten-episode series whereas Broadchurch was eight-episodes. The reason for the extra two episodes is because Broadchurch was originally created to be ten episodes long. However the British network ITV would only commission eight episodes, forcing the creators to cut two episodes. Fox allowed the creators free choice over how many episodes Gracepoint would be, so they chose to restore the missing two episodes. (IMDB)
The main character is a newly hired detective transferred from another city under a mysterious cloud. David Tennant of Doctor Who notoriety reprises his Broadchurch role. He's supported in this version by Anna Gunn (Deadwood and Breaking Bad), the detective who he beat out for the chief detective promotion. Legendary actor, Nick Nolte portraying a local mariner and potential suspect makes an appearance.After watching the first episode I decided that I will watch the remaining nine. Though the story should be identical, I hope to see what was left out from the original series. Broadchurch is due back for a second season in 2015. I would not doubt that Gracepoint will follow suit shortly afterwards.
The Knick, airing on Cinemax, is a period piece taking place in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. It centers around a hospital and its staff of surgeons, nurses, administrators and benefactors. It highlights the conditions in 1900 city medicine, where today's modern surgical and medical procedures were in their infancy.
The main character is Dr. John Thackery, the Chief of Medicine at the Knickerbocker, played by veteran actor, Clive Owen, He's plagued by a cocaine addiction and a hospital short on successes and long on patients due to the atrocious living conditions in the city. He is best known to film audiences for his work in Children of Men (2006), Closer (2004) and his breakout part in Croupier (1998). He recently portrayed Ernest Hemingway in the HBO made-for-TV movie Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012). (IMDB) He's supported by other equally successful actors, Matt Frewer (Max Headroom, Eureka and Orphan Black) plays his mentor and colleague who commits suicide in the first episode after their twelfth failed Caesarian section where they lose both mother and baby. His character reappears in flashbacks with Dr. Thackery in the series. The Robertsons are the hospitals benefactors and the daughter, Cornelia, played by Juliet Rylance, is the hospital's chairmen. She pushes her will on Thackery by hiring the internationally successful African-American surgeon Dr. Algernon Edwards, played by André Holland, for the segregated and all-white medically staffed hospital.
It's amazing how cocaine was so readily available, obtained and used. It also surprises me, but at the same time not, that segregation was so prevalent even in a city like New York that had always been in the forefront in social reform . Inasmuch as Thackery fights to keep Edwards from legitimately performing surgery at the Knick.
This show reminds me much of the 1980s hospital drama, St. Elsewhere. Where it departs from its 180s predecessor is the graphic. There's a lot of blood. I mean A LOT. It's a very realistic and scary experience. St. Elsewhere was my favorite hospital drama back then and The Knick would be my favorite hospital drama now. I have viewed the first three of the ten episodes of the first season and I am hooked. Cinemax has renewed the series for 2015.
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