878 replies to this topic

[SisterOfSylar]

They made their own title with that alone.

So A&E and Barnes&Noble, it seems, has teamed up to bring us a cop drama:

THE GLADES stars Australian actor Matt Passmore as Jim Longworth, an attractive, brilliant, yet hard to get along with homicide detective from Chicago who is forced into exile after being wrongfully accused of sleeping with his former captain’s wife. Longworth relocates to the sleepy, middle-of-nowhere town of Palm Glade, Florida, where the sunshine and golf are plentiful and crime is seemingly at a minimum. But this town outside the Florida Everglades isn’t quite as idyllic as he thought, as he finds people keep turning up murdered. Each case pulls Longworth off the golf course and reluctantly into his element as one of the sharpest homicide detectives in the field.

Sounds a lot like a mash up of some other shows I watched, but it's based off a book too.

Here are the links:
A&E The Glades

Sun Sentinal Article

A&E offers more info

IMDB Section If you click on the cast list link, you'll get more info on who's in it.

Edited by SisterOfSylar, Jun 12, 2010 @ 9:37 PM.

[SisterOfSylar]

Bumping thread a little, as premier date is July 11th and we'll be seeing some promotional stuff coming up soon.

Monster and Critics Article. Here's a small blurb, mainly on the lead actor:

The Glades,” a character driven police procedural set in the fictional town of Palm Glade, Florida, stars Australian actor Matt Passmore (“McLeod’s Daughters,” “Underbelly”), Kiele Sanchez (“Lost,” “Samantha Who?”), Jordan Wall, Carlos Gómez (“Shark,” “Sleeper Cell”) and Michelle Hurd (“Law & Order SVU,” “Gossip Girl”).

And A&E ramps up interest

[texcat]

Barnes and Noble gave away a free eBook version of the pilot. That was kind of an interesting promotion and I wonder if it will become a popular thing to do for new shows.

[LakeGal]

This show starts in a week. I am curious and plan to give it a try. Hopefully I won't be disappointed.

[Darian]

Barnes and Noble gave away a free eBook version of the pilot. That was kind of an interesting promotion and I wonder if it will become a popular thing to do for new shows.

That's what put it on my radar. I got a Nook and it was there, so I read it and enjoyed it just enough to tune in.

[kechara]

Is this based on a real book? The falsely accused part etc etc sounds so familiar. Mind you - it's a common convention, but usually they're falsely accused of murder or something criminal.

[mmecorday]

After constantly being bombarded by commercials for this show, I gave it a try tonight. The protagonist did not annoy me as much as I thought he would and Kiele Sanchez wasn't as grating as she was on "Lost." It could be that my mind was about numb from a day of watching Criminal Minds, but the ending took me by surprise. But those were some mighty red herrings floating around in the glades.

[kechara]

Totally agree. I will give it another try next week though.

[Secret Symphony]

The lead actor really needs to work on his American accent. I know nothing about him, have never seen him in anything memorable and within 5 minutes I could tell that he wasn't American irl and was trying badly to do an accent. I guessed he was Australian based on how he was saying some of the words and after the pilot ended, looked him up on imdb and sure enough, he's Australian. Once you notice that type of thing, it's hard to not notice like with Simon Baker on the Mentalist who constantly says words in an Australian accent mixed in with his American accent - it's annoying when said character isn't supposed to be Aussie at all.

Anyway, it was okay. I'll probably catch the episode next week mainly b/c A&E makes it easy with tons of repeats but the pilot wasn't anything great. The twist with the DB being the cop's wife who he killed was well, shocking but the rest of the episode was rather boring to be honest. It's just one ep but I don't know if I really care about Jeff/Jim or Nurse/Jim or Jim or the nurse at all. The only character I kind of liked was the nerdy college kid.

So... just to be sure, Jim, the lead character, is just a cop, right? I am basing this off of his partner's cop uniform b/c aren't the people who investigate crimes and talk to witnesses, detectives? Cops don't really do that sort of thing I don't think. I'm confused.

[starchild215]

The ending totally surprised me. I was wondering about the leads's speech pattern since he's supposed to be from Chi Town.
I'll be watching next week.

[crowsworks]

No watch - no more.

"hero" is an a**hole. Weird accent - I thought he was Canadian.

He looks like Joe Piscapo.

Doctor (?) seemed kinda scanky - at least in her looks. Kid was a brat.

did I mention the 'hero' was an A**HOLE.

now I know why I dislike the girl so much - where are the paralysing plot specific spiders when you need them.

[lorenzothekind]

Wow. This show could be really great..... if in the second ep the lead character was beaten up by a gang of annoyed nurses and fed to an alligator. I'd watch that. Over and over.
Then maybe the coroner and the herpetologist could team up to solve crimes. That might be watcheable. As is, not so much.

[leela46]

I kind of liked the twist on who the killer was. The lead character is a jerk but goodness knows I've seen worse on TV. I'll give it another show next week and then see how it goes from there.

[fauntleroy]

It's a nice setting but getting a little crowded. Hope he doesn't bump into the Burn Notice or CSI gangs down the street.

What is up with the Aussie/Brit-pretending to be American fetish? They couldn't find an American? (cf: Tim Oliphant in Justified--dat's more like it!) The accent effort distracts. The asshole/genius/phony accent is House with Gators, or the Mentalist. At least Simon Baker's character is "quirky" rather than outright offputting. Though I find him pretty tiresome too. In this case the asshole-ness seems gratuitous, like a character trait pasted on rather than organically developed. Like the guy in Memphis Beat's muscle car. The product of a development meeting. How do we juice up this character? Let's give him a muscle car! Let's make him be a prick for no reason!

And why won't he wear his uniform? Is he required to, or not? Or a suit at least? If he did he'd look like any other cop I suppose. If he's not going to dress the part at least he could do better than a ratty old T-shirt.

Not being a follower of Lost I hadn't seen Kiele Sanchez before. Wow, easy to look at, though I don't know what she sees in him. Kid is the usual aggressive little shit, no wonder he gets along with the Matt Passmore character. It seems hard to get kids right on TV.

Come to think of it in all these recent shows--Justified, Memphis Beat and now The Glades, the local color is the hook, but they don't follow through. Justified isn't filmed in Kentucky, Memphis Beat is filmed in New Orleans not Memphis, and the main character of The Glades isn't even from the United States. It wouldn't matter except they go out of the way to play up the locales. Justified succeeds in spite. Memphis Beat would probably blow no matter where they filmed it. What does Passmore have to do with the Everglades, much less FL, much less the US?

Edited by fauntleroy, Jul 12, 2010 @ 1:30 PM.

[rove3]

Saw this and wasn't impressed. The male lead was just way too arrogant and annoying but lacking in the charisma of House or Patrick Jane. I was totally put off that he killed the alligator with nary a thought to the fact that it was a protected animal and by the fact that he didn't seem even the least bit saddened or bothered by the fact that the killer was a cop. Was it a partner of his or something? I missed the first 15 minutes or so. Anyway, he seemed like an a$$ for the sake of being one, as someone mentioned upthread. I may give this one more episode but so far I feel no sympathy at all for the main character which is something that both Hugh Laurie and Simon Baker make me feel for their characters.

[Arjumand]

What is up with the Aussie/Brit-pretending to be American fetish? They couldn't find an American? (cf: Tim Oliphant in Justified--dat's more like it!) The accent effort distracts. The asshole/genius/phony accent is House with Gators, or the Mentalist. At least Simon Baker's character is "quirky" rather than outright offputting. Though I find him pretty tiresome too. In this case the asshole-ness seems gratuitous, like a character trait pasted on rather than organically developed. Like the guy in Memphis Beat's muscle car. The product of a development meeting. How do we juice up this character? Let's give him a muscle car! Let's make him be a prick for no reason!

Your thoughts are mine! Ok, I had no idea that this was another transplanted Aussie, though his face was very familiar. But I seriously would like to know what these actors have going for them (this guy, Simon Baker, Alex O'Loughlin, Ryan Kwanten) that they have to be made successful, at any cost!

Also, I thought to myself, just as the quirky music started, I have ONE genius but asshole protagonist tv show, I seriously don't need another. I don't know if I can get past the douchiness of this lead. Even when he was cornered by a killer pointing a gun at him, he still had to be NERVES OF STEEL MAN, WHO LAUGHS AT DANGER. Ok, he'd already called the SWAT team, but at least Patrick Jane has the grace to be afraid of people pointing guns in his direction. This guy is just a smug douchebag.

Other things which bugged: the usual 16 year old who looks 35. At least the boy looked young. And the incessant slut-shaming was no fun either.

Oh, yes. The Caiman shooting. Was that supposed to be funny? Was I supposed to laugh at that? Ha ha, our lead is killing a protected species. Excuse me while I roll around holding my sides.

And for about two seconds I enjoyed the herpetologist, until it became clear that, lol, he's just a grown up nerd! Who's happy the jock is giving him the time of day!

I might watch one more, to see who they get for his new partner. Unless the gag is going to be that each episode he's going to lose a partner in some way. Stop, stop, I can't laugh any more.

No wonder his Captain shot him. No, don't tell me, it was the whorish Captain's wife's fault. Of course.

[isiscloud]

It's a nice setting but getting a little crowded. Hope he doesn't bump into the Burn Notice or CSI gangs down the street.

Maybe Dexter Morgan (Dexter) will find him and kill him before the show continues for too long. Or he'll have to flee and "accidentally" fed to gators by Sean McNamara and Christian when they move back to Miami and do his reconstructive face work after gators have a chance to retaliate.

Not impressed. What was supposed to be quirky came off as a sh**head to everyone around him. Did he only tranq the gator or actually kill it?

The supporting cast was OK, but too trite and nothing new to see here, folks.

[callie lee 29]

I was really interested in this and I'll probably watch until something better comes along, but the lead is a major douche. The accent (or lack of a proper one) doesn't bother me. I'd rather him not try to do one just to fail spectacularly. But his whole attitude and the pushy, over-bearing way of dealing with people, particularly some of the women, is a huge pet peeve.

Other things that bugged:
- killing the gator. Now being a FL resident, they're not exactly my favorite animal, especially since as of late, some are getting a little to familiar with humans, but it wouldn't be so hard to write a throwaway line about getting a court order to have the gator put down for evidence reasons.

- Lead guys whole spiel about legal age of consent. BS. In FL, and other places, if you are under 23 (possibly 24), but over 18 and your sex partner is between the ages of 16 - 18. it's not illegal. FL statute 794.05:

(1) A person 24 years of age or older who engages in sexual activity with a person 16 or 17 years of age commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. As used in this section, "sexual activity" means oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another; however, sexual activity does not include an act done for a bona fide medical purpose.

It's not that fucking hard to get little things right. damn, do some research!

[sessa]

Dear A&E, When you make me intensly dislike the main character of your show in the first 5 minutes, what are the chances I'll keep watching? ZERO! Bye-Bye The Glades, I'll just keep watching all my Justified eps and my beloved Raylan Givens.

[Special]

The lead actor really needs to work on his American accent. I know nothing about him, have never seen him in anything memorable and within 5 minutes I could tell that he wasn't American irl and was trying badly to do an accent. I guessed he was Australian based on how he was saying some of the words and after the pilot ended, looked him up on imdb and sure enough, he's Australian.

Yeah. Once I noticed it bugged me so much I couldn't really appreciate the snarky lines.

I don't watch A&E much, so doubt I'll be back.

[norahcynthia]

I agree the main character was a smug, arrogant, douchey asshole. I found him to be so grating and irritating that I couldn't even finish the episode.

[mathhater]

The only rason I tuned in to this show is to see Passmore-he was great on McLeod's Daughters but his character was such an asshole and so unlikeable that I'm not gonna watch it again. And to think that this show is the highest rated ever on A&E.

That Patrick Swayze show The Beast was so much better written and acted to me. Passmore can do better than this and I am a little tired of British/Australian actors coming over here to the US to play douches. Well, at least Hugh Laurie can pull off an American accent as House.

[Concordseeker]

The nurse/wanna be doctor doesn't care her 10 year old son is smoking?

[All Over Blue]

What a mess. I refuse to watch any more tv shows that feature a foreign lead actor playing an American. Period. There is no excuse for hiring a Brit or an Aussie to play a Chicagoan!!! Or a New Yorker!!! WTF is wrong with the casting directors? If you go to the trouble of giving a character a specific home town, such as Chicago, then don't hire someone who has a foreign accent for the role. In the first place, there are thousands of good Chicago actors. In the second place, there are millions of good American actors who could fake the Chicago accent with much more success than an Aussie for god's sake.

As for the story itself...crap. The only thing remotely interesting about it was the surprise that the cop killed his wife and she was the Jane Doe. The rest of it has been done to death.

The fact that he won't wear a uniform is a ridiculous concept. If the detectives are required to wear uniforms (I can't think of a police department that would require that however) then he would HAVE TO wear one. It ain't optional. If he is a detective, then why is he paired with someone in uniform. That's a different division. WTF? again. It's not worth my trouble to figure this mess out.

[sp23]

I just watched this on the A&E website. Man, what a horrible show. Hate the lead character, figured the victim was the partner's wife the moment they brought out that she wasn't home, was irritated by the ME not wanting to do his fucking job with the exam of (illegally killed) caiman, the schtick with the golf ball was stupid, and did I mention that I hated the lead character?

Also, I don't know if A&E did this with their original broadcast, but the web version was half-censored. Half the time "ass" was left in, the other half is was cut out. Made no sense at all.

[Nightmare Logic]

Honestly I thought this show was kinda funny, funny enough to bring me back? Not sure yet.

[mustbekarma]

lso, I don't know if A&E did this with their original broadcast, but the web version was half-censored. Half the time "ass" was left in, the other half is was cut out. Made no sense at all.

That's how I just caught the episode, and I thought bleeping out the cuss words was pretty dumb. That being said, I liked the show. The lead character did seem like an asshole, but he was competent. I totally didn't expect the partner to be the murderer, and his wife the victim. It's not often a show surprises me anymore, so I think that's why I'll give the show another shot.

Of course, it helped that the lead character got bit by a gator. I so wouldn't go wading in the Florida everglades for anything, so that kind of served him right.

I think the show has possibilities; I kind of hope the guy isn't always acting like a jerk, but if he's competent at his job, I could overlook that for a while

Honestly, the thing that turned me off the most is the golf. I can't even stand to play putt-putt. The golf scenes are going to be my least favorite part, I'm afraid.

Edited by mustbekarma, Jul 12, 2010 @ 7:34 PM.

[RainbowRat]

Just watched it online because I am cable-less and desperate to avoid doing chores.

Ditto to all the complaints so far, plus: if the lead has some kind of backstory on how he made it to Florida, why just say it but not show it? Why am I the viewer supposed to care how and that he got to Florida when the writers can't be bothered to flesh it out? Does he miss anything about Chicago? Food? Ethnic mix of people? Architecture? Job resources? Water without poisonous snakes and alligators? Accents?

Dammit, I'm thinking too much about it. But it's just always been my biggest pet peeve when these elements get thrown into a plot with a little lip service and nothing else. (For the record, I've never visited Chicago. I've changed planes there and my family drove through it once.)

And his line delivery drove me nutty. Seemed like 50% of what he said came out the exact same way. Maybe it's an Aussie intonation thing he'll need to work on.

ETA:

Also, I don't know if A&E did this with their original broadcast, but the web version was half-censored. Half the time "ass" was left in, the other half is was cut out. Made no sense at all.

Especially considering that they didn't censor the girl saying "shit" at the very beginning of the episode. Whatever, censors.

Edited again to remove extra verb in second paragraph.

Edited by RainbowRat, Jul 13, 2010 @ 4:24 PM.

[AimingforYoko]

I don't mind that he's a smug, smarmy asshole (I imagine that's why he left the Windy City, a lot of enemies with guns), but he's got to quit trying so hard. Let the snark flow naturally, man. I guess the coroner is his 'Wilson'.

[isiscloud]

It's not that fucking hard to get little things right. damn, do some research!

Maybe he's still thinking in Illinois statutes.

I guess the coroner is his 'Wilson'.

Think he's supposed to be a Palmer (NCIS) or Abby. Nerd hipster. The guy playing him is cute but the glasses make him too nerdy.