560 replies to this topic

[Strega]

Premieres on Showtime August 16th.

Cathy has always been conservative and structured – the perfect suburban wife and mother. Receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis becomes not only a challenge, but a catalyst for change. Cathy is tired of being “the sensible one” — now she wants to let her freak flag fly. For the first time in her life, she is going to make choices that suit her needs. Who says you can't eat dessert as an appetizer? Time is precious, and Cathy is grabbing life by the balls...

So... it's a kindler, gentler Breaking Bad?

[TWoP will be weecapping this, so I needed to create a thread in order to set up the back end stuff.]

[Writer13]

GMMR--Premiere Episode
It was pretty good. I wish I had Showtime...

[hoosier]

Laura Linney is good no matter the material she's given. I like the promos. We see far too little of Oliver Platt. So all-in-all this should be a great show.

[Care Bear Love]

Since the premiere is online for any and all to see I'm assuming that it's all good to talk about the show without spoiler tags. ...Right?

I really liked this pilot and I thought I was going to hate it. Instead of the "wacky shenanigans" of a dying woman that I expected, I got woman who is standing up to the wacky people she spent her life pleasing. Much more enjoyable.

I'm not sure how it will sustain itself as a series. She either dies from the cancer, or doesn't; seems like only a few seasons to show the various treatments/problems or whatever.

Well, she's not seeking treatment so I'm guessing her diagnosis was that she has a year without treatment.

I didn't love everything about the show but the only thing I didn't like was not getting to see her actual diagnosis. The xray she looked at towards the end seemed like she had both breast and ovarian (?) cancer. The replay over lunch with her doctor was weird unless they're leading toward a romance between the two of them. I was kind of hoping she would get back with her husband until that lunch and I saw a little spark there that made me go 'hmm.'

I may have to subscribe to Showtime again before Dexter comes back. Weeds certainly isn't enough of a draw but this just might be.

Edited by Care Bear Love, Jul 31, 2010 @ 6:34 PM.

[Morbs]

I enjoyed this Laura Linney interview, and maybe you will too. They explain how they will handle the issue of time in the series.

"You Can Count on Me," is one of my favorite films, so I will be anywhere that Laura Linney is.

Edited by Morbs, Jul 31, 2010 @ 9:20 PM.

[Trini Girl]

The Big C: Showtime Hates Our Search Engine

Ha! Took me a minute to get the subtitle. Carry on....

[JakeyIsSusan]

I loved that it's set in Minneapolis! Usually shows like this (suburban family isn't happy underneath seemingly perfect exteriors) is set in an affluent L.A. suburb.

Laura Linney will likely get an Emmy nom for this show. She's completely unafraid to play up her character's less sympathetic, bitchy moments.

[Nosleepforme]

When I first heard about the show, I wasn't sure how this would work as a comedy, but now, having seen the pilot and the trailers for the show, I see how it is going to work and I'm really excited for the show. Laura Linney is fabulous, her relationships with the other characters could be interesting and I really love the theme of the show - how a woman reevaluates her life and finally starts living after she gets a bad diagnosis. Exploring how precious time is, how little we make of life until we know that there is not a lot of life left for us and how people affect each other's lives. All good and interesting stuff for me. I really hope audiences embrace this show as much as they have embraced "Weeds", "Nurse Jackie" and "United States Of Tara", because I think this show is going to be really good.

Also, "The Big C" and "Hung" are in the drama category, while "United States Of Tara" is in the sitcom category of the boards? Really weird.

[reggiejax]

The Big C: Showtime Hates Our Search Engine

Ha! Took me a minute to get the subtitle. Carry on....

I don't get it at all. Can someone explain?

As for the show, Laura Linney can do no wrong, so my being a viewer of this show is a foregone conclusion.

[taiko]

Every word has to have at least 4 letters or the search engine ask you WTF

[namrog]

I'm really excited for this show. Add me to the list of people who think Laura Linney can do no wrong. She is fantastic in everything, even when the material she has is just average.

She was a guest on The Daily Show last night, and I really enjoyed her thoughts on comedy. I think Jon Stewart did too. Here is the link to the episode: The Daily Show - 11 August 2010

I loved that it's set in Minneapolis! Usually shows like this (suburban family isn't happy underneath seemingly perfect exteriors) is set in an affluent L.A. suburb.

It is? For some reason I thought it was going to be set in Connecticut.

ETA: I just read the NY Times article. It is filmed in Connecticut, but is set in Minneapolis.

Edited by namrog, Aug 12, 2010 @ 4:33 PM.

[mustbekarma]

Laura Linney will likely get an Emmy nom for this show. She's completely unafraid to play up her character's less sympathetic, bitchy moments.

Ironically, I didn't find any of her bitchy moments unsympathetic. I was rooting for her the whole episode, and I wanted to strangle all the men in her life. I was crying so hard by the end of the episode, too. This almost makes me wish I had Showtime. I think this is a series I'd actually shell money out for the DVD's.

[nellyhug]

I am in love with this show just after one episode. I don't think there was anything I didn't like about it! I was so happy when she locked her dick of a son in the bathroom! Raise the hell out of him indeed!

That might be the most exclamation points i have ever used in my life.

[Prozack2]

I haven't seen the pilot but I did see the Daily Show interview. She mentioned in passing that the diagnosis is Stage 4 melanoma - which is probably a good choice, since it is easy to imagine someone being oblivious to the problem until it is too late, while at the same time not limiting it to a "women's problem."

[braggtastic]

So she really did have a dermatologist appointment? I thought her cancer was in the lungs and other internal organs, and the derm appt was just a cover.

[mustbekarma]

She probably did see the dermatologist originally. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. If she noticed an unusual mole, or if a birthmark changed shape and size, she might have gone to the dermatologist first.

By Stage IV, the cancer penetrates deeper into the skin and spreads throughout the body. I got the following off the National Cancer Institute's website.

In stage IV, the cancer has spread to other places in the body, such as the lung, liver, brain, bone, soft tissue, or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Cancer may also spread to places in the skin far away from where the cancer first started.

WebMD has some good information, too. Now it makes me very paranoid about any birthmarks and moles I have. I didn't bother to read the 5 year survival rate for State IV Melanoma. I didn't want to make myself that depressed.

Edited by mustbekarma, Aug 13, 2010 @ 6:35 PM.

[braggtastic]

That's why it's important to do self inspections of your skin, and to see a dermatologist at least once a year for a skin check. If any moles or birthmarks change color, shape or size, you should go ASAP. I had a tiny dark freckle on my right shoulder blade that I very rarely saw, and the dermatologist suggested removing it as a preventative measure. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was a location I couldn't see easily, so I wouldn't know if it started changing.

[GraydonCarter]

In the last scene there is a cut away to show her touching the big X-ray image of her lungs but also showed three separate, smaller images, presumably of other locations in her body.


There at the end, that looks like Marlene's dog, Thomas. I guess he was the only one who showed up for the bonfire.

[Belley]

I thought the pilot was okay. I mean, it was thoroughly a pilot, which means it was awkward and it's hard to be invested in any of the characters yet, but still...okay.

But I just have no idea what this show is about. She has cancer. That's it. That's not a plot that can sustain a show. Breaking Bad has the guy finding out he has cancer so he starts cooking meth, Weeds has the woman's husband die so she starts dealing pot, Nurse Jackie has a woman who's severely addicted to drugs, Dexter has a blood expert who is a serial killer. Those are all plots that have tension and can naturally progress forward. Where do you go with this?

[gingerella 000]

If TV shows about famewhore hookers sleeping with a has-been, probably bald rocker can be considered "storylines", I'm sure Cancer can be too. That said, I'm not sure where this storyline is going, but I have enough faith in Laura Linney's acting choices that I'll stick with this for at least a few more epis to see if I can bond with it. I didn't like the husband or the son. At all. I can only take so much of angsty bitchfaced teenagers so that wore thin the first minute that asswipe came home. I did appreciate her psyching out the kid at the end. That? Was brilliant. I did like Linney's character, the sourpuss neighbor, her dog, and the brother. Well, the brother I'm on the fence about. we'll see where this goes. For Linney's sake, I hope it picks up steam and draws us in.

[Belley]

If TV shows about famewhore hookers sleeping with a has-been, probably bald rocker can be considered "storylines",

What? Are you talking about a reality television show? Reality tv and sitcoms are nothing like a serialized show, which this is clearly going to be. I'm not sure how cancer is going to be a basis for a show or why we should be invested in what happens to these people. There's no tension, no stakes, she just has cancer. It's like, c'mon, something else has to be happening here.

[Wackadoo82]

Well, the show is going to be less about cancer and more about what a person chooses to do with their life when they find out that they are going to do die in the near future. How do you want to live the rest of your life? In my opinion, that is what the show is about. And, only the pilot has aired so we don't know where the show or any of the characters are head. I'm just letting the show play out before I think about whether or not the overall narritive can be obtained throughoru a whole serious. I've only gotten a chance to meet the characters and see the aftermath of her finding out the news.

Also, why does a show have to have stakes or tension? Not every show needs full on DRAMA to succeed in my opinion. Sometimes a show can be more about getting a peak into these characters lives and less about high drama.

[softshoes]

Wackadoo82, bingo.

This seems like a character study type show. She's dying, what does she do with her remaining time, watching her evolve. Had she not been diagnosed with a terminal illness I doubt she handles her son the way she did. Time is running out and she needs to get this kid on track.

It's Laura Linney and if the show was about her painting her house I'd give it a fair shot, I've crushed on her for years.

It would not bother me in the least if she gives up correcting that bath robe either :) Is it weird that I was jealous of that dog at the end?

[Kevinao De Lima]

It's Laura Linney and if the show was about her painting her house I'd give it a fair shot, I've crushed on her for years.

Word to that softshoes, I have had a crush on Laura Linney for so many years now, and I would watch her in anything.

It was a good pilot, and I am already more excited for this show than I was for Nurse Jackie!

Edited by Kevinao De Lima, Aug 17, 2010 @ 9:48 AM.

[Turkish]

Well, the show is going to be less about cancer and more about what a person chooses to do with their life when they find out that they are going to do die in the near future. How do you want to live the rest of your life? In my opinion, that is what the show is about.

This is how Laura Linney explains it as well.

[supposebly]

It's Laura Linney and if the show was about her painting her house I'd give it a fair shot, I've crushed on her for years.

Same here. And I really liked it. I'm not invested yet but it was funny without being so terribly "quirky" that I have to gauge my eyes out. Maybe it's just me but a lot of shows are built around being so damn quirky, it makes me throw things at my TV.

I'm not sure about Oliver Platt, though. I always found him slightly off-putting, so if he stays away, I wouldn't mind.

I wonder when and who she will tell eventually. My guess will be the brother first. He seems to get her.

[gingerella 000]

I'm not sure about Oliver Platt, though. I always found him slightly off-putting, so if he stays away, I wouldn't mind.

Word! He's become really grotesque looking and I always loathe when TV shows pair a really beautiful/pretty woman with a piggish husband (think: King of Queens, etc.). In order for me to buy into this marriage they at least need to look like they'd be together. And they don't. Not with Ollie Platt. And that kid. I really disliked him.

I think Linney's character will bond with the crusty neighbor lady. The brother seemed too self involved to really listen to her but we'll see.

By the way, watching Linney bust into that neighbor's house and bitch her up and down? I was fantasizing about doing that to a neighbor or two myself. Now I have a a blueprint, but I need the proper bathrobe, apparently it's all in the bathrobe.

[Anastasia169]

I too liked this when I caught the preview on On Demand. I thought that Laura Linney was great. I hated the son, but I think we were supposed to hate him. Even my young adult son thought the kid desperately needed a good ass kicking to sharpen him up. I can't wait to see what the next episode brings. I thought the brother was an intriguing character, but if the writing isn't handled properly he could get very annoying. His holier than thou shit was already pissing me off some.

[supposebly]

His holier than thou shit was already pissing me off some.

I loved that part. In her "previous" life, she was just like that. The not-the-spilling-type who controls everyone else's failures. Just a different kind of holier than thou.
I hope we see more of previous Cathy, otherwise, it might becomes a little hard to watch the others to adapt to the new Cathy without knowing too much about the old one who married Oliver Platt and has a son like that.

Was I the only one who cringed when she poured the red wine on the couch? I'm not sure whether it was because of the stains or the waste of perfectly good wine.

Edited by supposebly, Aug 17, 2010 @ 2:47 PM.