261 replies to this topic

[R Walsh]

The new political series due to premiere on Starz in October has already been renewed for a second season. You can see al the details in this article.

[redshirtx]

Good to have faith in your product, I guess.

For those joining us late, Boss is a tale of Frasier Crane's evil twin, the mayor of Chicago. Or, as the press release goes:

Mayor Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer) sits like a spider at the center of Chicago's web of power; a web built on a covenant with the people. They want to be led; they want disputes settled, jobs dispensed, and loyalties rewarded. If he achieves through deception and troubling morality, so be it. As long as he gets the job done, they look the other way.

Yet despite being the most effective mayor in recent history, a degenerative brain disorder is ripping everything away from him. He can't trust his memory, his closest allies, or even himself.

Kane's wife Meredith (Connie Nielsen) knows nothing. Theirs is a marriage of convenience. Kitty O'Neil (Kathleen Robertson), Kane's advisor, has her suspicions but stays silent. And Kane's political advisor Ira Stone (actor), a Yale graduate with a rough edge, remains question-less. Only Alice (Hannah Ware), Kane's estranged daughter, has a chance of learning his secret. This is going to be the toughest term yet for the Boss.

I have to admit, the show kind of had me at a scene in one of the promo spots where Kane growls "Let the streets run with shit" in response to bickering over a strike. And it has longtime character actors Martin Donovan and Francis Guinan playing supporting roles (Kane's chief advisor and the governor of Illinois respectively). It should at least be watchable...

[politikgirl]

I love political shows so I'll definitely be checking out the pilot.

[dairack]

This is going to be a GREAT series! BOSS has already been renewed for a second season!

A sampling of the first episode will be able to be seen online at http://www.starz.com/originals/Boss/ScreeningRoom#/episode-1 one week prior to the premiere on the early morning of October 14 @ 12:01am EST.

You can also check out www.ScandalousDirt.com

The site is your insider access to breaking conversations on the latest political scandals trending on Twitter while blurring the line between fact and fiction by interweaving the BOSS's story lines and latest updates on each episode with “live tweets”.

I am currently working with STARZ to help promote this series, so if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Thanks,
Derek

Edited by dairack, Oct 17, 2011 @ 1:13 PM.

[AladdinSane]

WOW-this show sux.
With BReaking BAd just ending, I was looking to supplant it and figured I'd give 'Boss' a shot.
Instead, 'Boss' should be shot..literally. I've never endorsed political assassination before.
Way-WAY too over the top stupid. If any politician were 1/10th this evil there would be a line of operatives waiting to expose him.
Part of me hopes someone else watches it so I can snark with them, but another part of me wants to just warn potential viewers:
Save yourselves! Do not invest one iota of viewing time here!

[Numb Nut]

It wasn't that bad. I've seen worse. I heard Gus Van Sant directed the pilot so I checked it out (nice job, well shot). The storylines aren't very compelling and most are cliched. The pilot has a "kitchen sink" quality (Illegal drugs! Incurable illness! Sex! Nudity! Estrangement! Maiming! Let's throw everything in and see what sticks!) and the writing is imbalanced; the realism of the opening is basically abandoned for a series of ridiculously over-the-top developments. (Apparently getting maimed isn't painful; you can be up and around and lucid in just a couple of hours!) Is this a drama or satire? I also could do without Grammer's glorified speeches (For Your Consideration!). I love Martin Donovan but fear that he'll be underused here. I'll watch the second ep to see if it can reel me in.

With BReaking BAd just ending, I was looking to supplant it and figured I'd give 'Boss' a shot.

Try Homeland. Awesome pilot, great second ep. I'm in for the season.

Edited by Numb Nut, Oct 15, 2011 @ 8:48 PM.

[AladdinSane]

N-NUT

It wasn't that bad

Oh reeeallly ... ;-O
How about:
Boss' estranged daughter...who works in the low/no-income medical clinic....assists aged Man who comes in w/nephew...overhears nephew make a drug xaction...she later goes looking for nephew-so she can score some crack..has 2nd thoughts and leaves the drug house...nephew/dealer goes looking for her and finds her in the church where she seems to moonlight as a priest!!??.
Nephew then slides her some crack as she is standing on the steps shaking parishioners hands as they leave her service.
And that was some ancillary,3rd or 4th tier plotline.
Every evil-politician trope in the book was used...just in the 1st hour.....

THANX for the Homeland tip-it looked intriguing and I'd forgotten to check Showtime's series'.

[Mikita]

It's now on my on demand so I'm off to watch it.

[Numb Nut]

It wasn't that bad.

Oh reeeallly ... ;-O How about: Boss' estranged daughter...who works in the low/no-income medical clinic....assists aged Man who comes in w/nephew...overhears nephew make a drug xaction...she later goes looking for nephew-so she can score some crack..has 2nd thoughts and leaves the drug house...nephew/dealer goes looking for her and finds her in the church where she seems to moonlight as a priest!!??. Nephew then slides her some crack as she is standing on the steps shaking parishioners hands as they leave her service. And that was some ancillary,3rd or 4th tier plotline. Every evil-politician trope in the book was used...just in the 1st hour.....

LOL. Yeah, I was cringing to be sure, but like I said I've seen much worse. I cringe at crap writing but nothing can make me turn off a show faster than when I see bad acting, and, while Grammer and the guy running for Governor were hammy, everyone else did a decent job. I also kept watching to check out new faces, like the girl playing Emma and the guy playing the young politician. I liked her as an actress; I thought she rose above the writing. I'm not sure about the guy yet. Since pilots often suck because they try too hard, I'll give the show one more shot.

Edited by Numb Nut, Oct 16, 2011 @ 12:20 PM.

[wickedgirl]

I liked it. Does it tap into the mass fear that something very rotten is happening behind closed political doors? Sure does, and it counts on it to create the atmosphere to a huge extent. But I like over-the-top-evil tv characters. Same way Bartlett was an over-the-top idealization, this is, well, its opposite.

If I understood correctly, the season will have 8 episodes, so I am understanding this episode as exposition. Have no issues with using cliches, let's see how they unravel.

[Mikita]

I liked it for a pilot. I'll stick around to see where it goes with druggie doctor daughter and my one reason for watching it in the first place, Jeff Hephner. I'm so glad they replaced him in The Playboy Club as I knew that was going to flop.

[swansong]

I thought the acting was strong, but even though it's on Starz I wasn't expecting it to be quite so unsubtle and that makes me be pause because seriously already so much evil and cliche in just one episode. Of course it's just the pilot so maybe that'll work itself out to something more nuanced. I hope so because I think there might be something promising in there.

[Former Nun]

And Kane's political advisor Ira Stone (actor), a Yale graduate with a rough edge, remains question-less.

Not that it matters, but the character is EZRA Stone. I liked the show, and Grammer's character took me back to the 80's and a corporate bigshot I worked for for eight years. Those bastards (and worse) do exist and for some reason are allowed to ruin lives, careers, and show up in church on Sunday mornings for all to admire.

[ragincajun67]

This show wants to be The Wire so badly, but with a big, hammy performance at the center--which makes it not very Wire-like at all. I was also reminded of Showtime's Brotherhood (they used a garbage strike pretty effectively over several episodes.) Still, I will probably continue watcing for Connie Nielsen and Martin Donovan (I have loved him since his Hal Hartley days.)

[Wittgenstein]

Boss was too busy trying to be 'important' and 'real' - most scenes were so heavy handed and self conscious that I found myself laughing.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the tone wasn't so ponderous or the direction kept drawing attention to itself.

And there were three scenes in it (a sex scene and two scenes involving violence) that were simply laughable.

The show appears to want to do for Chicago what the Wire did for Baltimore, but it seems to have missed the point of Simon's great series: The distinctive character of cities (like distinguished shows) are made of ensembles and derive their themes from the city's own situations and characters (as opposed to literally shoving them in our face).

Kelsey was great in it, but the show (thus far) was barely watchable.

Edited by Wittgenstein, Oct 22, 2011 @ 9:06 AM.

[LonePirate]

I enjoyed this first episode although the Parkinson's storyline seems completely unnecessary and will only serve to humanize the otherwise despicable Kane. He does not need to be redeemed and his condition will only lead to his downfall. I'd prefer he receive his eventual comeuppance from something other than natural means.

Also, the ear severing violence seemed a bit over the top. While blackmail, beatings and murders are probably still involved in political machinations even today, this type of mutilation was simply ridiculous.

That being said, I thought the show was an absorbing look into the ruthless and sometimes unexpected realities of modern American politics. Grammer seems to be enjoying the role as Kane and I look forward to seeing how evil he truly is. I also loved Kathleen Robertson as Kane's blonde assistant. She was stunningly beautiful.

I'll be tuning in until the show gives me a reason not to since there is no timeslot competition for me. I'm curious to see where the show leads.

[angelita100]

The show needs to ramp it down quite a bit but I will watch continue to DVR it. I think Kelsey will find his groove and there was enough other stuff going on that I do want to see where it goes. But yeah they tried to pack way too much in the first hour and it was all just too much.

Edited by angelita100, Oct 22, 2011 @ 6:03 PM.

[AladdinSane]

I enjoyed this first episode although the Parkinson's storyline seems completely unnecessary and will only serve to humanize the otherwise despicable Kane

Call me old fashioned, but Boss blew that chance when he had one of his operatives kidnap-then drug-his neurologist as she waited in the car to pick up her son at his little league baseball game and remind her what would happen if she talked to Nosy Reporter.

Also, the ear severing violence seemed a bit over the top

...or when Boss jammed his garbage disposal getting rid of them. (Terrific sound editing though)
You'd think someone at that Hispanic Businessmens dinner would at least have asked: 'Hey I saw you on the news today. So you found Native American artifacts while digging at the site of the new O'Hare runway, huh? Thats incredible!
By the way-WTF happened to your ears ?!?!'

The show appears to want to do for Chicago what the Wire did for Baltimore, but it seems to have missed the point of Simon's great series

: realism, great writing, great characters and no scenery chewing.

I will be interested to see if Boss stays the course & warrants mention HERE

[Wittgenstein]

You'd think someone at that Hispanic Businessmens dinner would at least have asked: 'Hey I saw you on the news today. So you found Native American artifacts while digging at the site of the new O'Hare runway, huh? Thats incredible!
By the way-WTF happened to your ears ?!?!'

Yeah, the fact that he turned up in public *with a bandaged head* to present something to the mayor (in front of cameras too) was a complete joke.

Or rather, the fact that we were supposed to take that scene seriously was the joke and a contender for 'unintentionally funny moments' (alongside the slow mo sex scene straight of a soft core porno).

Reviewers insist the show gets better so I'll give it another episode or two.

Edited by Wittgenstein, Oct 23, 2011 @ 7:13 AM.

[Milburn Stone]

This show wants to be The Wire so badly

Unfortunately, that was apparent from the very beginning, with an opening credit sequence and opening credit music that together were painfully imitative of The Wire. Great shows are original.

Nothing in the first fifteen minutes did anything but support that bad first impression, and we gave up.

[caseylane]

I thought it was ok. There are very few shows that blow me away with the pilot so I normally don't judge until the 3rd episode or so. I'll give this a shot and see where it goes.

[Mikita]

I thought it was ok. There are very few shows that blow me away with the pilot so I normally don't judge until the 3rd episode or so. I'll give this a shot and see where it goes.

The same for me. I didn't even like Spartacus Blood and Sand until the 3rd episode. If I had given up after the pilot or second episode... I shudder to think about the greatness I would have missed. That's why I never just bail after a pilot. Except for Camelot which was apparently that was the right decision.

[Wittgenstein]

The show begins with 'decent' ratings

http://insidetv.ew.c...4/starz-boss-g/

[Yogurt Baron]

Is this going to be airing in Canada? If so, where and when?

[bdarling]

I thought Chicago was used well in last season's Fox cop drama whose name I forget already. That also had a corrupt politician - alderman, I think - who was arrested at the end of the season. That was a great character.

I hope Boss makes it there. Kelsey Grammer is a good actor. Even in the first scene when he doesn't talk and is just reacting to the doctor's news, he had impact.

Edited by bdarling, Oct 26, 2011 @ 10:24 AM.

[AyeshaTheGreat]

I thought Chicago was used well in last season's Fox cop drama whose name I forget already. That also had a corrupt politician - alderman, I think - who was arrested at the end of the season. That was a great character.

The Chicago Code. I liked that show as well and have now noticed the increase of recent shows shot or located in Chicago. I guess that is the go-to city right now.

As for this show, despite the over-the-top dramatics, I still found in watchable so I will be turning in for the next couple of weeks. Though the maiming was a bit much.

[MyrnaC]

I spent a few hours trying to figure out who was playing Tom Kane's assistant, since I knew I'd seen her before. I truly did not, however, expect to end up going back all the way to Beverly Hills 90210, the FIRST one. Kathleen Robertson has kept herself up WELL. Suck on that, Brenda Walsh.

One of my other thoughts was to wonder what kind of jokes Tom Kean gets to listen to this month.

I'll watch it.

[blueang]

MyrnaC

I spent a few hours trying to figure out who was playing Tom Kane's assistant

Maybe that's because she's a dead ringer for Julie Bowen of "Modern Family"?

[Wittgenstein]

Is the second episode any better?

[maderas]

Is the second episode any better?

I thought it was boring, personally. The show seems to be banking almost entirely on the novelty of Frasier playing a bastard. Maybe the political drama of it doesn't intrigue me as much because the stakes are smaller with him being a mayor vs. being a president (as seems to be the usual case with political drama). The sex scenes and nudity are already coming off as a bit forced and unnecessary, too.

Speaking of, did anyone else become terrified by the prospect of a Kelsey Grammer sex scene when that naked woman was sitting at his table?

Edited by maderas, Oct 29, 2011 @ 2:13 AM.