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Sober
Nov 19, 2011

First touch: Life.
Second touch: Dead again. Forever.
:siren:WHOOPS, IGNORE ALL THAT, JUST SCROLL DOWN AND FORGET YOU EVER SAW THIS:siren:


quote:

NEW AMSTERDAM centers on a brilliant and enigmatic New York homicide detective unlike any other. And he has a profound secret -- he is immortal.

In 1642, JOHN AMSTERDAM (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), then a Dutch solider in the colony of New Amsterdam -- later to become New York City -- stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native American girl during a massacre of her indigenous tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam, weaving an ancient spell that conferred immortality upon him. Amsterdam will not age, she told him, until he finds his one true love. Only then will he become whole and ready for mortality.

Starring:
  • Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam
  • Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez
  • Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Millay Dillane
  • Stephen Henderson as Omar York
  • Susan Misner as Detective Sergeant Callie Burnett

:siren:WHOOPS, IGNORE ALL THAT, JUST SCROLL DOWN AND FORGET YOU EVER SAW THIS:siren:







SPOILER ALERT: he dies in the first episode

Forever premieres at 10pm EST on Monday 22 September and then again in its regular timeslot on at 10PM on Tuesdays starting on 23 September.

quote:

Doctor Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), New York City's star medical examiner, has a secret. He doesn't just study the dead to solve criminal cases, he does it to solve the mystery that has eluded him for 200 years—the answer to his own inexplicable immortality. This long life has given Henry remarkable observation skills which impresses his new partner Detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza), but piques her curiosity about who he is. Each week, a new case and their budding friendship will reveal layers of Henry's long and colorful past. Only his best friend and confidant, Abe (Judd Hirsch) knows Henry's secret.

Forever was written and executive-produced by Matt Miller (Chuck, Las Vegas). Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes, Gangster Squad) and Jennifer Gwartz (Veronica Mars, Cupid, Party Down) are executive producers. Forever was directed by Brad Anderson and is produced by Warner Bros. Television.

Trailer | Full pilot preview

Cast

  • Dr. Henry Morgan played by Ioan Gruffudd - New York's star medical examiner. Over 200 years old and can't seem to die or even age. When he is killed, he returns, completely naked, emerging from a body of water. SPOILER ALERT: he dies in the first episode
  • Detective Jo Martinez played by Alana De La Garza - One of the youngest of NYPD's homicide detectives, but one of the best. She recently lost her husband.
  • Abe played by Judd Hirsch - Henry's oldest friend and the only one who knows his secret.
  • Lieutenant Joanna Reece played by Lorraine Toussaint
  • Detective Hanson played by Donnie Keshawarz
  • Lucas played by Joel David Moore


I hope you didn't read the beginning of the post. Funny story, that ...

SPOILER ALERT: he dies in the first episode

Sober fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Sep 15, 2014

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Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Not even five seconds into this pilot and its british as gently caress narration time. I guess I'll keep watching.

edit: That was fun, I'll probably keep watching. I've been looking for a lighthearted fun procedural ever since Castle started making GBS threads the bed.

Zaggitz fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Sep 15, 2014

Sober
Nov 19, 2011

First touch: Life.
Second touch: Dead again. Forever.
Bumping this because it's airing tonight. You can watch the pilot still I think that's linked in the OT. It's actual timeslot is tomorrow on at Tuesdays.

Edmond Dantes
Sep 12, 2007

Reactor: Online
Sensors: Online
Weapons: Online

ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL

Zaggitz posted:

edit: That was fun, I'll probably keep watching. I've been looking for a lighthearted fun procedural ever since Castle started making GBS threads the bed.

You actually got me to see it based solely on that line, and so far I concur; I'll probably watch a few more episodes at the least, it's nice to have a fun procedural to fall back to.

ChickenMedium
Sep 2, 2001
Forum Veteran And Professor Emeritus of Condiment Studies
Holy Jesus, you weren't kidding. This show is so New Amsterdam it's almost unbelievable. I can buy the guy saying he didn't know about that show when making this one, though. Since, if you were plagiarizing, you'd make more changes to try and hide the fact. And once you settle on the idea of "immortal solving crimes in NYC" then Cop Love Interest, Elderly Confidant Who Is Secretly His Son, Gets Rich via Antiques are kind of obvious follow-ons.

Still and all, New Amsterdam was a good show, so copying it wholesale probably isn't a bad idea. The pilot was decent and has me buying in for at least the first month or so to see where they go with it.

Lemniscate Blue
Apr 21, 2006

Here we go again.
I caught the second episode tonight after Agents of SHIELD and was intrigued enough to go back and watch the pilot, and oddly I think the second one was much stronger. A lot of the pilot seemed a bit too pleased with itself, too pat in some of its solutions, but they might have just been trying to get the setup established too quickly. Lots of stuff got thrown in and brushed over that deserved a slower, more considered introduction over a whole episode or so.

Lots of it rubbed up against "show, don't tell". And honestly, since I watched the second episode first, it was all poo poo I picked up just from watching that. So maybe that made it feel more tritely treated.

Plus all the usual cop procedural crap, where crime scene treatment, DNA analysis, etc just doesn't work that way. I can get past that, but judging from my wife's complaints, she can't, so that's another strike against.

I'll probably let it run on after AoS until I get annoyed with it. I just wish they had allowed a little more of the mysterious elements to unfold naturally rather than whip out its cock on the first date. Tease me a little, please.

JediTalentAgent
Jun 5, 2005
Hey, look. Look, if- if you screw me on this, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine, you rat bastard!
I just got done watching the pilot, and I know this show is going to get a lot of comparisons to New Amsterdam, in the same way that show was compared to things like Highlander, Forever Knight, etc. But I think right off the bat it sort of is a different enough show than the others, though.

A lot of the ending narration and the Sherlock-levels of deduction got really annoying to a point, but right off the bat I think it did something that I think New Amsterdam needed to do and never did: It gave the main character a Moriarty/Joker/Mr. Glass figure to challenge him.

I don't know why, but I felt that way about New Amsterdam. It needed someone who was similarly immortal to provide a skewed counterpoint to the lead's condition. It throws a new wrench into the character's existence that can pop up now and then to maybe help move a long-running story arc along between stand-alones.

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012
After The Listener ended I was craving another police procedural with a mysterious element, and this should do for a while. The 'Adam' b-plot can be interesting if they draw it out rather then dump it all at once.

I will say I have to actively suppress my ire that he can still function in modern society with all the computers and IDs and everything. One of the things I enjoyed about Forever Knight (mid 90s) (same premise only the main character is a vampire cop) is that he was always having to dance around his background and the rise of computers for tracking information and moved every 15+ years before his not aging became obvious.

I'll definitely follow it, but the ratings aren't super exciting, 1.7 in the demo and 8.5 viewers. That's likely to drop by a bit, and I don't know ABC's threshold for ratings.

JediTalentAgent
Jun 5, 2005
Hey, look. Look, if- if you screw me on this, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine, you rat bastard!
I get the feeling that the show might not last unless you can get people on board for it. It doesn't seem like a lot of the "crime show plus sci-fi/fantasy element" shows fair very well on network TV, but I might be wrong. Of course, I'm thinking and stretching definition way out to include stuff like Brimstone, I think a couple of different vampire and werewolf cop shows, New Amsterdam, John Doe, Almost Human, a few different procedurals with a SciFi setting, etc.

I'm sort of curious how Gotham and Flash series on network TV will eventually fair.



JediTalentAgent fucked around with this message at 09:05 on Sep 24, 2014

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

JediTalentAgent posted:

I get the feeling that the show might not last unless you can get people on board for it. It doesn't seem like a lot of the "crime show plus sci-fi/fantasy element" shows fair very well on network TV, but I might be wrong. Of course, I'm thinking and stretching definition way out to include stuff like Brimstone, I think a couple of different vampire and werewolf cop shows, New Amsterdam, John Doe, Almost Human, a few different procedurals with a SciFi setting, etc.

I'm sort of curious how Gotham and Flash series on network TV will eventually fair.

Grimm has lasted 4 seasons as a popular show hovering around 6.5 million viewers, but it scores really high in the key demo. If Forever loses viewers and drops below a 1.3 in the demo it'll certainty get cancelled.

TigerRose
Mar 17, 2009
Fallen Rib
Wait, was last night's episode really not the pilot? I had no idea they'd already aired an episode, I was vaguely interested and could conveniently just leave ABC on after Agents of SHIELD (and will probably continue to do so). That seems like a weird move.

pentyne posted:

I will say I have to actively suppress my ire that he can still function in modern society with all the computers and IDs and everything. One of the things I enjoyed about Forever Knight (mid 90s) (same premise only the main character is a vampire cop) is that he was always having to dance around his background and the rise of computers for tracking information and moved every 15+ years before his not aging became obvious.

I was thinking this too, considering it seems like he even keeps using the same name. Though his nervous looking at the cameras even after the cops show up to rescue him from x-acto knife murder seems to say he doesn't want to have his disappearing/regenerating/whatever act caught on tape, so maybe they'll get into it more as the season goes on.

Tiggum
Oct 24, 2007

Your life and your quest end here.


Just watched the first two episodes of this, and one thing is bothering me; What happens to his clothes? When he dies in the train crash the watch stays behind because he dropped it, but the clothes he was wearing (and presumably anything in his pockets) vanished with him, then he appears naked in the water. Where are his clothes? Where's his wallet? His phone? How does he get them back? He must be able to get them back or there's no way he would still have that watch.

Also I'm not keen on the nemesis thing so far, but I'm willing to believe that it could turn out OK.

Seriously though, what happens to his clothes?

BIG CITY LAWYER
Sep 15, 2004

I believe it was the great American painter Bob Ross who said, "The key to a swollen vagina is... courage."
I wonder that too. They weren't on the bridge after he got hit by the car. Maybe they get... Uh... Atomized or something? I bet he's spent a lot of money on phones...

The Lord Bude
May 23, 2007

ASK ME ABOUT MY SHITTY, BOUGIE INTERIOR DECORATING ADVICE

Tiggum posted:

Just watched the first two episodes of this, and one thing is bothering me; What happens to his clothes? When he dies in the train crash the watch stays behind because he dropped it, but the clothes he was wearing (and presumably anything in his pockets) vanished with him, then he appears naked in the water. Where are his clothes? Where's his wallet? His phone? How does he get them back? He must be able to get them back or there's no way he would still have that watch.

Also I'm not keen on the nemesis thing so far, but I'm willing to believe that it could turn out OK.

Seriously though, what happens to his clothes?

And his body? does it just vanish? does it remain dead and he respawns in a new body? If so does he go back to his previous body to collect his gear like a video game? Maybe that's why he works as a medical examiner.

I like the show so far though.

Edit: just watched episode 2. Huh. Guess it does just vanish. that's odd.

The Lord Bude fucked around with this message at 09:41 on Sep 28, 2014

Fateo McMurray
Mar 22, 2003

Tiggum posted:

Just watched the first two episodes of this, and one thing is bothering me; What happens to his clothes? When he dies in the train crash the watch stays behind because he dropped it, but the clothes he was wearing (and presumably anything in his pockets) vanished with him, then he appears naked in the water. Where are his clothes? Where's his wallet? His phone? How does he get them back? He must be able to get them back or there's no way he would still have that watch.

Also I'm not keen on the nemesis thing so far, but I'm willing to believe that it could turn out OK.

Seriously though, what happens to his clothes?

You're thinking too much about it. It's a show about a dude who can't die. His phone/wallet are magic too. Yup that's how it has to be for this premise to work.

KatWithHands
Nov 14, 2007
As long as you don't get too hung up on the technical stuff, this show is pretty fun. But then again, the same can be said about 80% of shows on TV today. I never watched New Amsterdam, so I went into this unbiased, and found it cute and charming enough to get into it pretty easily. Judd Hirsch has been my favourite go-to sage advice guy since Independence Day and Numb3rs, so that was a good draw there.

I liked that they mentioned he'd been experimented on before, though. With most shows like this, they're always stressing "If the authorities find out, who knows what they will do!" but in this he's just like "They did, and it was exactly as villainous as you'd think." The only thing I'm worried about getting old and goofy is how often he dies per episode. I know it's the whole premise of the show, and they at least made the aconite poisoning experiment seem partially useful to the plot, but they've made it seem in the past two episodes like he dies at least every other day. I hope as the show goes on, and they finish cementing the idea that it happens, that they slow down on it. (I'd actually written "He dies a lot more than the average person would" before I realized what I was saying :saddowns:)

I was going to ask if we were going to be playing the Who Is Adam's Voice guessing game, but then I checked out the wikipedia page for an unrelated reason and saw that they weren't actually keeping it secret.

The Lord Bude
May 23, 2007

ASK ME ABOUT MY SHITTY, BOUGIE INTERIOR DECORATING ADVICE

KatWithHands posted:

As long as you don't get too hung up on the technical stuff, this show is pretty fun. But then again, the same can be said about 80% of shows on TV today. I never watched New Amsterdam, so I went into this unbiased, and found it cute and charming enough to get into it pretty easily. Judd Hirsch has been my favourite go-to sage advice guy since Independence Day and Numb3rs, so that was a good draw there.

I liked that they mentioned he'd been experimented on before, though. With most shows like this, they're always stressing "If the authorities find out, who knows what they will do!" but in this he's just like "They did, and it was exactly as villainous as you'd think." The only thing I'm worried about getting old and goofy is how often he dies per episode. I know it's the whole premise of the show, and they at least made the aconite poisoning experiment seem partially useful to the plot, but they've made it seem in the past two episodes like he dies at least every other day. I hope as the show goes on, and they finish cementing the idea that it happens, that they slow down on it. (I'd actually written "He dies a lot more than the average person would" before I realized what I was saying :saddowns:)

I was going to ask if we were going to be playing the Who Is Adam's Voice guessing game, but then I checked out the wikipedia page for an unrelated reason and saw that they weren't actually keeping it secret.

Well I guess we won't be seeing too much of him then, he seems pretty busy on that other show.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Well, this show certainly didn't waste any time delving into gross super science. :gonk:

The Lord Bude
May 23, 2007

ASK ME ABOUT MY SHITTY, BOUGIE INTERIOR DECORATING ADVICE
I always thought brain food was supposed to make you smarter...

Wolpertinger
Feb 16, 2011
Is this show at all promising or worth watching or should I not even bother?

KatWithHands
Nov 14, 2007

Wolpertinger posted:

Is this show at all promising or worth watching or should I not even bother?

Well that totally depends on the types of shows you like. If you enjoy 'police procedural with a twist' shows that are fluffy, charming, consistently tongue-in-cheek, and have a good amount of chemistry, then give it a shot, because that seems to be what it's going to turn out to be. If you like grim or serious drama, top tier writing, and unique plotlines, you'll probably find it trite and goofy. It's only three episodes in, so it's not a huge investment to check it out. And if it gets better later in the season, you can always check back in and get a feel for it then.

I really like Henry and Abe's relationship in this latest episode. I think Ioan Gruffud managed to pull off the paternal concern bit quite well without it being too comical. It felt realistic rather than a 'get it, because Abe's the older one' gag.

KatWithHands fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Oct 2, 2014

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

I said this earlier but this show so far feels like Castle before it went to poo poo, so I'm definitely sticking it out for a while. All the characters have good chemistry and the myth arc, while small, has some definite potential to lead into really weird episodes.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
Watched the pilot and it was mildly entertaining. I'm in for another episode or two at least.

Wolpertinger
Feb 16, 2011

wormil posted:

Watched the pilot and it was mildly entertaining. I'm in for another episode or two at least.

Same. I was dumb and didn't actually expect the older guy to be his son though it's completely obvious in retrospect with a plot involving an immortal.

Slamhound
Mar 27, 2010
This is a goofy, light, and perfectly enjoyable show, but the OP got me curious about New Amsterdam and by its second episode, it's a lot more interesting and has virtually all the same characters.

I'm not sure whether to binge New Amsterdam this weekend, or watch it in conjunction with Forever.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
I missed ep2, did they already resolve the mystery caller/killer that says he is immortal?

The Lord Bude
May 23, 2007

ASK ME ABOUT MY SHITTY, BOUGIE INTERIOR DECORATING ADVICE

wormil posted:

I missed ep2, did they already resolve the mystery caller/killer that says he is immortal?

No, there was no mention of it in the most recent episode. I'm guessing it's a long term thing.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

The Lord Bude posted:

No, there was no mention of it in the most recent episode. I'm guessing it's a long term thing.

Maybe it's Red John

LorneReams
Jun 27, 2003
I'm bizarre
That guy's voice is very distictive...I knew who he was after the first few words, possibly because I watched a LOT of Heros. Gave me a strong Methos vibe (I'm so old I don't give a gently caress anymore, etc.)

Liking the show, his first instinct was to run, which seems right. He's background is tied up in Guam, that's also perfect.

Wolpertinger
Feb 16, 2011

LorneReams posted:

Liking the show, his first instinct was to run, which seems right. He's background is tied up in Guam, that's also perfect.

I like that he's surprisingly emotional, impulsive, and occasionally even fearful, instead of the typical cool, all-knowing genius type that's always the lead in these types of procedurals. I like the characters enough that I can handle the problematic parts.

KatWithHands
Nov 14, 2007

Wolpertinger posted:

I like that he's surprisingly emotional, impulsive, and occasionally even fearful, instead of the typical cool, all-knowing genius type that's always the lead in these types of procedurals. I like the characters enough that I can handle the problematic parts.

Man, I was trying to figure out what exactly it was about him that made me like him more than other procedural-with-a-twist leads, but that's it. He doesn't have all the answers, he's openly vulnerable at times, and he's not the snarky jackass that the female lead falls in love with while shaking her finger at him and going "Oh, you." Take away the immortal bit, and he'd probably be just as refreshing in this genre.

I've never been very good at figuring out how ratings work; can anyone tell me if Forever's been doing alright for its first three weeks? I know it's not been a smash hit right out of the gate by any means, but is it looking hopeful for a new series?

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

They haven't addressed it yet, but in the scene of him being arrested after the first death in the pilot that's in the intro he seems to still have scarring from being shot the first time.

Daler Mehndi
Apr 10, 2005

Tunak Tunak Tun!

KatWithHands posted:

Man, I was trying to figure out what exactly it was about him that made me like him more than other procedural-with-a-twist leads, but that's it. He doesn't have all the answers, he's openly vulnerable at times, and he's not the snarky jackass that the female lead falls in love with while shaking her finger at him and going "Oh, you." Take away the immortal bit, and he'd probably be just as refreshing in this genre.
The look on Henry's face when Abe told him he was worried about who would take care of him. :unsmith:

LorneReams
Jun 27, 2003
I'm bizarre

Aphrodite posted:

They haven't addressed it yet, but in the scene of him being arrested after the first death in the pilot that's in the intro he seems to still have scarring from being shot the first time.

I thought at first it was the thing that killed him (thinking wow, he must have a lot of scars), but then after the flashback put it together.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

LorneReams posted:

I thought at first it was the thing that killed him (thinking wow, he must have a lot of scars), but then after the flashback put it together.

Yeah, I thought that too but I think it went through lower on his body.

Plus his face didn't get messed up after being hit by the truck.

Aphrodite fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Oct 6, 2014

Robot Hobo
May 18, 2002

robothobo.com
Even For-e-ver was once New Amsterdam,
Why they changed it, I can't say.
People just liked it better that wayyyy.

WarLocke
Jun 6, 2004

You are being watched. :allears:
One episode in and I'm liking this show. 'Course, I've always had something of a bro-crush on Ioan Gruffudd :swoon:

KatWithHands
Nov 14, 2007
Oh, Sober, not sure if you want to put it in the op, but Forever airs on Mondays on CTV in Canada, so do you want to put an official word down on spoilerchat until it airs on Tuesdays?

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Yeah I caught the airing yesterday. This show has a tiny audience but you might as well be safe and put a disclaimer.

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Sober
Nov 19, 2011

First touch: Life.
Second touch: Dead again. Forever.
Yeah I'll make sure to edit it in. I just realized it airs Monday last week too. Well, I guess here is this week's episode.

quote:

"The Art of Murder"

Memories brought on by an investigation into a wealthy matriarch's death torment Henry.

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