Vinyl- HB0-(***Spoilers***)

Agent Coulson

Martin Scorsese's drug-fuelled rock 'n' roll fantasy.

Produced by the incredibly-accomplished trio of Oscar winner Scorsese, Boardwalk Empire writer Terence Winter and Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger, Vinyl tells the story of one mogul on the verge of a rock revolution.

Record executive Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) was once on top of the world, but changing times and bad decisions doomed his company American Century.

Determined to make a comeback, Richie tries to capitalise on the frenzied 1970s rock music scene to resurrect American Century.

The world of Vinyl is populated by musicians, managers and con-artists played by Olivia Wilde, Ray Romano, Juno Temple, Andrew Dice Clay and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, among others.

Scorsese directed the pilot episode of Vinyl, which earned a series order from HBO earlier in the year.

Agent Coulson

Full Trailer.

JP Liz V1

HBO’s Vinyl is coming to the UK a little sooner than expected.
Sky Atlantic – who hold exclusive rights to Vinyl out of their long-running output deal with HBO – has announced plans to simulcast the two-hour series premiere of the Mick Jagger produced Rock & Roll drama with HBO’s East Coast feed at 2AM UK time on Monday February 15th, before repeating the episode later that same day in its regularly scheduled 9pm time-slot.

http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2015/11/sky-atlantic-to-simulcast-new-hbo-series-vinyl/

Agent Coulson

squonk

Thought there'd be more talk about this! I caught the opener last night. It was almost 2 hours long. Not sure if they ran a double lenght pilot or if it was Ep 1 & 2 back to back.

Looks like an OK show. It jumps around a bit between present day and the start of Richie's career. I got a real feel of Goodfellas about it in spots which is a good thing and, no doubt, is down to Scoceses' direction.

There are some pieces that are a little jarring, like the musical vignettes. They act as a break between acts and they work kind of OK but some are a little strange. I found in particular the one with the singer walkign through the empty offices a bit over the top.

Ray Romano kind of grates on me a little as well but it might just be a Ray Romano thing. I wasn't the biggest fan of Everybody loves Raymond. I certainly didn't!

I think it's a good start and I'll be interested to see where it goes.

humanji

I really enjoyed it. I agree that it had a real Goodfellas vibe to it (especially the

murder

scene, that was hilarious and disturbing in one go. Looking forward to see how the series pans out.

squonk

Incidentally, it said on the TV that there were 2 bodies found. Where did the second body come from? Did Richie kill the other guy who was with him and Buck Rogers off screen? That's how it looked to me anyway. Seemed a strange jump though given that he was not up for murder earlier in the evening. I took it that he just snapped?

jadie

really liked it, esp. the young Robert Plant! The last scenes were surreal. Agree on the musical vignettes- had to fast-forward these. Back to one hour episodes next week.

Roanmore

Thought the young Robert Plant was the worse thing about it. Did like Ian Hart as Peter Grant though.

thesultan

Music is brilliant on it. Grant was 6'4 not medium height

Howard the Duck

Thought it was ok, had high hopes after i heard the new york dolls playing at the start. With Scorsese directing there was one scene that sure wasn't a surprise. Thought the ending a bit weird and unrealistic.

Ray Romano kind of grates on me a little as well but it might just be a Ray Romano thing. I wasn't the biggest fan of Everybody loves Raymond. I certainly didn't!

I was the same until i watched "men of a certain age" which i thought was very good and he was very good in it. Made me warm to him

FloatingVoter

thesultan wrote: »

Music is brilliant on it. Grant was 6'4 not medium height

Former night club bouncer who used a baseball bat as a negotiating weapon. Shame we haven't seen any record execs dangling by their ankles from a great height. But the show is young yet.

JP Liz V1

It has been renewed http://tvline.com/2016/02/18/vinyl-renewed-season-2-hbo/

pickarooney

The time jumps confused the **** out of me. In particular everything to do with Lester/Little Jimmy Little

FloatingVoter

pickarooney wrote: »

The time jumps confused the **** out of me. In particular everything to do with Lester/Little Jimmy Little

Early 1960s NY is clean and mannerly and business is done as goodfellas do business in sepia. 1970s NY is a cesspit shot with neon. And the opener is a mini Scorcese flick that deserves a second watch.

pinkypinky

Catching up on this. The pilot is too long and the central characters don't have enough to keep me hooked. I'm going to give it a second episode because this one is too Scorsesed. However, I'm not sure I can finish the pilot in one sitting. Juno Temple is the most interesting character. And the flashbacks are confusing.

tldr: hot mess but I'm giving a second chance.

pickarooney

Anyone watch episode two? It's not really grabbing me so far.

Alfred Borden

Its been disappointing how poor this has actually been. Had high hopes for it too.

Bowlardo

It's a dog dinner of a series. I hope it isn't signed up for the hbo 5 season

squonk

I don't think this show is really doing it for me. It seems all over the plae really. It doesn't seem to know if it wants to be a show about a guy on the run for his involvement in a murder or a high octane romp through the excesses of 70's rock and roll lifestyles. The only thing I'm pretty sure about so far is that Mike Jagger probably got involved to ensure there'd be a gig for the son.

Making a comparision to a film like Almost Famous which is a pure hommage to 70's rock and roll lifestyles, Vinyl falls way short. Aside from Finnestra, James Jagger and the A&R wannabe girl, the other characters don't seem to be that well defined or have any praticular thing to really do.

I just don't think it's really delivering on the big budget, hype and big cast. It's pretty poor for an HBO series.

thesultan

But Olivia Wilde is so fine in it. 😜

Great episode (Cyclone) ,loved the ghostly Buddy Holly bit at the end, singing Rave On,a brilliant and striking image!

Buddy Holly (1936-1959) Legend!

squonk

I thought the latest episode was total cack. It was clear the German guy was a figment of Richie's imagination and that he was on a bit of a bender. The whole thing went on too long when we knew but the reveal at the end was pretty good, though I couldn't place it in time when that happened. Buddy Holly at the end was just downright weird and jarring. This show might have the same personnel driving it but it's no Boardwalk Empire that's for sure.

lertsnim

Finally got around to watching this and finished it last night. It was a bit slow to get going but it picked up towards the end. I look forward to the next season.

Mushy

Watched this in the space of a few days, really enjoyed it. Not a classic, but worth a watch.

Seems like the whole season was set up to only find out how it goes in the second season, if that makes sense. Pity it's so long till next season starts.

Mr E

There will be no season 2 after all...

http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/697591-vinyl-season-2-abruptly-cancelled-by-hbo

Frank Grimes

Mr E wrote: »

There will be no season 2 after all...

http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/697591-vinyl-season-2-abruptly-cancelled-by-hbo

That's a shame, I was enjoying that one.

Harry Palmr

No shock - all premise, no story.

squonk

Yeah, it seemed like a total vanity project for some involved. All style over substance. It's a shame because the opening was interesting but it just completely went off into la-la land for a few episodes after that and only the last 3 or 4 episodes actually started to pick up a story and run with it. By the time it reached the finale it was starting to get pretty tight but, again, it just didn't feel like a season finale to me. It's no loss IMHO.

Utopia Parkway

Shame about the cancellation. Despite all the mixed reviews once I got to see it I actually really enjoyed the show.

jooksavage

I'm glad this isn't coming back. It was an ok idea but they went and ruined it. Why did they have to introduce mobsters? Was the 70s music scene not interesting enough in itself? And the mobsters, along with 90% of the other characters were horrible one dimensional sketches. The writers didn't even realise that their own main character, Richie, was one of the least interesting players in the series. Coked-up, self-destructive cool guy - big woop. I wish instead they'd made a series about Ray Romano's Zak - one of only 2 sympathetic characters on the show (the other being Lester Grimes). The rise of punk would have more interesting from the perspective of out-of-touch, hapless but essentially-decent, MOR-loving Zak, instead of Mr. angsty hipster Ritchie.

thesultan

Downloaded an unofficial soundtrack. The music is gold. " hey bo diddley"

squonk

Well said Jooksavage. You summed up a lot in your post that I couldn't quite put a finger on. You're right, it didn't need the mobster involvement and there was plenty of material to just get on with from a musical standpoint.

lukin

Delighted it's been canned, it was a load of s###e. Mick Jagger's son couldn't act his way out of a paper bag and only got the role because of his daddy.

jooksavage

lukin wrote: »

Delighted it's been canned, it was a load of s###e. Mick Jagger's son couldn't act his way out of a paper bag and only got the role because of his daddy.

Sorry, that was my other gripe with the show. Nepotism in itself is bad enough but casting the son of bizillionaire rock dinosaur as a punk pioneer, seriously? The whole notion of Mick Jagger producing a show where the rise of punk is front and centre feels a bit weird. That movement and its appeal was partly a reaction to the ludicrous, overblown pomposity of bands like the Stones.

squonk

Yeah, I agree but you could see Jagger all over the music. The Nasty Bits made some punk shapes at the start but b y the time they were formed into a full band they were doing a blues number which was exactly what you'd expect from a show being produced by Jagger.

IMHO they also fúcked up the disco track. I love the song but it sounded as 1978 as my iPhone. It sounded too fresh and clean like it was recorded on digital tech (which it was) but they didn't go the extra mile to make it sound authentic given that it was one of two songs lynchpinning the show.

There were other smaller details along the way that were out of place. That kind of jumped out to me that the people behind the show didn't really give too much of a damn about it. I'm not surprised the script was so crap given the lax attention to detail they seemed to employ in production. It's especially jarring when you can watch shows like The Americans that do a great job of immersing you in the world of the 1980's. Heck, even The Goldbergs did it better than Vinyl. That's saying something.