Paper Girls [Amazon]

pixelburp

Never read the Brian K Vaughan comic which this is adapted from, but the teaser trailer seems to be channeling a bit of Stranger Things energy with its aesthetic.

https://youtu.be/b-1cyNm7iAU

ixoy

I've read and really enjoyed the comics. No doubt that it got commissioned on the succession of 'Stranger Things' although the comic pre-dates it. I'll be curious to see how closely they stick to the source material because it gets quite trippy.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119270764#Comment_119270764

The most-liked comment from that YouTube link makes that same point, that this predates Stranger Things lol

CastorTroy

The comics are finished as well so they have a complete story to work with.

I enjoyed the comic though think since I only read them recently so didn't have to wait between issues, it helped.

johnny_ultimate

I've read the comics too and it goes a lot of directions as the run progresses... very expensive directions for anyone making a live-action TV show! I read them as they released so it has been a while, but I think the teaser suggests they'll probably be covering at least the first two arcs in a first season... or just jumping straight to the second and toning down the wilder sci-fi stuff.

The run of the comics is quite short and tight by modern comics standards (30 issues total), so you'd hope that if it is a success they can get through the material over a couple of seasons without going on forever and ever like The Walking Dead or whatever.

pixelburp

I think the Walking Dead suffered from the late twitches of Network TV, where commercial success demanded a show keep going forever. Streaming services - even Netflix - seem to understand the upper ceiling of these sort of genre productions.

johnny_ultimate

Of course it's an assumption that this will even get a second season going by streamers' standards! But the fact that there's a limited pool of material instills hope they can get through it relatively efficiently. The briskness and tightness of the series was one of its strong points.

That said, Pachinko is based on a single, not particularly long novel and they barely got through a third of the plot in the recent (thankfully excellent) season one... so you never know 😁

CastorTroy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDz0ioCV1TU

I'm assuming this will be a weekly release

Slydice

Yer wan reminds me of T2 John Connor

pixelburp

Looks like it could be fun, the trailer perhaps even revealing a bit too much. Fair bit of blood on the girls during that first meet in the house, am guessing a murder or something violent is the Inciting Incident?

I'm trying not to think how these time travel rules are meant to work here though 🤓

Slydice

Wierd .. watching the trailer I didn't notice the blood but seeing it now when looking at the preview screen above.

CastorTroy

Out this Friday and going by tvline's preview of the week ahead, it will be all episodes at once.

https://tvline.com/lists/tv-schedule-what-to-watch-neil-patrick-harris-uncoupled-netflix-streaming/saturday-july-30/

crushproof

Is that John Connor?

pixelburp

Just watched the first episode and it was very pulpy, but also distinctly adult with its blood and liberal swearing. So despite it cast it's definitely not one for actual kid audiences. Ended on the very hook the trailer threw out early on; the first episode entertained enough to make me want to watch more so can't argue with that. The Stranger Things vibe is hard to miss, even if this is technically the older original work.

The kid actors were all excellent though; pretty natural acting, each with their own personality quickly established and carried off well. The tearaway kid was so obviously modelled on Terminator 2s John Connor, it was kinda distracting in the places.

CastorTroy

Enjoyed it. Not a direct adaptation anyway so I knew some of what was happening but not everything.

Spoiler Warning

Was worried the older actors would take over as some were more recognisable but the kids got the spotlight and were good in their roles. The way things were going I thought it was set to be a single season series but then they changed it up. Looking forward to season 2 to see where they go.

Also want to see if they find a way to kill Larry a couple more times.

Maybe it was the hair but KJ reminded me of Orla from Derry Girls.

is_that_so

Liked this too, very watchable. As posted earlier the young cast are terrific and have some very good rapport. Also enjoyed the very eclectic soundtrack.

readyletsgo

Was a bit shaky at the start, say, the first 2 episodes, but I loved it by the end. Really hope it gets a season two, and a much bigger budget!

Soundtrack was very good.

Highly recommended.

Johnny Storm

My favourite line so far:

Spoiler Warning

"what the [email protected]@k is muesli ???"

pixelburp

Good news: "Production Weekly" is reporting that season 2 is due to start production in Sept 2022. Not official but apparently they're reliable enough;

fritzelly

Enjoyed this enough but felt a bit cheap with the futuristic stuff - like a good story but not the budget to make it pop

gmisk

I have watched the first 2, the kids are good in it, as is Ali Wong, and it does look excellent, good music...but I don't know it seems a bit aimless?

Spoiler Warning

Also..the main villain I found a bit meh..she is a decent actress I remember her from True Blood - so hopefully it improves...the end of second episode was more promising it might turn a bit nastier for want of a better word

Agent Coulson

Cancelled.

pixelburp

Godamnit, have been enjoying this. This and Night Sky, have no luck with Amazon picks. This had a Good cast, the kids really sold their characters.

CastorTroy

Crap. Guess they have to make cuts to pay for Lord of the Rings.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119598795#Comment_119598795

Probably got no promotion; seems to be a recurring problem with these streaming shows. That and the probable dismissal of it as a Stranger Things clone.

johnny_ultimate

Im loathe to describe a show produced by a mega-corp as ‘scrappy’, but there’s something admirably low-budget and homemade about the show. It lacks that perfect cinematic too polish of many modern sci-fi shows, in a way that suits the material - channelling the ramshackle charm of old-school genre TV just with much better writing. Some of that is probably budget restrictions - Amazon pumping all that money into LotR at the expense of others - but it was used to the show’s advantage and IMO allows it to stand out from the crowd in a good way.

Shame it has been cancelled (didn’t stand a chance really with Amazon’s half-arsed release of the thing), but fingers crossed for the unlikely event that someone else picks it up.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119599194#Comment_119599194

I know what you mean. It was pure character, no style and barely any budget. The use of CGI for a cameo has to be seen to be believed.

It was the kind of show Syfy would have produced back in its pomp, with only the frequent F Bombs from the child cast hinting at a non-network existence. Have no idea what kind of footprint it has left that it might get picked up though - the actual.plot was kind of gubbins.

(I had to laugh at the scenes of a film nerd recommending a 12 year old Stanley Kubrick, and a festival playing his films, including Lolita of all things)

CastorTroy

I can't see anyone else picking it up. Has there been any streaming show picked up by somewhere else? They wouldn't be able to show the first season.

I know we only got the last few seasons of Lucifer on Netflix while the other seasons were on Amazon, but in the States all seasons were on Netflix which is why they picked it up. Same with Manifest.

ixoy

It's a real shame. I was a big fan of the original comics and I thought this did a fantastic adaptation - taking the heart of the story but doing its own thing, rather than slavishly following the material. The cast were excellent and it worked very well as a character drama, using that time travel mechanism as well to address simple things to see if you do achieve your goals. The sci-fi elements themselves were just a good vehicle for it (and, if they'd gone fully with the original material, they'd not have had the budget).

Amazon screwed this over. Barely any press mention (I only knew about it was I was following the project), little in the way of budget compared to other streaming shows and left languishing. It didn't help that reviewers then just tried to tie to 'Stranger Things' when they really have little in common, given most of the show isn't even in the '80s. This and, as mentioned above, 'Night Sky' make me think Amazon don't give give much of a crap about any of their own shows that's not Lord of the Rings, and are neglecting the much more thoughtful pieces.