Striking Out [RTÉ1]

TCDStudent1 · 09-01-2017 1:35am

Vorenus400 wrote: »

Anyone remember an american comedy/drama called ED

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_(TV_series)

It was about a hotshot lawyer in new york who loses his job and wife and goes to his small hometown and sets up a law practice in a bowling alley. He dealt with big cases and small petty squabbles. I think RTE could have made a similar show which would have been better. Could go similar to ballykissangel with a law slant.

Better than this bland series

Ed was terrific - a million miles ahead of this show.

Who the hell starts knocking down a wall after they sign an affidavit that they wouldnt make any changes? How moronic can these characters get?!

Lady Chatterton · 09-01-2017 2:31am

I'm just after watching episode two and I felt that it was definitely better than episode one. I liked the rapport between Ray and Vincent - I thought their courtroom scene together was good too.

I agree with all those that say that the programme is a blatant rip-off of 'The Good Wife'. On a positive note, the series is beautifully shot and the properties featured are stunning. It's property porn at its best, I'm amazed that the series isn't being sponsored by MyHome.ie or SherryFitzgeraldSomebody. (Someone missed a trick here).

Having said all that there was a time during the boom years when our Sunday Newspapers were full of free property porn and no TV licence was required - like this advert for Belmayne Housing Estate in Dublin.

laylag · 09-01-2017 9:03am

elastico wrote:

Does the private investigator one do the "backing brace" voiceover for the AIB ads?

I just came on here to post that!!! It sounds exactly like her

walshb · 09-01-2017 9:16am

Amy is stunning, but is it just me in thinking she's ridiculously wooden as an actress?

Hitchens · 09-01-2017 9:58am

walshb wrote: »

Amy is stunning, but is it just me in thinking she's ridiculously wooden as an actress?

It's not easy to do wooden y'know

Hippo · 09-01-2017 9:58am

I'm out - I gave it a chance after the first ep but the script is wretched and there is zero dramatic tension. The plot(s) are just ridiculous. There is no reason to watch other than to spot locations and look at some nice houses.

Hitchens · 09-01-2017 10:24am

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 09-01-2017 10:38am

I missed the first episode but watched this last night. It's the kind of Irish drama that might have seemed fresh and edgy about ten or fifteen years ago but just looks dated and clichéd now. I don't think I'll bother watching next week.

jezzer · 09-01-2017 10:55am

This show is completely unrealistic but enjoyable watching all the same, its happy clappy wishey washey stuff, the client who defrauded the state turns out to be a nice helpful young chap, timelines are irrelevant, coincidences are too many such as huberman and her inlaws to be/former employers appear to be the only solicitors in Dublin..... all of a sudden a cafe and an unused shed become available to work out of, internet and phone line get hooked up within the hour (yea like that happens in real life..) you have to leave your logical head at the door when you sit down to watch this and if you do it is enjoyable sunday night viewing, great production values and it makes Dublin look fantastic which is good as its normally portrayed as a sh1t house...

Atlantic Dawn · 09-01-2017 12:05pm

Watched both episodes last night, thought it was ok. My main criticism would be on the guy Ray setting her up an office in the back of a cafe, seems really odd that someone she is merely a solicitor for would give a damn and also the way he sets things up to quick with phone lines, internet etc, she could have just done all this from her friends house could she not? The private eye is a little over done too, yes I do think it would be possible to find out by the number plate that a car was parked in Dalkey by a few taps on a computer :pac:

jezzer · 09-01-2017 12:15pm

also why does huberman carry around a cheque book in this day and age? she used it to pay for the wedding, as for the private eye, if the drugs squad had access to her the whole hutch/kinnehan feud could be solved very quickly....

NUTLEY BOY · 09-01-2017 12:33pm

Hitchens wrote: »

I think this photographic evidence is in the wrong court

NUTLEY BOY · 09-01-2017 12:35pm

I have watched the first two episodes.

It is like reading a bad novel.

BuilderPlumber · 09-01-2017 1:18pm

Did not watch this as I read somewhere it was compared to The Big Bow Wow. Can always rent the DVD from the library later if this actually is good. But the storyline seems to indicate Bow Wow legal style.

Radio5 · 09-01-2017 1:19pm

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Ed was terrific - a million miles ahead of this show.

Who the hell starts knocking down a wall after they sign an affidavit that they wouldnt make any changes? How moronic can these characters get?!

The real life Courts are well populated with moronic characters who say one thing and do the opposite.

Eric's mother was portrayed as the cartoonish villian and potentially, Mother-in-Law from hell. Would have been better if they made her a bit more plausible.

Harry Angstrom · 09-01-2017 2:42pm

Radio5 wrote: »

Eric's mother was portrayed as the cartoonish villian and potentially, Mother-in-Law from hell. Would have been better if they made her a bit more plausible.

They're all cartoon characters. There isn't one believable or likeable character among them. Last night's episode was even worse than the first one, if that's possible. It was nice that the techie girl just happened to be there just as yer man came in shouting his head off about the fireplace :rolleyes:

TCDStudent1 · 09-01-2017 3:10pm

I liked Fiona O'Shaugnessy in other works. But she seems terribly mis-cast to me in this.

jezzer · 09-01-2017 3:28pm

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

They're all cartoon characters. There isn't one believable or likeable character among them. Last night's episode was even worse than the first one, if that's possible. It was nice that the techie girl just happened to be there just as yer man came in shouting his head off about the fireplace :rolleyes:

another of those co-incidents...

JaffaP · 09-01-2017 4:31pm

No pick up this week, unfortunately.

It's just instantly forgettable.

jezzer · 09-01-2017 4:50pm

yes its very much a cartoon without the animation

Hippo · 09-01-2017 6:12pm

Perhaps the powers that be at RTE underestimate how difficult it is to write and produce convincing TV drama. It's not just a matter of throwing some cash at it and making sure it's nicely shot. Writing proper characters and storylines takes huge time and effort - and if time was actually spent on this script it was time badly wasted.

TV drama has come on enormously in the last 10-15 years in terms of production values, storytelling and depth of characterisation. Love/Hate didn't always succeed in those terms but it frequently did, and was miles ahead of this stuff. Apart from some nice camerawork, this series could have been made in the mid-80s.

Hitchens · 09-01-2017 7:21pm

A good tv series will always leave you keenly awaiting the next episode ...sadly, SO doesn't

jezzer · 10-01-2017 10:42am

in fairness to it, it is good to see something being produced thats not cheap reality crap, right now all thats on is celeb big brother, dancing with the stars, operation transformation, the voice and so on, all mindless drivel, its rotting peoples brains

eamonnq · 10-01-2017 12:27pm

jezzer wrote: »

its rotting peoples brains

Think this might be having the same effect though.

jezzer · 10-01-2017 1:58pm

eamonnq wrote: »

Think this might be having the same effect though.

at least you have to engage your brain somewhat! even if it just to ponder why hubermans carries around a cheque book!

brian_t · 10-01-2017 2:32pm

jezzer wrote: »

also why does huberman carry around a cheque book in this day and age? she used it to pay for the wedding...

How else would she have paid.

Cash ? or Credit Card.

Her credit card limit might have been less then the cost of the wedding and anyway I doubt if her in-laws (to whom she gave the cheque) would have been able to process a credit card payment.

jezzer · 10-01-2017 3:33pm

brian_t wrote: »

How else would she have paid.

Cash ? or Credit Card.

Her credit card limit might have been less then the cost of the wedding and anyway I doubt if her in-laws (to whom she gave the cheque) would have been able to process a credit card payment.

yes they would all such businesses have card acceptance capabilities in house..... but thats besides the point, i dont know too many women in their 30's in 2017 who carry around a cheque book in their handbag.....i'm pretty sure pennys dont accept cheques these days....

BuilderPlumber · 10-01-2017 4:06pm

jezzer wrote: »

in fairness to it, it is good to see something being produced thats not cheap reality crap, right now all thats on is celeb big brother, dancing with the stars, operation transformation, the voice and so on, all mindless drivel, its rotting peoples brains

Have to 100% agree. Have not watched Striking Out at all but it certainly is much better than that cheap reality drivel. I may watch Striking Out at a later point. Shows like celeb big brother, dancing with the stars, operation transformation, the voice and glor tire are desperate and would eat one's brain away. I'm surprised an Irish version of big brother did not get made (not that I want to see it).

Irish drama has gone from poor to excellent in recent times. Love/Hate is my favorite and a revival of this or a series of a similar nature and quality would be what I'd like. Nothing like a good gangland thriller to get my attention.

Post-Love/Hate Irish drama tended to go for restraint and lacked the no holds barred violence of Love/Hate. Clean Break was ok but was essentially a tamed poor man's version of Love/Hate. Rebellion was also very tame and I have mixed views on it.

Clean Break and Rebellion were not the worst dramas RTE ever made and were middling. Some of the worst made were Trouble in Paradise, On Home Ground and The Big Bow Wow. But even the worst would still be better than shows like celeb big brother, dancing with the stars, operation transformation, the voice and glor tire. It is sad to say that this reality TV is on somewhere every day of the week every month of the year.

eamonnq · 10-01-2017 4:12pm

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I may watch Striking Out at a later point. .

You probably shouldn't bother, I have watched the first 2 episodes (was hoping it would get better after the first one, but it didn't), not sure I will even watch the remainder of it.

jezzer · 10-01-2017 4:28pm

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Have to 100% agree. Have not watched Striking Out at all but it certainly is much better than that cheap reality drivel. I may watch Striking Out at a later point. Shows like celeb big brother, dancing with the stars, operation transformation, the voice and glor tire are desperate and would eat one's brain away. I'm surprised an Irish version of big brother did not get made (not that I want to see it).

Irish drama has gone from poor to excellent in recent times. Love/Hate is my favorite and a revival of this or a series of a similar nature and quality would be what I'd like. Nothing like a good gangland thriller to get my attention.

Post-Love/Hate Irish drama tended to go for restraint and lacked the no holds barred violence of Love/Hate. Clean Break was ok but was essentially a tamed poor man's version of Love/Hate. Rebellion was also very tame and I have mixed views on it.

Clean Break and Rebellion were not the worst dramas RTE ever made and were middling. Some of the worst made were Trouble in Paradise, On Home Ground and The Big Bow Wow. But even the worst would still be better than shows like celeb big brother, dancing with the stars, operation transformation, the voice and glor tire. It is sad to say that this reality TV is on somewhere every day of the week every month of the year.

absolutely 100% well said, every damn evening i turn on the tv its some sort of reality sh1te, its mindless cheap trailer trash garbage that is cheap to make and appeals to the current crop of concentration lacking generation that we have become, and it is now a massive problem, some of my own family included, they cant actually concentrate on watching a good drama or film where you have to use your brain to work out characters and a storyline instead its easier to watch a few complete buffoons make idiots of themselves live on TV whilst checking facebook to see who posted a recent pic of their dinner, i know this sounds dramatic but i think its something the government needs to seriously look at.
At least RTE have made some attempts at drama, clean break like striking out was watchable, rebellion was watchable too but i too have issues with it, still, its an effort and i would rather see RTE spend the licence fee on giving some writers producers etc an opportunity to make something instead of giving someone like brezzy (and no offence to brezzy here, just using an example) air time to sit there and pretend hes an expert on music, or some illiterate airhead to sit in a house all day fighting over who broke wind, its horrific stuff, glad i'm not the only one who thinks so...

Striking Out [RTÉ1]

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