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THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Set Visit Preview and 4 Awesome New Posters!Viewers Must Save Fox’s LONE STAR from Cancellation and for the Future of Quality Television
by Ethan Anderton Posted:September 22nd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
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This argument would be a lot easier if I were pleading to longtime fans of an established TV series to stop the show from cancellation. However, today I write to the collective TV viewing public to help avert a tragedy. Fox’s new series Lone Star debuted to poor ratings this week as it found itself against Dancing with the Stars (give me a break) and The Event, a series whose lingering mystery doesn’t cover up the shows gimmicky writing surrounding it. Some might be thinking this is just the nature of the TV industry where only the strong survive. If only strength was determined by the quality of writing, directing and acting then I might be willing to let the system take its course on Lone Star, but I can’t stand by and let a perfectly good show go to waste.
Hit the jump to hear my plea and find out what you’re missing.
If you’re out of the loop, Lone Star sees James Wolk as a charismatic and brilliant schemer who has entangled himself in a deep, complex web from which he can’t break free. He’s caught between two very different lives and two very different women. As “Bob,” he lives in Houston and is married to Cat (Adrianne Palicki), the beautiful daughter of Clint Thatcher (Jon Voight), the patriarch of an ultra-wealthy Texas oil family. More than 400 miles away in the suburban west Texas town of Midland, he’s “Robert,” living a second life with his sweet, naive girlfriend, Lindsay Holloyway (Eloise Mumford). Bob/Robert is dedicated to both of his lives and wants them to co-exist as legitimately as possible to escape his still overbearing father’s con-man upbringing.
Sadly, no one tuned in to Lone Star on its premiere night, and the ratings were so poor that the series is already running the risk of being canceled. At first, THR had said the show may not even get a chance to air its second episode. However, Vulture has since revealed that Lone Star will get at least one more episode on the air, but even a 30% increase in ratings might not save the series from the axe. While it seems like hope may be lost, the fact is if viewers don’t dig into this show, more original and risky content on the flickering box will henceforth be shunned and we’ll be stuck with more of the same boring shit next season. You don’t want to be responsible for that do you? As much as this plea is about saving Lone Star, it’s also about protecting the future of quality television entertainment.
Lone Star was by far the best pilot I’ve seen from this new season television (you can read my review right here). Coming from someone who was anticipating The Event as a healthy replacement for Lost, I found myself more captivated and compelled by the first 15 minutes of Lone Star than the entire 45 minute run of The Event. And don’t even get me started on the plethora of reasons your time would be better spent watching Lone Star than some garbage reality competition series watching washed up celebrities bust a move with professional dancers. If you’re looking for entertainment like that, then I suggest you get a root canal through your rectum. But if you’re looking for a smart, well-written, incredibly directed, and masterfully acted presentation of crafty deception and distinctive intrigue that’s a nice departure from the procedural droll that hits networks every year, tune into Lone Star next week. Oh, and if you’re worried about not knowing what’s going on, you can check out the entire pilot below.
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Related Links
- LONE STAR Series Premiere Review
- James Wolk Interview LONE STAR
- Director Marc Webb Interview LONE STAR; And We Try to Get Some Info on SPIDER-MAN
- Paramount Pushes G.I. JOE: RETALIATION Back to March 29, 2013 for 3D Conversion
- Adrianne Palicki and D.J. Cotrona Talk G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, RED DAWN and More
Couldn’t agree more. Best new show of the year. Please watch!
Agreed. Please watch this show!
Although i did watch The Event and was pretty dissappointed on how it was, i have no interest at all to switch to Lone Star. From all the trailers ive seen it just seems like a stupid concept. The first thing I thought of when i found out the concept of the show was who is their target audience? the guys cheating on 2 girls, so there goes your whole female audience right there! and it just doesnt seem like enough action or suspense to get me to watch. i dont care how good the writing is, im fine with it being cancelled
I understand your skepticism, but the show actually does an amazing job of showing you that despite Bob’s deceitful behavior on the surface, he truly cares about both of his significant others. That may be a hard pill to swallow for some, but writer Kyle Killen and an amazing performance by James Wolk make the character charming and acceptable despite all that. There’s not action in the simplest sense of the word, but there’s plenty of suspense. Honestly, I would implore you to give it a shot. It’s just a point and a click above to check it out.
I didn’t know if I could like a movie about deep infidelity myself, but this show is pretty amazing how it gets you to relate to this guy. It’s easily the best new show my wife and I have seen. Yep, she loves it, too.
As far as suspense goes, there’s not a ton of it in this pilot, but that IS what’s advertised for future episodes. Even if you don’t think the show has legs for whatever reason, it IS worth watching the pilot. It works great as a self-contained mini-movie.
I chose to watch THE EVENT over LONE STAR. THE EVENT didn’t suck completely, but it was far from great.
LONE STAR kinda intrigued me and I would have watched it if it was on another time.
BUt, I’ll see the pilot. I have heard great things about it.
Oh yeah, one of the reasons I chose THE EVENT was because LONE STAR just looks like the kind of show that is going to get cancelled. It really hasn’t shown anything that would separate it from all the other lame FOX shows like Manchester Prep or whatever show that I can’t even recall.
Can’t say I watch too many shows, so I’ll stick with “Boardwalk Empire.”
Sorry Ethan, I champion quality story telling and character development but c’mon. THIS IS FOX WERE TALKING ABOUT HERE. Do I need to go into their long list of quality cancelled shows?
Hahaha…I know. It’s sad but true. The show likely had its death certificate signed as soon as the show was picked up by Fox, but I figured any exposure and begging couldn’t hurt. We’ll see what happens next week I suppose.
Okay, i hate FOX for Firefly and all that, but none of the other networks would have even ordered this series. Maybe NBC 4 Years ago, when they tried Studio 60 and FNL.
Okay, i hate FOX for Firefly and all that, but none of the other networks would have even ordered this series. Maybe NBC 4 Years ago, when they tried Studio 60 and FNL.
Personally, I don’t think it’s easy to establish either a ‘quality’ program or a ‘quality’ program worth saving based on one episode. The endless list of ‘quality’ shows that have been canceled on Fox or any other network is very long. If LONE STAR didn’t earn an audience on its own merits (great critical buzz, etc.), then why should people watch it just to ‘save’ it? I say this with full disclosure that the premise had absolutely nothing to interest me, but I’m always intrigued by the “we gotta rush to save this program” campaigns.
I just think it deserves a chance for viewers to see where the show is headed. Personally, I don’t give up on a show until about 4 or 5 episodes in because it takes awhile to get used to the characters and get a feel for the show’s direction. I just want it to make it past midseason.
I am boycotting The Event for Lone Star by far one of the best shows on television.
I TiVo all my shows and watch them later. I did watch The Event later that evening – but I don’t think I will watch it again. I watched Lone Star on Wed night and loved it! I now set it up for a season pass. I am finding that there are not too many new shows I even want to TiVo. I can’t believe so many people still watch DWTS. I am not a fan of reality shows at all. Move Lone Star to another night and give it a few more weeks.
I enjoyed the Lone Star pilot, but I don’t think the show can be saved. It simply premiered too low, and you said it yourself: a 30% increase may not even do the trick. I sincerely doubt that this plea is going to generate the millions of viewers necessary to keep the show from being pulled.
Well Ethan, you convinced at least one dude to watch it. I liked it a lot. Great Pilot. Great music, directing and a great lead actor. I was intrigued the whole time. Hopefully it does stay on. I’ll def be watching LONE STAR instead of THE EVENT next week.
If it does die I think at least we’ll see more of James Wolk.
See, this is great! I know that I’m not going to turn millions but this is just evidence that people need to see it! So glad you like it! Let’s hope for the best!
Well Ethan, you convinced at least one dude to watch it. I liked it a lot. Great Pilot. Great music, directing and a great lead actor. I was intrigued the whole time. Hopefully it does stay on. I’ll def be watching LONE STAR instead of THE EVENT next week.
If it does die I think at least we’ll see more of James Wolk.
I thought it was a great pilot, will be tuning in next week please do not cancel. It was a cable worthy for sure. Great concept, good acting. Fantastic conclusion. Im hooked
TH
Unless I’m a Nielsen family does it even matter if I watch it or not? I’m honestly curious.
You can do a little bit by DVRing the show. That is about your only avenue. Oh, and watch it on Hulu. That doesn’t go directly to what advertisers consider “viewers” because TV still hasn’t figured out how to treat the Tivo/Hulu audience, but it helps them know that there are a contingent of viewers outside of Nielsen’s nightly reports.
Definitely will watch this show. I’m a Human Target fan so I know what it feel like to support the underdog.
Meh, not interested, also Monday night is Trivia night @ the local Pub.
Plus, I can’t get the thought of Bill Pullman and John Candy driving the Winnebago in Spaceballs out of my head when I hear the title!
Use the schwartz Lonestar!!
end of line
If you’re a fan of Lone Star and want it saved become a fan of it on Facebook, show FOX that it has the support!
http://www.facebook.com/LoneStaronFOX
or write on the Lone Star community board
http://www.fox.com/lonestar/
Love this show..give it a break and put it on another night, please…give it a chance
Lonestar is a hit. Give it another chance. It was entertaining from start to finish. What is wrong with you people. THe event is LONESTAR!!!!Don’t dance with the stars. DANCE WITH LONESTAR! Watch…you will not be disappointed!!! Thanks.
Lonestar is a hit show. Please watch it. I work on the show and it has a great cast. This could be the next big hit if people will give it the chance!!!!
Thanks to DVR and On Demand I watched LONE STAR and THE EVENT (not live) and Lone Star is the best of the two shows… The Event has those flashback flashforwards which is the latest irritant on television. The use of this is getting old. SAVE LONE STAR… dump that show with the FELICITY girl…now that show sucks…see I cannot even remember its name.
I tried this show and just couldn’t get into it. The guy is a lying, cheating, con man and they expect us to sympathize with him? Please!
I loved the show! I watched both episodes and decided to do a search online to find out if other people liked it as much as I did, and I couldn’t believe that they are saying its getting cancelled! The acting was good and it kept my interest (which is pretty hard to do). Too bad. It had a lot of potential. And I was so looking forward to the next episode.
I hate Texas so all I needed to see was the name of this show to not have any interest that was the show’s creator’s first mistake-a dumb name. But forget the name who cares about a dude with a wife and a mistress? If he was a golfer with 14 mistresses than maybe but that’s not the case so I’d rather just read a book than watch this horseshit!
BEST SHOW. It was great with creepy story, superb characters, and fun good looking actors