...pleasantly surprised, as I can't think of a single CBC show I've ever sat through before this. I thought the characters were well-cast, especially Ethan and Cowboy, and the tone was well set. I have heard that Evil Mark will not appear -- slightly disappointing, but not a deal-breaker.
Looking forward to next week's episode.
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I haven't read Douglas Coupland, and the show doesn't really make me want to read him, but that said, the show is not bad. I'm glad the CBC is trying to create new shows, and not just trying to mimic CTV or American TV. jPod has a Canadian feel to it, yet you could also see how they could sell it abroad (or to US cable) if successful.
The pilot did a good job introducing the characters and giving a feel for the 'world' that the characters inhabit. We'll see how it goes.
P.S. Is Cowboy supposed to be straight?
The pilot episode was definitely beyond my expectations. I heard that this series gets really dark and much better as the series progresses. Congratulations to the CBC for finally bringing something to the air to watch!
>>>>>>>P.S. Is Cowboy supposed to be straight?<<<<<<<<<
I think Cowboy would do whatever he wanted to do. Dude that plays him is funny. I laughed out loud.
Did anyone actually read the book? This pilot was beyond dissappointing. First off they are too afraid of law suits to use real company names leading to the whole "Sandwich Undreground" as opposed to Subway, the "taint" being buttered popcorn as opposed to McDonalds, and them play Defendoid instead of Defender. This also means that the entire Ronald McDonald thing is out. Bree has been toned down, I mean a Bull-Whip? Not nearly as naughty as the dildo she was supposed to be bidding on. And what's with all the special customized cubicles? And that they apparently work in some kind of mad scientists underground laboratory? Ethan is too old, Kaitlin is just all wrong, The actor who plays Ethan's father does the worst acting job I have ever seen and there's probably more that I can't think of right now. Oh, right, no Evil Mark. Cowboy was ok, and John Doe was nearly perfect. Ethan's mother was probably the only really enjoyable part of the show, watching them try to hide the body actually seemed on par with the book.
Also Will Arnett is the only person who could do Steve justice.
My advice to people is to read the book as opposed to watch the show, trust me the book is MUCH better.
I am giving this show 1 more episode, Kam Fong should be on next week, and if HE can't catch my interest then the show is just hopeless.
I also didn't like the underground bunker look of the jPod, or whatever the hell it was supposed to be. The customized cubicles I didn't mind though. I think they'd have been okay were they placed somewhere else.
It's going to suck not having them hide the killer Ronald McDonald in the game. That was one of the funnier parts in the novel for me.
And of course, I miss Mark.
I believe the actress who plays Kaitlin is awfully bad. Terrible misscast.
On the flip side Alan Thicke is perfect as a bad actor as he is basically playing himself.
Love the mother & John Doe & the main character & the new boss. Very funny. I look forward for the rest
Yup, and many of his others. jpod is good...laughed out loud reading it many times...but I remember liking microserfs better.
Other very good books from Copeland include:
Girlfriend in a coma
GenerationX
Microserfs
Those are about my favorites. There must be others I've forgotten.
Wasn't a huge fan of All families are Phychotic and I'm currently reading the bubblegum book which is slightly on the monotonous side.
Some thinking out loud: I wonder if Copeland will play himself in the show. He shows up in his own book which was something beyond bazaar. He even trashed himself a couple times which of course is truly Canadian.
Regarding Ethan, I actually thought he was too young. He was supposed to be mid 30's and he looks mid 20's. I imagined ethan looking a little more like John Doe but I don't think the JD actor could pull off the part. Although he does his own part well. I thought the current Ethan would have better fit for the Evil Mark part. As far as the acting performance by the actor doing Ethan, fairly good considering he doesn't match my immage but I'm still able to accept him in the role.
Ethans brother is growing on me. I was on the fence with him.
Kam Fong is totally off for me. I also think they took all his nuance away turning him into an old school type mobster. He was more subtle in the book and you never knew if he was threatening or not. I also immagined him about the same age (late 30ish/early 40s) as Greg (Ethans brother), tall, and with medium shoulder length hair, for some reason.
Alan Thick, does a good job if a little over the top. And I agree with the other poster, essentially playing himself. I cringed when I heard his name would be associated with Copeland at first.
The mother, well, I never immagined her quite like that. I thought she would look a little more maternal (whatever that means). And Steve was really a wack job falling for her as a maternal figure (but then Steve is all about the symbolism and complexes in life - why not include oedepus).
Evil Mark missing is weird. I wonder why they chose to do that.
Anyway, I guess they did things for their reasons...what may have played out well in the book just might not have been working in the show.
BTW...I know my spelling sucks and I tripped on a few names above. Just look past it if you can :)
Ya, I can't understand why Coupland would let that slide. But they did manage to bash Audi with their whole "jumping into gear problem and running over the dumb rich guy opening his garage door" issue. Even if it was subtle.
shareIm pretty disappointed. Things are taken out of context, lots of obvious factual errors etc. I'm watching the first episode now, and all I got to say: Read the book. Then you'll find out how Ethan rearranges the keyboard and everything else. I'm actually shutting this down and gonna read the book instead.
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