Amazon Pilot Season

Amazon has a trio of 30 minute pilots that are up for viewer vote.  I watched all three in the following order:

Jean-Claude Van Johnson: Jean-Claude Van Damme is leading a humdrum life in retirement when he spots a former flame at a hipster restaurant.  She gives him the brush off.  In order to reignite the flames, he comes out of retirement.  It turns out that JCVD's career as an actor was only cover for his job as a secret agent, codename: Johnson.  Self-deprecating humor abounds in the pilot and there are lots of fun nods to prior films, the action genre, and martial arts movies.  IMDb viewers give it an 8.6, which sounds about right.  JCVD might experience a new career as the Belgian Jackie Chan.  Would definitely like to see more of this.

 

The Tick: As one who loved the comic back in the 80s, the cartoon in the 90s, and the live action sitcom in the 00s, this seemed to be a strange take on the material.  Firstly, the Tick is secondary through the pilot.  Arthur is the central character and he has a considerable backstory that is offered.  Rather than a quirky accountant in a moth suit, he is a psychologically damaged youth who - twenty years ago - saw his father and his childhood heroes killed by the supervillian, the Terror.  Like a scene out of A Beautiful Mind, Arthur has a wall covered in paper clippings that track the possible location of the reportedly dead Terror.  It is there that he meets the Tick.  Is the Tick real or merely a figment of his troubled mind?  With the exception of the Tick himself, this does not play like comedy.  As for Peter Serafinowicz as the Tick, he has a tough act to follow.  Patrick Warburton was awesome as the Tick in the short-lived sitcom, both in look and tone.  Serafinowicz does a great job with the voice but his look isn't right.  Overall, I liked it and would definitely have watched the next episode immediately had there been one to watch.  IMDb viewers gave this a 7.9.

 

I Love Dick: A New York couple is leaving NYC for an extended period.  Sylvere (Griffin Dunne) will be involved in a writing workshop in Marfa, TX while Chris (Kathryn Hahn) will go to the Venice Film Festival where her film was accepted.  No sooner have they arrived in Marfa than Chris discovers that her film has been eliminated because she used a song without the artist's permission.  And thus she is still in Marfa to meet Dick (Kevin Bacon).  She is immediately infatuated by Dick even though he shows no sympathy for her rejected film.  In fact, he posits the idea that female-directed movies are rare because women aren't very good at filmmaking.  She is even more infatuated!  Through the pilot, Chris narrates snippets of love letters she has written to Dick.  Interesting, but the characters are mostly unappealing.  I found Dick to be the most interesting and likeable of the bunch but this is Chris's story and she is a basket of anxiety.  I would probably have clicked on the next episode just to get a better idea where this was going.  Just based on what is here, this looks like it should be a Lifetime movie rather than a recurring series.  IMDb viewers gave this a 5.7.

Amazon has produced some great shows, notably one of my favorites, Bosch.  I would like to see JCVJ and The Tick turned into series but I'm indifferent to I Love Dick.