I think what is happening is that when the robot creatures malfunction they start to act the way the real version would act without the programmed restrictions. It is likely that when the robots are programmed, their programming includes all of the behavioral aspects of the creature/person but the undesirable aspects are restricted (not removed, just not normally accessible, so a snake will attack but miss its target and not bite). But if those restrictions are somehow removed... The reason the gunfighter loses is a combination of programming and the fact that the guns are designed not to shoot anything with a high body temperature (thus the Gunslinger can't shoot at a guest). I remember reading somewhere that there was supposed to be a scene where the Gunslinger removes the device from the gun that prevents it from firing at anything with a high body temperature. Related to something mentioned by agentalbert previously, another factor is likely due to something mentioned in the movie: The robots are so complex that the people running the park don't know exactly how they work. They were at least partially created by other machines, and they made a mention that the malfunctions seem to follow the pattern of a biological virus, traveling from one part of the park to another.
The latest word is that in the new show, the humanoid robots in Westworld don't know they're robots: they think they're people. Once they find out the truth, some of them short-circuit to some degree and demand to be treated as humans. And hilarity ensues. I've been told this is a very, very expensive show, more than Game of Thrones (which is $6 million an episode). This better be a damned big show when it premieres in a few weeks.
Oh, in that case this will be almost surely be a one (season) and done show, regardless of critics reviews and ratings.
Why? If the ratings and word-of-mouth is very good, they'll make ROI, so why not do another season or two? There are other worlds, not just West world.
Because ratings are not the be-all, end-all reason to keep a show in production. High costs can (and have) sunk great shows that did very well in the ratings in the past.
I think they pretty much are the be all and end all, as it corrolates with ad revenue and future sales potential (less so for non-traditional operators like Netflix, et al, but even they won't renew an absolute ratings stinker).
HBO wants another long-lasting hit, on the order of Game of Thrones or The Sopranos. They know that Vinyl wasn't it, so they're betting Westworld could be the one they need.
It's certainly not a safe bet. The series' concept (and the movie it's based on) only have a limited appeal to begin with. It might pay off, but I wouldn't count on it. Then again, who knows?
We won't know until we see it. I'm merely saying that HBO is counting on it. I have no idea if it'll be a hit or not, but the promos look good and the idea is interesting. On the other hand: J.J. Abrams has had some hit-and-miss TV shows in the last 5-6 years: Roadies, Believe, Almost Human, Revolution, Alcatraz. None of those repeated the success of shows like Alias, Fringe, and Person of Interest.
None of those shows interested me in the least, however, I am quite interested in Westworld, from what I've read about it.
For those that think this will be a one season only series, here are some details about the production from the showrunners: “It’s a really complex interlocking story. We knew where we wanted to go and we knew exactly how the season ended where the kind of character arcs ended, but weaving those scripts and writing the dialogue for all these brilliant actors, it takes time.” “It wasn’t about getting the first 10 eps done, it was about mapping out what the next 5 or 6 years are going to be. We wanted everything in line so that when the very last episode airs and we have our show finale, five or seven years down the line, we knew how it was going to end the first season” So, the way I see it, the only way this is going to be a one season show is if the ratings really, really suck.
In the film (which is the first film to ever mention it) they mention a virus in the computers that run them that seem to be altering their behavior which could be removing the restrictions like the gunslinger not killing a human. I read the original screenplay back in the day and I don't recall any scenes that were in the shooting script that were cut perhaps someone was speculating or Crichton might have said that could have been the cause but, as far as I know, it was never explained in any of,the scripts I read for the film.
Maybe the people are Really The robots in this show as the twist....you know kind of a Lost styled plot point
I seem to recall the posters had the tagline, "Where Nothing Goes Worng," inplying that it was just a computer glitch. Yep, here's the poster:
I suspect this is going to be really good. HBO is prepping for the end of Game of Thrones. They need another monster (figuratively) drama for people to tune into week after week. They've given Westworld a lot of thought. This is the one basket they're putting their eggs into. The cast is great. So is the premise.
I'm not sure what HBO's model is, but a couple years back when I was shooting something for a very popular scripted TV drama, I was told by the production designer that standard practice is to spend the most on the first season, with less on the second season, and still less on the third, fourth, etc. There's a formula, apparently. This is because networks believe a show's popularity will be highest in the first season, so that's where they need to spend the most money. The particular show I was working on had, however, increased in popularity as it went on, but the network stuck to their formula for decreasing the budget regardless. Vidiot may know more about this, and more about how HBO does things.
That is not true, because all the actors almost always have built in "incentive"-driven contracts that give them X% raises every year. What is true is that if the show goes on for too long, the contracts could get to a point where it's no longer economical to make the show anymore. There are many examples of shows that hit season 7 or 8, and the producers go to the above-the-line people and say, "unless we cut the budget 10%, the network won't renew the show." Usually, the actors, writers, and producers agree to take a pay cut in return for the show going on another 20 episodes (or whatever it is). The budget on Lost started off at $3 million for Season 1, and I believe by Season 6 it was more than double that due to built-in raises. It's not unusual for large ensemble shows (like a Law & Order or West Wing) to have 20+ speaking roles in every episode, and the regulars do get raises, which ratchets up the costs very quickly. There are also cases like Big Bang Theory where I think the per-episode cost is now up to $10,000,000 per episode, because four of the principles are each getting $1 million a week, and a lot of the others are getting in the low-to-mid six figures. Renegotiating the license fees per season is an annual ritual they've been doing for a long time. Note that in the IMDB credits for Westworld, there are 12 producers, and I would guarantee you they're each getting $50K-$100K a week. For a show like this, I would bet the major expense is the physical production itself: the sets, the locations, the crew, travel expenses, and so on. I would bet this show is already way over $5 million per episode.
It's also not like the show has an unknown cast either. The stars are either well known or biggies so that would also add to the cost of the show unless they have a back end deal. The show is, as is typical, executive producer heavy. Most of the lifting is Ben g dine by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy Nolan. Abrams is no doubt there as a consultant and to add his name to make viewers tune in. Bryan Burk typically does most of the day to day work on projects as I recall for Bad Robot productions.
