the Whispers - New Series on ABC

Just tuned into a new series The Whispers on ABC. The previews looked interesting so the wife and I are giving it a chance. Kind of interesting so far but too soon to tell what is actually going on.

Anyone else watching?

 

The Whispers is based on Ray Bradbury's short story "Zero Hour" from The Illustrated Man. Needless to say, it's been drastically changed from the short story and expanded into a long-form format and modernized.

What's weird about The Whispers is that they shot the pilot last February, bought the show in May 2014, but we're not seeing it on the air until June 2015. I believe there's been some "retooling" on the show, which could be good or bad. The idea is fantastic, but this could be another Under the Dumb.

 

Watching it now. Reminds me of early episodes of "The X-Files". Somehow I don't remember the show being advertised as being produced by Spielberg.

 

I'm done with network TV series...tired of being screwed by the lack of concern for those who put time into a show that will most likely end before it's time and leave us hanging. The previews looked OK...

 

This one has that Spielbergian stench of disappointment about it.

 

remember Terra Nova? I really wanted like that one, but it too got canned...we were sucked in by the premise of Dinosaurs! NOT!

 

Unfortunately I do, but not for long. I had it figured out and dropped it after about two episodes.

There's something from AVClub about Whispers:

There’s the troubled FBI agent, working with a skeptical (also troubled) partner. There’s the Department Of Defense guy whose job starts to converge on his troubled home life. There are the kids, of course, but little effort is made to define them as individuals: One is slightly cuter, one is slightly older, one is deaf. And there’s the mysterious man who may be the key to everything. These are archetypes with little flair and their squabbling and melodrama is only interesting when it becomes overheated enough to be laughable... Some genre shows have strong enough casts and characters that they’d be enjoyable even without the genre elements. This is not one of those shows.

 

That was a very, very expensive failure for FOX and Spielberg. At the time, I noted there were 18 producers listed in the credits, and I think this is an example of "too many cooks spoil the broth." The basic idea of Terra Nova was interesting, but they couldn't decide if it was an adventure show, a conspiracy show, a family show, a sci-fi show, or a philosophical drama. It was all over the place.

 

...lost it's steam immediately...they shouldn't have promised Dinosaurs...I agree with you!

 

Some of the dialog was just bad, bad, bad. Another not going to work for me show. Noticed the director is somewhat new at this.

 

Only made it through about half of last night's episode and fell asleep. This one is just not holding my interest very much. I'll give it another episode or so before I drop out.

 

It's slow and has a "measured pace," but I actually enjoy the show and think it's creepy and odd. It's also very, very well-photographed and has a terrific mix. But I don't know how much longer they can prolong the mystery. The Ray Bradbury story on which it was based was maybe 50 pages at most, and it wraps up quickly. And they've invented 999 additional details for the show that have nothing to do with the book.

 

I like it too.

 

Been watching, thought it was good enough, until episode 10, "Darkest Fears". I'm thinking the show may have jumped the shark on this one. How is the agents wife who killed the only person who knows how to kill drill still walking around free, planning cruises? How does a twelve year old kid get into the building where they are going to trap the alien? We have no scientists that could come up with a better plan than what two FBI agents can?
I'm really going to have to be bored to continue with this show.

 

we've watched every episode also, and i gotta tell you, the kids are getting real annoying, real annoying, stupidly annoying.