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Its Depression Era setting puts HBO’s new miniseries Mildred Pierce between the events in John Adams and Generation Kill. The premiere ratings for the mini starring Kate Winslet (1.3 million viewers) fell between those two HBO minis, too (1.8 million for the opener of John Adams, 1 million for Part 1 of Generation Kill). Given its star power — directed by Todd Haynes and co-starring Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood — the mini could’ve done better, but the dysfunctional family story at its center is not particularly commercial. HBO’s top-performing recent miniseries was last year’s big-budget World War II saga The Pacific, which opened with 3.1 million viewers.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Any idea how much Mildred Pierce cost? I’m betting a lot. With that in mind, why do these HBO movies cost so much when the ratings are always pathetic? What happened to the days of the tiny budget stuff they used to churn out?
They probably make back their money in International and DVD sales
Straight ratings don’t matter on HBO so I’m not sure why DH is reporting it this way. Plus HBO picks up lots of new audience from multiple airings and DVR. Most people I know only watch HBO on DVR. As a mom I only watch HBO after my kids have gone to bed. Women watch TV differently than men.
The HBO subscription audience is male and female, gay, straight, white and black. They need to produce programming that supports this wide spectrum.
The DVD and foreign sales on this will be tremendous. Kate Winslet is an international star. The rest of the world knows the quality of HBO content. Plus it will win a boatload of awards.
Mildred Pierce was much better than the Pacific. i really loved it. Loved Kate’s performance.
Heck no, no way ‘ Mildred Pierce ‘ is better than ‘ The Pacific ‘.
“Mildred Pierce was much better than the Pacific. i really loved it.”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It was awful. After just watching the original with Joan Crawford on TV a few days ago, it just made this new HBO production all the more disappointing. We tried, we really tried to like anything about this production. Alas, we failed. And so did HBO .
Yes, the mini-series is incredibly disappointing. First of all, its set-design overpowers every other aspect of the film, including performances. I was always aware that I was watching something “fake,” and couldn’t lose myself in the story. Too mnay shots attempted to show off the dressed sets/locations.
The young Veda is horribly cartoonish. Winslet is no match for Crawford, in this role. I appreciate the faithfulness to the novel, of this new version, but honestly, I prefer the 45 film adaptation. I also watched the “making of” special, and as I feared, Haynes “window” shots are pretentious and annoying. The Crawford/Blyth slaps are priceless in the original, but the preview for next week’s similar scene, just drew howls from the crowd that I was watching it with.
I’m puzzled by all of the rave reviews for this HBO version, but they seem to be by people who dislike the original.
You are so right! The feature directed by the great Michael Curtiz was 100% superior. Winslet is a great actress but I gave up after 80 minutes of watching her bake pies, walk everywhere in a Depression with three extras selling apples? And what is Melissa Leo’s function? The town “gossip” or tips for divorced women? A total bore.
Thank you. Well said. Haynes is so talented, but maybe he should stay away from period films. Although I liked it “Far From Heaven” was only saved by stellar performances – and not just from Julianne or the two Dennises (love them both!), everyone was outstanding. It could have very well bordered on cheesy IMO.
I sure hate to agree, but you are not wrong.
This movie is a superficial bore and, man, I so wanted to love it. I mean Haynes and Winslet doing Mildred Pierce? I couldn’t wait to see it! The set design is gorgeous and that’s about it. Kate’s acting is cardboard here. I never thought she could be made boring and yet that’s all Haynes succeeded in doing. What was he thinking with these shots? One feels so far removed from all emotion…and that’s the easiest thing to sell in this story. Oy.
They should re-run Band of Brothers. Best thing they ever did, by a lot.
How true.
I fully expect winslet yo sweep the awards even though I haven’t seen it yet
I really enjoyed it, can’t wait for the rest!!
Wish I could subscribe to HBO through Hulu, Roku, or Amazon. I’m happy to pay for HBO content, but I’ll never go back to cable. Mildred Pierce goes in the Netflix queue until HBO finds a way to reach customers like me. Thought that was the purpose of HBO Go but that is still limited to cable subscribers only.
I thought HBO’s target audience was men. I can’t think of many hetero men who really give a shit about “Mildred Pierce” – perhaps an English professor or librarian would be about it. “The Pacific” appealed to men and it got triple the viewers.
I think I’ve watched the original film at least a half-dozen times–maybe that’s the problem. I found it hard to get into this re-make. I know it’s a mini-series, but it just DRAGGED on at such a slow pace. I found the young Veda somewhat unbelieveable and just got annoyed with her.
Kate is good—as usual. It’s certainly a different take on the original film. I’m sure I’ll stick it out, but it makes me want to check out the original again!
looks like Joan Crawford is getting the last laugh from beyond the grave…
I thought it was wonderfully done and engaging, much better then “The Pacific”.
I thought this would be just a woman’s series, but my husband surprised me by joining me on the sofa and, not only watching it, but looking forward to the rest, along with me. We’re both Kate Winslet fans. I recently saw the original with Joan Crawford. It was good, but the two treatments are very different. Seeing the original only helped me appreciate this current version more.
Jeanne Johnsey
I have many friends who are straight and thought it was gripping and involving. Winslet is one hell of an actress. I wouldn’t marginalize good storytelling with terms like straight or gay, male or female.
A mother’s love can be crippling and as their children we have a scary power of them which can be used for good or evil. That’s one hell of a story HBO is telling.
first two hours are very slow moving. Tp notch acting , but it feels like it needs better editing , its dragging. Maybe a 5 part mini series was a stupid idea. a two parter would have been better
What a bad view of how to remake a classic like Mildred Pierce. HBO you are really losing your cache.
Got to get rid of HBO – the new Lifetime. Only thing I watch is Real Time and that’s costing me twenty bucks a month. Everything they seem to produce in the Nagel Administration is from a woman’s perspective which is fine, but I gotta go. That’s not the HBO I remember nor wish to be part of. God give me the courage to pull the plug.
Excuse me HBO barely has a show from a women’s perspective except for five minutes of every Boardwalk which is from the perspective of a woman looking at the ceiling while she spreads her legs. That’s that shows idea of writing for women.
Entourage, The Wire, The Soprano’s, The Pacific, John Adams were all about men.
Mildred Pierce was moving and beautiful. Kate Winslet is incredible and the production values astounding. At least she’s 3 dimensional.
Why are stories about 51.5% of the world population so distasteful to the people blogging on this site.
Aren’t women allowed to see something they like on HBO. On CBS everything is programmed to men because they are in charge of the remote. Showtime and HBO at least try to put some quality television on where a woman doesn’t play a corpse.
Speaking of corpses, I’m female and I love “True Blood”. Thanks HBO.
Hey Marky Mark, you sure you’re not getting confused with Showtime? In the last few years, they’ve done Eastbound & Down, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, How to Make it in America, The Pacific, Hard Knocks, 24/7 Hockey, NASCAR and Boxing, Generation Kill, The Wire, sports documentaries. And Game of Thrones is their next big thing.
None of that exactly screams “chick flick” to me.
good point Hollywood Mark! EVERYTHING is for women because a woman is running the place! that makes sense. Lets see…there is Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Eastbound and Down…wait wait ok…Luck! A show about horseracing, that’s for women.
from a woman’s perspective?? i think HBO could use more “woman’s perspective”…How to Make it in America, Entourage, Eastbound and Down, Bored to Death, Hung, Game of Thrones, Michael Mann’s Horse Racing Show, Boardwalk Empire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ricky Gervais, Tim, Funny or Die…all feels pretty penis friendly to me.
HBO has no programing from a woman’s perspective at this point. Showtime and AMC are far more female friendly than HBO which seems to relish in degrading women. Sasha Grey on Entourage? Paz De La Huerta and all the women on Boardwalk Empire. Eastbound and Down, The Ricky Gervais Show, boxing and five more movies with their favorite has been actor– Al Pacino. Who has the boy crush on him over there? I can’t wait to watch him scream his way through female abuser Phil Spector. Watching him murder a young woman after sex should be just great.
HBO is the “He Man Woman Haters Club.” Oh wait that’s not just HBO that’s all of Time Warner. Jeff Rabinov, Barry Meyer, Jeff Bewkes…
HBO amd particularly Time Warner is the “He Man Woman Hater’s Club.” I believe Nikki kindly nicknamed them this before. What is weird to me is all these commenters defending HBO’s virility as if making and airing Mildred Pierce made HBO a pussy. I thought HBO didn’t have to play by those stupid Les Moonves, old white guy in power rules. The fact they made this mini-series at all with Todd Haynes and Kate Winslet is pretty awesome compared to the level of crap on every other dial.
Didn’t Jeff Rabinov over at WB movies say he was no longer going to make films with or about women?
It seems like he’s stuck to that pledge and the upper level brass has let him.
I thought it was pretty great.
I stuck with it as long as i could. I love Kate Winslet but it was so SLOW i don’t think i’ll be returning for the rest of the series.
I enjoyed it but felt (feel) Kate Winslet is miscast. She’s wonderful always, but there’s just something not gelling with me and the performance.
I agree! The thing is Winslet has proven she can darn well do anything, so it has to be the direction. That woman is a thoroughbread. And I’m not a big Julia Roberts fan, but I could not help thinking about her and how better suited she might have been playing Mildred. Huge bummer.
Winslet is a terrific actress. But Joan Crawford understood Mildred on a gut level because she’d had an even worse life, and that’s the kind of actress-character communion it’s hard to beat.
I wanted to like it, but god, was it plodding. However, it is miles better then the unfunny, idiotic comedies HBO’s been trudging out.
I grew up very near Glendale in the thirties, and went there often.
I don’t remember anybody selling apples on the street in the business district.