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It didn’t break any ratings records, but the Steven Spielberg-produced alien TNT drama series Falling Skies had a solid debut last night. The series starring Noah Wyle drew 5.9 million viewers for its 9-11 PM opener to become the most-watched cable premiere since TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles (7.6 million) last summer, outpacing the October debut of AMC’s The Walking Dead (5.3 million). Among adults 18-49, Falling Skies averaged 2.64 million, which fell between the premieres of Walking Dead (3.6 million) and Rizzoli & Isles (2.1 million). Falling Skies, which received mostly positive reviews, moves into its regular 10 PM slot this Sunday. Plans for a second season are already underway, with Remi Aubuchon on board as showrunner.
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I enjoyed Falling Skies, but hopefully, in its regular time slot we will just get “regular” commercial breaks.
Hyundai’s “limited commercial interruption” was a farce – there seemed to be a break every 7-8 minutes for a “limited” commercial. This had a detrimental effect on the story’s continuity. Thanks, but no thanks to limited interruption. BTW, I’m still trying to figure out the significance of “falling skies” – is it some reference to Chicken Little or something?
Had no interest until the various reviews found Falling Skies to be quite good…unfortunately…I did not share their enthusiasm.
Curious to see what the general response is to the show.
I watched the full two hours (minus the seemingly constant mini-commercial breaks which were very annoying) and found it felt familiar in many respects ala War of the Worlds, Walking Dead, but also with a few twists that gave it some life. Thus far I’d say it’s a B to a very shaky B+ It’s a little campier and lighter than The Walking Dead, but that’ll be fine if they work with that. If I had one major gripe it would be the surprisingly casual way in which the humans move in the open with aliens flying all over the place. Juxtaposed with the frantic night battles was just odd. Very glad they killed off the biker gang without bikes right away. That whole piece really started pushing silly.
I was looking forward to Falling Skies but ended last nights 2 hour opener not caring about a single character except for the captured Cootie Hunter and Maggie, the woman who changed sides; both of whom didn’t even appear until the second episode.
I hope they up the character development in the future.
Seychelle Gabriel is so AWESOME. please give her a bigger role on the show.
I watched the entire 2 hours and found myself bored and unimpressed. Noah just doesn’t have the chops to keep an audience interested and the kid playing his oldest son, Drew, was just bland and uninteresting…like a wooden soap actor. I hope it gets better, but I have serious doubt unless they recast… except for the girl that plays Maggie, she was the lone bright spot!
Watched it last night and it was ok. Slow moving and not many twists. I hope they explore more of aliens and why they are here.
OMG, the WORST program. I thought I was watching one of those cheesy SyFy DinoShark programs. I can’t believe Steven S. put his name in this garbage. It was painful to watch.
I was BORED. Felt like I was watching “V”, and we know where that went….
Where to begin…?
1) Wyle is not a lead. His acting is not mature enough to sell the father/son dynamic at all.
2) The 3 major “character” plotlines could not have been more poorly constructed. Far too heavyhanded. Yet again, the writers presume the audience to be 12 yrs old mentally…ughhh
3) The emotional element is completely bizarre. The world is ending, aliens are taking over but we’re going to ride a wiggleboard and wax sentimental at every opportunity? LOL…I understand that “nerds”, i.e. target audience, dont typically have much interpersonal experience from which to draw reference but…COME ON!
4) Was that not a nuclear bomb at the beginning? Where then is the fallout? It landed just miles away!!
5) Yet again the aliens, though smart enough to colonize another planet, are simpletons when it comes to battle! Wouldn’t it be the complete opposite? If they had “studied the planet for so long” wouldnt they know how to defeat the humans in combat with ease?
Just laughable plot dynamics everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too many “Hollywood” actors “acting” like every moment is a movie moment.
Skewed reality – face smudges, supposed drama, but really it’s only been months and you guys act all “I wish I had this…let’s act like a teenager smooch…life still has normalcy.”
All the short hand talk “critters and mechs” and “weapon talk” to make seem like we’re in the depths of this world…doesn’t work and comes off contrived writing trick.
Using “save the children” storyline, seems really manipulative.
Like the SFX. Think you should kill off a ton of extras and cast and make it tighter camera framing.
I’m wondering if Yost put in the “Band of Brothers” sound tracking.
What makes Walking Dead, apocalyptic…THE SILENCES…
Great idea and maybe all these things are just “pilot chemistry” needing cohesiveness. I’d be curious though will a cast that big, whether you can keep it running.
I think the Directors and Writers need to reboot or downsize a bit more.
Two words: this show blows
Wish I was set up to see it the way the critics presumably did: Without the constant commercials. Every beat or half beat, commercial. They became became a self-parody.
I’m also disappointed I didn’t detect anything “new,” not a fresh idea for the genre yet. But as many gripes as I may have had about the performances and story line, the irritation over the commercials overrode everything, and became the focus of my attention and contempt. Perhaps some performances would have fared better if there had been any continuity, but the interruptions mad it simply impossible to assess ANYTHING fairly.
It felt like I’ve watched this show 100 times before.
I’ve always been a Noah Wyle fan and I disagree that he can’t carry this, but I agree that certain issues have to be explained. When those two motorbike riders took off in broad daylight, it really pointed out that the writers could care less about the rules in this story. Leading groups of “endangered” humans to safety in broad daylight in a world where alien flying machines and robots seem to rule the world makes no sense whatsoever. And I agree that there is a certain casualness to the way people are behaving, given that we’re visiting a post-apocalyptic world. Although they weren’t exactly putting on camp shows, the survivors of this world have to be a lot more grittier to make them seem realistic. And although I thought “The Road” went overboard to create the ultimate post apocalyptic atmosphere, I would prefer a tone closer to that, than this, which is definitely “post-apocalyptic lite.”
I suppose this is nit-picking, but if the writers are trying to establish a sense of place and that place is the Boston area, why is it that no one–and I mean no one–in the cast has even a slight Boston accent? It is as pronounced and identifiable a way of speaking as a Southern drawl, as we saw in “The Fighter,” “The Town,” “The Departed” and “Gone, Baby, Gone.”
And I am so over dramas that always end up having the heroes doing battle inside a warehouse. Is that the only way screenwriters these days know how to build suspense? It’s always a trap, people, so come up with something new!
The first hour was a borefest. The second hour was offensively bad. Why did the writers immediately go to humans fighting each other when humans in this show already have a bad guy: the aliens! And why does the bad guy have to be an outright racist? so cheap. I watched both hours because I was looking for something to love about it. Sorely disappointed. The TV landscape really needs a good alien show for scifi fans.
I liked the show, but then again, I started liking The Event.
The show was rather campy and i agree, people are too peppy and casual for this to be the end of the world.
Sure, I don’t want it to be “The Road” (which I loved but makes you suffer a lot), but it’d be nice if it was close to the anxiety shown in the characters in The Walking Dead, there’s a sense of urgency and survival there, in Falling Skies people are acting as if instead of aliens destroying the world it was your usual terrorist scare or something.
I hope it picks up the pace and makes it less uneven
Actors lame, show a bore, spare time project for Steven. Looks like a show run off an outline. Lend name prod names and see what happens … lame lame lame
I find myself actually liking this and can’t wait for the next episode, yeah sure, it has it’s inconsistencies, but I’m still hooked. Just enjoying it for the sake of entertainment and something to watch besides reruns, it caught me at a good time. Glad they put this on for the summer at least.