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So who watched the premiere? Just catching up on it right now, so far I'm liking it.

Have no exposure to the comics mind you, but it's nice.

Quietly hopeful about this one.

Cast looks good so far from the little previews, features etc etc .

I just finished the first episode, and it was hysterical and dark.

I have no clue about the comics so don't really have a frame of reference.

From the few I've read they seem to have nailed it for the most part. Really enjoyed this first episode and am definitely optimistic about the show. Not that I ever had any doubts AMC usually hits it out of the park with their shows.

The wife and I watched it last night. Overall we were very happy with it. We also have zero reference on it as we haven't done comics for this one but the acting was top notch. The previews actually did a good job of spinning you one way with reality being another.

It's also the little things. The serene look on Coopers face when he's brawling was a particularly excellent little moment. I've got high hopes for this one. AMC really does do excellent TV from my perspective.

I have low hopes for this due to all the changes that they have made from the comics

It also sounds like the story has been heavily modified and I very much doubt that the ending will remain...
.
I'll give it a go though.

 Silent Puffin? wrote:
I have low hopes for this due to all the changes that they have made from the comics

Spoiler:

no Herr Starr or Saint of Killers?!

It also sounds like the story has been heavily modified and I very much doubt that the ending will remain...
.
I'll give it a go though.

I expect the reaction to this will go the same way these things always do; most folk will like it, a handful of diehard fans of the source material will despise it, and the network will inevitably gak the bed and cancel it before its time

Also AMC isn't in the habit of cancelling it's shows before giving them some legs. Especially cultish shows like this. And they are using FTWD to launch it and it's going to sit in the timeslot that is normally reserved for the Walking Dead franchise. And they've got a Talking Preacher lined up for at least the opener (though it's the opener encore) and the finale so I expect they're behind this one. That and Dominic Cooper has been a busy beaver lately. I doubt he signs on for something that's not guaranteed a few seasons to make it worthwhile to him.

And honestly after the first episode I can see this going solid. Of course a lot depends on the follow-ups. Pilots are supposed to blow us away.

 Yodhrin wrote:

Spoiler:

Eh, Graham McTavish was cast as Saint of Killers, have they removed the character since then?

I have now watched it and, in general, meh.

It bore very little resemblance to the comics (aside from character names and key attributes) but that's not that bad. More troubling is if Genesis is an alien as it appears, if so they have really shat the bed.

Also my wife (who is Irish) finds Cassidy's accent painful to hear.

 Silent Puffin? wrote:


It bore very little resemblance to the comics (aside from character names and key attributes) but that's not that bad. More troubling is if Genesis is an alien as it appears, if so they have really shat the bed.

Well technically, if Heaven is anywhere beyond 'in the sky', it makes sense you'd see Genesis falling through space.

 gunslingerpro wrote:

Well technically, if Heaven is anywhere beyond 'in the sky', it makes sense you'd see Genesis falling through space.

Of course but "outer space"?

If Genesis does turn out to be an alien then it will fundamentally change the tone of the plot, almost certainly for the worse.

 Silent Puffin? wrote:

 gunslingerpro wrote:

Well technically, if Heaven is anywhere beyond 'in the sky', it makes sense you'd see Genesis falling through space.

Of course but "outer space"?

If Genesis does turn out to be an alien then it will fundamentally change the tone of the plot, almost certainly for the worse.

Would it though? I imagine you could get some genuinely sacrilegious mileage out of the idea that angels, demons, god etc are just aliens that give zero gaks about us but who primitive humanity built up huge belief structures around because we're numpties. Assuming they are going with "alien" and not "imprisoned in deep space to stop us finding it" or "went for a wee jog around the solar system for a larf"

As with any thread about a TV or movie adaption from a literary work, please put any and all discussion about the source material into spoiler tags so that people who like to be surprised by the TV show (in this case) can without having details from the book spoiled for them.

 Alpharius wrote:

Spoiler:

Isn't it a little too early to say "No Saint of Killers" anyway?

Yes... probably Season 2 or 3 with a mini-series in between seasons...
That's how I'd do it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Silent Puffin? wrote:

 gunslingerpro wrote:

Well technically, if Heaven is anywhere beyond 'in the sky', it makes sense you'd see Genesis falling through space.

Of course but "outer space"?

If Genesis does turn out to be an alien then it will fundamentally change the tone of the plot, almost certainly for the worse.

I liked in the beginning it was very Pulp Fiction-esque cinematography-wise.

I've watched bits of the first episode and I'm sold on this one, I quite like it.

 whembly wrote:

Spoiler:

I distinctly remember the beginning of the graphic novel was like that (in space).

Big difference is in the comic Gensis merges with Jesse while he's preaching, and the church explodes killing all the congregation. That would've been way too much in a pilot TV show imo.

Except they did that too - just to somebody else, somewhere else.

Well, and only that preacher died, but, yeah, close enough!

I'm a big fan of the comic, it's one of my all time favourites.
I just watched the pilot, and I loved it.

I have the whole graphic novel collection, I usually am not the type but this is grim-dark humor at it's finest.

Oh, I got all weirdly excited when I saw the actor for "If Google was a Guy".The beginning is a bit strange for anyone going into it cold, you would need to be content that "all will be revealed later".
They seem to have taken the stance of being a few novels in and explaining or flashing back to what was missed.
The rest of my family is not liking it as much because confusion = bad show to them.I was a little worried in the beginning where the Preacher seemed a bit weak.
I will chalk it up as good acting of us seeing him getting over a massive hangover.

The two guys wandering around I think is good use of possibly secondary characters and waiting to introduce main ones where you can devote an episode.
So-far in that regard it is not deviating much.
What I find fun it seems every person who hits the screen is characterful.
They all just seem to have much less impulse control than what we are used to.I have high hopes, I think with some careful scene setting they can manage to show the majority of the material.

As someone who hasn't read the comics (and has no desire to know what the comics depict at this point), my takeaway from the pilot was: I liked enough of what I saw to watch the next episode, but this was far from a strong pilot because it chose to pack in too many elements instead of delivering enough interesting stuff that actually made sense to a new viewer to get them hooked in.

So while a pilot like Breaking Bad or even LOST really made you say: damn, I *have* to watch this show to find out where it goes, with Preacher, I don't know what the 'where' would end up being. In essence, the pilot was ALL questions and no answers at all.

IMHO, the big mistake was trying to cram the introductions of both the bazooka lady and the demon guy into this episode. One of those two could have been introduced in the next episode instead, and the extra time could have been used to move along/clarify a bit what was happening to the preacher.

Because if someone asked me today what they show was about, I really couldn't tell them anything that makes sense (and I don't think that's a good sign for a pilot of a show). I guess I would say:

There is a preacher that doesn't really believe in god but used to be a hitman (or something bad?) that has now kind of been possessed (even though he still seems to be in control of his own mind) by something extraterrestrial that I think is also the same thing that was flying around the world and making holy men explode. And that thing that has 'possessed' him has given him the power to make people do his bidding down to the absolute extreme letter of what he tells them to do. On top of that his old girlfriend (who is maybe also his old hitman partner as well?) has returned to town at the same time for some unknown reason. And on top of that, some strange guy (who I guess is a demon?) on a plane killed a bunch of people that were trying to kill him first, and then he jumped out of a plane, nearly destroying his body before he eat a cow to rejuvenate himself...and when he jumped out of the plane he also just happened to end up in this same town.

Please, if you've read the comics, don't answer any of my questions. The only point in me asking them as part of that synopsis is to show that as a fresh viewer to this experience, there are pretty much ONLY questions leftover after watching this first episode. Too many, in fact, for me to rate this as a great pilot. I could not really in good conscience suggest this show to anyone based on the pilot alone.

But like I said, I'll be back for episode 2 at least, and hopefully it will just continue to get better and better.

I think AMC, unlike a lot of networks. Trusts it's shows out the gate and gives them time to get going. They pretty much always now do a limited run of 7-10 episodes, normally during a Walking Dead bread, that give a creator time to set the show on course. If it does reasonably well they pick it up for a real season next year. I think that's why you don't see a super pilot for most shows on AMC anymore. Almost every new show hasn't had a bust out pilot. They know they have time to tell a story to get people hooked and take that time instead.

But yeah, on the whole I agree with you Yak. It's all questions and we could have done, in my opinion, without the bazooka lady episode one. At least the vampire fella fixes the A/C

But....ARTS AND CRAFTS!

Tulip is an awesome lady.

I saw it. I thought it was way too slow, and the characters didn't seem right



On another note

I don't remember that in the comic

There will a lot of deviation from the comic - and that's a good thing!

Well, provided it is handled right/well/etc, of course!

 Alpharius wrote:

There will a lot of deviation from the comic - and that's a good thing!

Well, provided it is handled right/well/etc, of course!

I'm not convinced at this point, there have been a lot of flashy additions (the entire plane segment for instance) which didn't need to be there and didn't add much aside from gratuitous violence.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
I don't remember her being that nuts and ott.

She isn't, she is highly capable and dangerous but in a realistic way; certainly not to the frankly idiotic levels of making a rocket launcher out of toy soldiers, empty cans and moonshine.



I'll see how it goes and I have always viewed a TV adaption with skepticism anyway so if it turns out to be gak its no great loss.

 Alpharius wrote:

I don't remember that in the comic

There will a lot of deviation from the comic - and that's a good thing!

Well, provided it is handled right/well/etc, of course!

It really isn't.
If its adaptation of a finished work, and if that adaptation shares the same name of the original, one would expect that the adaptation is faithful to the source, no?

Even Game of Thrones, which is based off of an unfinished work and shares a different name to the source material, was faithful to a certain point, especially of the first book from where the show got its name.

Preacher (the show) changed way too much in the first episode; its not Preacher to me, but rather something pretending to be Preacher.

I'm not asking for a strict 1:1 adaptation of the comic (although that would be pretty neat...), but I was expecting for the characters and the pacing to be in line with the comic.
You did not have to wait until the end of the first issue for Jesse to get the voice.

 Silent Puffin? wrote:

I'm not convinced at this point, there have been a lot of flashy additions (the entire plane segment for instance) which didn't need to be there and didn't add much aside from gratuitous violence.

Thing is, what did Preacher ever actually have to make it stand out aside from over-detailed gratuitous violence and oh-man-they-went-there shock value? Garth Ennis' searing critiques of Christianity? Playing those elements up strikes me as the best way you could adapt the property.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:

I don't remember that in the comic

There will a lot of deviation from the comic - and that's a good thing!

Well, provided it is handled right/well/etc, of course!

It really isn't.
If its adaptation of a finished work, and if that adaptation shares the same name of the original, one would expect that the adaptation is faithful to the source, no?

Even Game of Thrones, which is based off of an unfinished work and shares a different name to the source material, was faithful to a certain point, especially of the first book from where the show got its name.

Preacher (the show) changed way too much in the first episode; its not Preacher to me, but rather something pretending to be Preacher.

I'm not asking for a strict 1:1 adaptation of the comic (although that would be pretty neat...), but I was expecting for the characters and the pacing to be in line with the comic.
You did not have to wait until the end of the first issue for Jesse to get the voice.

I really don't have any desire to watch a slavish adaptation of anything, really.

I like when The Walking Dead TV Series deviates from the comics, and the HBO series is, arguably, a better version of the Game of Thrones than Martin's work.

Either way, I'd counsel waiting more than one episode before passing judgement on the Preacher TV Series.

They have apparently been given the OK to do "Talking Preacher" alongside of Preacher itself, so that's something I can look forward to!

The first "Talking Preacher" had Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dominic Cooper, and Sam Catlin on the couch discussing a lot of the "big things" that have been brought up over the past week about the pilot episode.

Most interesting was them discussing the "solar system opening". The way it was shot was a conscious decision; apparently they wanted to make it clear that you can expect a lot of different styles/approaches throughout the series. Rogen said that initially they wanted to shoot the opening with the planets being balls on string, the Word of God being a tennis ball on a stick and the characters at the start being made of putty.

Then they found out it doing so would have been significantly more expensive than the opening they ended up doing!