A Rave For Another TV Series; "Fargo"...

[Lord Jim]

We'd been meaning to check this out, and last night we planned to watch one or two episodes...

And wound up watching four...(three more to watch tonight)

If you haven't seen it, it's not a re-telling of the movie; it's just set in the same landscape and milieu...

I'm a big fan of well made black comedy, and this limited series (it's not intended to go beyond the 10 episodes for this season) is black comedy at it's finest...(When you can craft a scene of a guy murdering his wife with a hammer and make it funny, that's great black comedy... )

It's hard to know where to start in complimenting all the outstanding aspects of this production, but I guess you have start with the cast; there are at least three Emmy Award quality performances:

Martin Freeman (Dr. Watson from Sherlock, and Bilbo from The Hobbit) is absolutely kick-ass brilliant as Lester Nygaard, the mousey, under achieving, long suffering insurance salesman who suddenly finds himself caught up in a string of murders...(Lester turns out to be very resourceful and quick on his feet)

Billy Bob Thornton's performance as Lorne Malvo (gee, I wonder where they got the name "Malvo" from?) as the soft-spoken, well read sociopath hitman who first draws Lester into this strange odyssey is equally great...

And Allison Tolman as Molly Solverson, the under-appreciated deputy sheriff who pursues them with Columbo-like tenacity is also superb...

Colin Hanks, (Tom's little boy) also does a great job, as does the the rest of the cast...

The writing is also blow-you-away fantastic...

It has the same two great qualities as the other two shows I have raved about recently, (Justified and Orphan Black) :

1.You have absolutely no idea what plot twist is going to be introduced next...("Gee, I didn't see that coming"...was something I found myself thinking pretty much every other scene)

2. Quirky, strange, completely unexpected humor that can pop up at any time...

And then there's the direction, camera work, and cinematography which are also first rate...

With over 19,000 responses, the show has a 9.2 rating on IMDB...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802850/

FX has really hit a bases-loaded home run with this one...

[BoSoxGal]

I watched the first episode and really like it, too. Going to wait until it's free on Hulu or Prime before I watch the rest.

[Gob]

I'm a big fan of well made black comedy, and this limited series (it's not intended to go beyond the 10 episodes for this season)

"Limited"? Jesus, that's three series in one.

[Lord Jim]

"Limited"? Jesus, that's three series in one.

Strop old darling, we've been over this before:

As I look on IMDB, there have been 66 episodes..

Obs not a British series then...

No, of course not...

British screenwriters with that level of talent move to Southern California where they can earn a proper living...

I think even you would like this one...

If you get a chance, check it out...

[Joe Guy]

We'd been meaning to check this out, and last night we planned to watch one or two episodes...

And wound up watching four...(three more to watch tonight)

How are you viewing this series? Did you get the streaming video from Amazon?

I searched for it and Amazon streaming at $2.99 per episode seems to be the only way to see it now.

Being the fine upstanding honest businessperson that you undoubtedly are, I'm sure you wouldn't be watching a bootleg recording.

[Lord Jim]

It's available to watch for free anytime we want to watch it with our Comcast Xfinity package...

Being the fine upstanding honest businessperson that you undoubtedly are, I'm sure you wouldn't be watching a bootleg recording.

Are you channeling Andrew?

[Gob]

Oh I'll check it out. I Loved the movie (I know this is not based on that.) And, like you, I'm a big fan of Freeman.

[Joe Guy]

It's available to watch for free anytime we want to with our Comcast Xfinity package...

I looked at my AT&T 'On Demand' feature and I can watch Fargo episodes for free beginning at 3 but episode 1 and 2 are not offered.

What's the point in having On Demand if I can't get what I demand?...

[Lord Jim]

And, like you, I'm a big fan of Freeman.

I've never had any issues with Freeman as an actor, I just thought the first season (if you want to call three episodes a "season") of Sherlock had his character written as kind of a schmuck (But he played that schmuck well; and now having kicked ass in a crack house, and having a Ninja Assassin wife, the character has had some growth in subsequent three episode "seasons" )

After watching about the first 15 minutes of Fargo I said to Kelly, "this is a guy who's headed for a Falling Down moment"...(a reference to the classic film with Michael Douglas...)

It was the one plot twist I got right...

Freeman is a master at playing the nebish who turns out to be not quite the nebish you thought he was...

He played that as Watson,( he played it as Bilbo) and he plays that character masterfully in Fargo...

The one thing I didn't know about him until Fargo, was how good he also is at physical comedy...

[Lord Jim]

It's available to watch for free anytime we want to with our Comcast Xfinity package...

I looked at my AT&T 'On Demand' feature and I can watch Fargo episodes for free beginning at 3 but episode 1 and 2 are not offered.

What's the point in having On Demand if I can't get what I demand?...

That sounds like a personal problem...

[Lord Jim]

But to be honest Joe, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for you, since in order to be able to watch the first four seasons of Justified, I'm having to shell out a hundred bucks for Amazon Prime, and another Benjamin for the conversion box to watch it on our TV...

[Joe Guy]

That sounds like a personal problem....

could not resist

[BoSoxGal]

There is SO much more on Amazon Prime, I can't believe it's only $100/yr. (I'm still paying $79/yr. for two more years - grandfathered, I am!)

[Gob]

Amazon Prime isn't available in Australia

[Lord Jim]

Hey Joe:

We watched the next four episodes of Fargo last night; it really kicks ass...

Just thought I'd let you know...

[Joe Guy]

Thanks, Jim. I trusted your recommendation and last night I ended up paying for episodes 1 & 2 at $2.99 each @ Amazon and watched those and then watched episode 3 for free On Demand.

You're right. It kicks ass!

I've never been to Minnesota. I wonder if everyone who lives there is like those characters... Those two dumb & dumber kids are a riot.

I'll probably watch the next 4 episodes tonight or tomorrow. I'm going to record the last three so I can fast forward through the commercials when I watch them.

[Gob]

Amazon prime has adverts????

[Joe Guy]

Amazon prime has adverts????

The adverts weren't/aren't on Prime, they are shown on the On demand (free) feature of my AT&T plan. I'm pretty sure the commercials are only shown for network On Demand TV shows. Luckily, the commercial breaks are very short - they seem like less than a minute and there aren't many of them.

[Gob]

Ah, cheers Joe. "On demand" is another fabled myth in Aus...

[Long Run]

I've been enjoying Fargo too. I'm glad I recorded the more recent ones, as Joe indicates, they do not enable the fast forward feature with Comcast OnDemand for this show. The thing that I really don't like about watching shows OnDemand is that there is a limited "rental" period, so if you only have time to watch 1/2 of an episode, you have to get back to watching it and finish it within a day. Otherwise, you have to start over from the beginning. I usually start the episode and then go do a chore for the next 20 to 30 minutes until I am back to where I left off. Needlessly annoying.