1. JED_Houston

   10

   I wanted to watch the pilot, but missed it on Monday, caught it when it played again on Saturday. I think that it could be a really good show. I think that many people are put off by the con man angle, and it troubles me a lot as well, but I still found the premise to be a bit fascinating. Definitely a lot better than other junk shows that make it for years. Maybe Fox doesn't have it in the right time slot. I hope that it makes it, I'll watch the second episode.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
2. TV-Tastic

   8

   http://tvtastic.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/advance-review-lone-star/ First, let me preface this by saying that when I first heard about Lone Star, let's just say that I was beyond skeptical. The descriptions I saw on various entertainment sites were bland and really made it sound like to was a 2010 version of Dallas using key-phrases such as "Texas," "oil" and "soap opera." I can't imagine at all why someone would come to the conclusion that this show is Dallas: The Next Generation.After watching the pilot, though, I can say that I was not only pleasantly surprised, but also a little annoyed at the marketing for this show amongst the various media outlets and even by FOX itself. Yes, it's in Texas, yes it revolves around a family oil company and yes it's definitely a soap, but there is so much more to this show than this, and unfortunately, it may be its downfall.As noted, Bob is a con-man living two separate lives, with two different women. But which one is the real Bob? Well, the answer is both and neither because Bob also has two other alter-egos as well: the man he is when he's with his father and is actually "himself" and the man he is when he's actually trying to combine the two lives. The fact is that Bob is struggling to find out what his true identity is, even in the pilot and it's obvious that this will be a main theme throughout the series. Do you see what I mean about this show being complicated? And that's just our protagonist.
   
   What I like about this story is Bob, himself. I'm not sure if I'm into the identity struggle and I can definitely do without the "con-man-with-a-heart-of-gold" persona which seems to be contrived exclusively because the writers aren't brave enough to have a protagonist be a true anti-hero or a villain. This is a very weak decision on the writers part in my opinion (well, it may have been a producer's decision) because it tells me that they don't have enough faith in the character or the actor, and I don't understand why.
   
   I like stories about con-men and so does everyone, whether they admit it or not. Con-men are fun. They're clever and they have a swagger and a bravado they keeps audiences coming back. They're like spies who are crooks. If I want to see a transformation from a swine to a knight, I sure as heck don't want to see it in the pilot. If the producers need advice on how to develop the growth of a con-man, I would simply refer them to Sawyer from Lost.From what I've seen so far, the producers are unnecessarily playing it safe with Bob. The character is well-written enough and James Wolk is talented enough to pull-off the "villain-who-we-hate-to-love" without really breaking much of a sweat. Also, if anyone thinks that writing a villain as protagonist doesn't work I will simply refer you to this Vic Mackey from The Shield or Dexter Morgan from DexterThe point is that the right actor playing the right character can pull off the villain-protagonist and it's often quite refreshing when they do, and in this case, ours doesn't even kill anyone.
   
   The other problem with this "heart-of-gold" scenario as that it doesn't make any sense. In the opening scene of the pilot we are immediately made aware that Bob's father, John (played brilliantly by David Keith) has been a con-man his whole life and has been teaching Bob how to do it since he was at least 10 years-old, if not younger. That being said, all Bob has ever known is "The Con" and all of a sudden, when he's on the verge of the biggest score of his life he suddenly finds religion and wants to not only play it straight with his father-in-law's oil company but also wants to find a way to get all of those people in Midland their money back that he took from them in a Ponzi Scheme? Sure. It's very hard to swallow to say the least.
   
   The biggest complaint I have about Lone Star is that the plot outside of Bob's con is very contrived and very clichéd and to be quite honest, so are some of the characters and a lot of it is lazy and does hearken back to Dallas. You've got your surly patriarch Jock Ewing-type, Clint Thatcher (even the names are clichéd, for God's sake) played by Jon Voight (who you can never go wrong with) and Trammell Thatcher (Mark Delkin) the ambitious, scheming son who's mad that Dad gave the outsider (Bob) the task of turning the family business around and is looking to undermine the new guy and finally, Drew Thatcher (Bryce Johnson), the under-achieving younger brother that no one takes seriously except for the outsider (Bob) and who is desperately seeking approval from both his father and his older, more accomplished brother. Any of this sound familiar? Of course it does because we've seen this clichéd family trifecta in 100's of other films and TV shows over the last 50 years.
   
   Still, although you're tempted to roll your eyes, the performances carry what is really a simplistic, although compelling subplot. Sp… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
3. LoveSomeTV

   5

   This is a very brave show to make on network TV. But how do you get us to relate to a character who is so morally ambiguous and difficult to relate to? Yes - the drama here should be compelling, but somehow it falls flat for me. I just don't particularly "like" any of the characters, and the ones that I do like - I pity. Perhaps this would have been better suited for cable, and been a little edgier.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 2 users said Yes.
4. kristen58

   2

   Boring. I watch the pilot because I thought it was an interesting premise based on the promos, but I was bored. There's just not enough to is. It's like they thought of the premise and then has no idea where to go from there. Thanks for cancelling it!… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.

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