DJariya

1) Did you see the ratings? The premiere was one of the highest rated new shows this season.

2) It's not being put on hiatus. Season is completed in March. All 12 episodes will have aired. Touch is taking the timeslot until the end of the season.

aynrandgirl

I didn't realize it wasn't a full 22 episodes. I hope it works out for the show.

eXcentris

That's not bad writing since the answer(s) would obviously have been the same "I don't know" he gave to the other questions.

Because they have been "brainwashed/conditioned/programmed" to perform specific tasks.

DJariya

New shows that premiere midseason never get a full season order. 9 times out of 10, they start production really late and it wouldn't be possible to complete a full order.

If this continues to do well for the remainder of the season, I would expect a 2nd season to premiere in the Fall.

mikehunt

"they took the boat to school, way cooler than a bus"

Shannon Nutt

I think the Networks are soon going to realize that 10 to 13 episodes per season is "ideal" for a drama show...and we're going to see more of it. A) It's a lot cheaper and B) there's less "filler" episodes. It's something both the Brits and HBO have known for years.

mikehunt

seems kind of pointless at that point

Michael Corvin

I really dug this. The 4400 vibe is obvious, but it's also giving me an Operation: Mindcrime vibe too which is/would be very cool.

I think Rebecca is the weak link though. Sam Neil is great, as is Jorge Garcia. My biggest complaint is the commercials. Holy fuck, it felt like there was a commercial break every 7 minutes.

The guy playing Ernest Cobb is a spitting image of Giovanni Ribisi. I wonder if they are related in some fashion.

As soon as I heard it it made me realize that it was one of the best things about Lost that I missed. However, it could quickly be overdone for a procedural. I thought it's worked so far.

That gave me a laugh.

Is it really any different than someone knowing all the stats to the 1963 Yankees? What about knowing about every little detail about every battle in WWII? Knowing every line of dialog in all the Star Wars films? People have their hobbies. Dr. "Hurly" wrote about his obsession. He even based characters in his comics on people from Alcatraz. I don't find it that far fetched that he would know so much about the inmates.

I was hesitant about this happening, but I think I'm fully on board for this now.

Geofferson

I thought it was decent enough to tune in again next week.

TheKing

How is it a lot cheaper?

If the networks did switch to 13 episodes as a standard, they'd have to double the amount of shows they air in order to fill up a standard TV season. That's double the cast, double the crew, double everything.

Look at what FOX has done this season. First they air 13 episodes of Terra Nova, now they're gonna air 12 episodes of Alcatraz. Do you really think FOX saved money doing this instead of doing 25 episodes of one or the other? And then they still have Touch, which will be using the same timeslot.

Then if you look long term, shorter seasons hurt the show when it gets to syndication, since they get bigger deals when they have more episodes.

rw2516

If the government covered up the inmate disappearances with fake transfers and death certificates, which is kinda thin, how did they cover up the missing guards?

CRM114

This post pretty much sums up my feelings on the show. I might feel differently about it if I didn't know the killer would be caught at the end of EVERY episode. I saw there were 9 minutes left in the epsiode and knew that in those nine minutes, they'd figure out where the killer was, capture him, and deliver him to the techno prison. Yawn.

Detective Juggs.

Hopefully, one of the killers will be sent on his Manchurian Candidate mission to kill someone somewhere hot so we can get Jones in a bikini. These producers need to think - or move to HBO.

CRM114

Yet your name is "aynrandgirl." Ironic.

Flatlander

Granted they did catch the first two but they have mentioned that they won't catch each one and we don't even know what they are going to do with the guards that disappeared. I am giving it some time before I judge.

I remember how everyone was saying the same thing about Anna Torv on Fringe until they fleshed out her story and gave her some stuff to do (Leonard Nimoy voice and mannerisms).

MrGoat00

I absolutely enjoyed it.

Those where not the first two to show up. Remember her Grandfather was there for a while. As far as we know we don't know how many there are.

Also - my prediction - The season will end with all of those who are in the new prison disappearing again.

whoopdido

Like I said before, it does seem obvious that it will have a "killer of the week" type storyline, but at the same time there seems to be some kind of connection between the first two killers at least. They each stared daggers at each other when they met again in the techno prison. And then there's the Lucy connection. I mean a straight killer of the week story with some fluff thrown in a la CSI or Law and Order would be lame and so far I don't see that being the case. There does seem to be an overall story arc and I'm confident it will all tie together in some way. Who knows if it'll be a good tie in though.

I don't know...for some reason I almost think of it as a video game where your mission is to go around and "collect" people and return them. I almost find myself looking at the upper corner of the screen and seeing 2/263. It's like GOAL: Find Jack and return him to prison. Goal complete. New goal: Find Cobb and return him to prison. Goal complete. New goal: Have hot monkey sex with Detective Juggs.

Bandoman

I wish most shows had only a dozen or so episodes. It forces the creators to tell the story succinctly and (imo) more effectively. That's one of the reasons I love shows like Dexter and Homeland.

MikahC

I'll let it go after this post, but aliens are a lot more likely (given the billions of stars out there and the billions of planets) than time travel. So it's ironic to me to see a statement that we hope the answers aren't something unrealistic like aliens, and instead something more realistic like time travel.

Again, if you accept the general premise of people disappearing in 1963 and appearing in 2012, I think it's pretty pointless to fret over the feasibility of the eventual explanation, as none of them are incredibly feasible. It's all Science Fiction.

Anyway, I'm in for the season. A perfect short run (I prefer them), engaging premise, engaging cast, decent stories so far, and I like Alcatraz island and San Francisco.

Bandoman

MikahC - I completely agree. I'm not looking for plausibility, I just suspend my disbelief and look for internal consistency and good storytelling.

Raul3

Yeah, specially the first guy. Check the way he acted when he was in prison and the way he acted in 2011. He looked "programmed".
Also, I think it's clear that Sam Neil knows a lot more than what he's telling. Duh! And I know some people don't like that, I'm not a big fan either, but it's the kind of things to expect from these shows.


Yeah, I thought the same.

Same here.

macnorton

You are now officially my hero and you should be hired to write for this show.

Raul3

Oh, and about the Alcatraz tickets.

They show that scene so that we knew that he was prepared. We know that. I think they wanted us to think that there are several companies that do tours to Alcatraz, and that's why they would check the ticket before leaving. Of course in reality there's only one company, so there's no need to show the ticket.

Flave

Agreed except for one thing. While I totally despise time travel stories I do so only when the travel is in one direction -- backwards. Travelling forward in time is not a problem; in fact, given enough money you could even accomplish it using today's technology. (Build a spaceship that can be accelerated close to the speed of light; send it out -- anywhere -- and back; and presto, you're in the future.) Travelling backward in time however is a whole 'nuther thing -- requires VERY exotic science and creates ridiculous paradoxes.

As long as these guys are only moving forward in time (and Lucy or anyone else is not moving backward in time), I think time travel is just as believable, if not more believable, an explanation as aliens.

Ayre

Doesn't have to be time travel. They can suspend time (ie Cryogenics) or even cloning w/memory implantation. I am sure we could think of a few more if we tried.

lordwow