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Amazon is trying to get great shows off to a good start, in another Pilot season, this time their fourth. They manage to have one big hit in Transparent, getting good numbers, critics praise and awards love. Now they launched several new pilots on the Amazon Instant Video platform to see what sticks. So let´s take a look at this pilot season for Amazon.
The Pilots Were Point of Honor, Mad Dogs, The Man In the High Castle, Down Dog, Cocked and Salem Rogers: Model of the Year 1998.
I have to say… hum… I am not a big fan of this pilot season for Amazon. Don´t get me wrong, Cocked and The Man in the High Castle are quite interesting, Salem is funny, and both Down Dog and Mad Dogs have insanely good casts. Yet I really don´t see the next Transparent there, unless one of these shows evolve; but not right out of the gates.
2015 Amazon Pilot Point of Honor review and rating:
Let´s See… Point of Honor is bound to not get past the pilot. I really didn´t like it, and I would not recommend you even taking a look at it. It won´t stick. I would love to see a good period piece from the Civil War… this wasn´t it. Rating: D.
2015 Amazon Pilot Mad Dogs review and rating:
Mad Dogs, having an amazing cast of Ben Chaplin, Steve Zahn, Michael Imperioli and Romany Malco being friends with Billy Zane… how can you not make an amazing show? Well… so far it´s just ok. You are missing a great opportunity with that cast. Good thing is, having all of them aboard means they are still with the chance to make it better. I hope that happens. If not, I´ll just give it a C.
2015 Amazon Pilot Down Dog review and rating:
Down Dog could be so much more than it is, and yet it was soooo slow for a comedy pilot. And it´s not a psychological comedy or anything like that… it´s supposed to be a light comedy about a yoga instructor who needs to turn around his style. Again… incredibly strong supporting cast that includes Kris “freaking” Kristofferson; but it failed to deliver. Another C.
2015 Amazon Pilot Salem Rogers: Model of the Year 1998 review and rating:
Salem Rogers: Model of the Year 1998 is funnier, and has Rachel Dratch and Jane Kaczmarek that are pretty much comedy warranty. Leslie Bibb is pretty good in her role, and if the show can find its footing it can become a very good comedy. Needs to tone some things down. It´s a B.
2015 Amazon Pilot The Man In The High Castle:
Now this is a show that will probably take the opportunity that being in Amazon gives it. They don´t need to rush as much as if they were on broadcast… and for a high concept show it´s a plus. This can be the wildcard and a potential hit if the audience pacts with the show to make the premise acceptable. It does not have a big cast, but it has huge pedigree coming from Ridley Scott as EP and X-Diles Frank Spotnitz as showrunner.
My grade: B+.
2015 Amazon Pilot Cocked Review and Rating:
Cocked is another good option that will probably go to series, mostly because it has guns and it has Jason Lee in it.
I´ll save my long opinion for later, but for now, a solid B.
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