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Anyone catch the sneak peak of Luck?

I did. I'm still processing it, but it's clear to me that if the rest of the season holds up to this standard, HBO might have another Wire on it's hands but this time coming with maybe a bigger following because of the names involved in the show. It had all the Mann-isms and that combined with David Milch's twisted mind and you potentially have a great show. I had trouble following some of the jargon but I suspect it's not something that will be a major distraction.

Any thoughts on Luck so far? I'm surprised there isn't a thread on it by itself already.

The first episode didn't do much for me on my first viewing, but it really clicked with me when I saw it for a second time. It's the best thing Michael Mann has done since The Insider. I've enjoyed the subsequent episodes just as much, and I'm liking the direction the season seems to be going. Initially I feared the hired directors would spend too much time trying to imitate Mann's aesthetic, but it's fortunately not a big issue. Last night's episode (directed by Philip Noyce) had the best race of the series so far; very gripping.

As a huge fan of vintage Carpenter, I'm really digging that they've brought Dennis Dun out of "retirement". He was really good in last night's episode, and the interplay between Dun and Jason Gedrick are great fun to watch, as is anything involving Kevin Dunn & co. The rest of the cast is stellar to of course, but I'm not entirely sold on Richard Kind yet.

HBO cancels Luck after third horse dies during production.

Well, that just seems ridiculous to me. Unless there was some sort of deliberate neglect or carelessness on the part of the crew - don't these things happen in horse racing all the time? So if you're not going to ban horse racing altogether, why cease production of this show and put hundreds of people out of work?

Oh well - won't bother watching now. How bizarre.

Best case scenario out of this is that Milch gets to work on those Deadwood movies, and that Michael develops his own show for HBO.

Something tells me Milch might want to stay away from making stuff with horses in it for a while.

Did any horses die during that show's run?

No - but I just find the concept of HBO going "yeah, we'll get you all the horses you need, Mr. Milch" rather amusing

They wouldn't be running in circles all day at least.

My quick attempt at being humorous has resulted in me running in circles all day

The fuck? There has to be more to this story than what we're told-- HBO's just going to pay out everyone's salaries (no doubt the actors at the very least have play-or-pay contracts) and end a successful show midstream with no resolution? Bizarre and one for the books.

mfunk9786 wrote:My quick attempt at being humorous has resulted in me running in circles all day

lol sorry dude.

domino harvey wrote:The fuck? There has to be more to this story than what we're told-- HBO's just going to pay out everyone's salaries (no doubt the actors at the very least have play-or-pay contracts) and end a successful show midstream with no resolution? Bizarre and one for the books.

You know, on every trailer on YouTube I saw for Luck, there was a video to the side that asked people to boycott the show. I'm hazy on the details, but I guess something went pear-shaped during the production of Deadwood that must have lead to this person posting this.

domino harvey wrote:The fuck? There has to be more to this story than what we're told-- HBO's just going to pay out everyone's salaries (no doubt the actors at the very least have play-or-pay contracts) and end a successful show midstream with no resolution? Bizarre and one for the books.

They finished the first season (9 episodes) and were in production on the second or third episode of the second season. The show hasn't been getting very good numbers, so I suspect that HBO is using the latest horse death as an excuse to kill an underperforming show.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:You know, on every trailer on YouTube I saw for Luck, there was a video to the side that asked people to boycott the show.

The first horse death was during the filming of the pilot, so it's been problematic among animal-rights group since day one.

Best case scenario out of this is that Milch does his Deadwood movies, and Mann creates a new series with or without David.

There must have been other reasons for cancelling Luck, because stuntmen also die on sets from time to time, and I've never heard of that ending a production.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Best case scenario out of this is that Milch gets to work on those Deadwood movies, and that Michael develops his own show for HBO.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Best case scenario out of this is that Milch does his Deadwood movies, and Mann creates a new series with or without David.

You can say that again

Yup