[astrohip]

Rebel premiered tonight on ABC. Based on the life of Erin Brockovich. Stars Katey Sagal as Annie "Rebel" Bello.

It was okay, but just felt a little too "non-stop scripted" to me. Like a giant puzzle and the pieces just snapped together bing bang boom over the hour. I realize it's a drama pilot, and they have to set the table, but they need to give us time to breathe. They did a season's worth of character development in an hour. You know how some dramas will add a character in E2, and maybe another in E3? We got all of them tonight. And by my reckoning, there's 10+ named characters.

And it's kind of a shame, it's not a bad concept, and has some decent actors.

I'll watch another, to see if they can improve upon the pilot.

Rebel (2021 TV series) - Wikipedia

 

[cheesesteak]

I might have given it a whirl if the show and the main character were named something other than "Rebel".

 

[leeherman]

I might have given it a whirl if the show and the main character were named something other than "Rebel".

You'd have known how that came about if you'd watched it.

Spoiler alert, that's a nickname.

LH

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[Rainy Dave]

We made it through 20 minutes and then gave up.
It just didn't make any sense to us. Too fragmented.

 

[DouglasPHill]

They advertised it so much, no way I was going to watch.

 

[gchance]

We enjoyed it, but it was like wall to wall guest stars (or were they main characters?) Adam Arkin 's the guest star (hey cool he was on Sons of Anarchy too)... oh wait, the guest is Andy Garcia? No that can't be right, he's Katey Segal's dead best friend's husband so he'll probably stick around. And Mary McDonnell! That means they'll resolve the heart thing because they won't kill her, not in the first couple of weeks. And WOW, Katey has kids all over the place, but I guess that makes sense given she has husbands all over the place.

We'll keep watching for now.

 

[gossamer88]

Watched it last night on OnDemand. I like Sagal. Especially on SoA. But here she is too overbearing. I am out.

 

[astrohip]

I couldn't finish E2. Just not my type of show. I like most of the actors, but the story line, and writing, ain't doing it for me.

 

[MauriAnne]

I really wanted to like this show. Cast had a number of folks I typically enjoy, but I couldn't make it past 15 minutes of episode 1.

 

[mattack]

I still have 2 episodes left.. last weekend, I wanted to watch something new, and thought of this show (and I hadn't even added it to my Hulu list).. It expires next Wednesday, so I've been concentrating on it more than I usually do for a show. I obviously knew it was cancelled before I started watching, and I don't care if it ends on a cliffhanger (I think I remember reading it did -- I haven't read this thread yet but thought I saw it did elsewhere)...

This isn't my favorite show ever or anything, but I really don't know why it flopped so badly. It has a bunch of reasonably well known actors, ONE (ex-?) movie star.. pretty well written scripts, and I can't exactly explain what it is, but it just seems to "look expensive"... like looks like really high production values.

I think it's really entertaining.

Maybe 25% fewer backstabbing/switcheroo kind of stuff would make it even better.

I presume it says (something like) "based on the current life of Erin Brockovich" because someone else owns the rights to her previous book that was made into the movie? (sort of like how the Hannibal Lecter universe has split into various different non-overlapping shows)

 

[astrohip]

but I really don't know why it flopped so badly.

This is just me, YMMV. I found it "too much". The characters were all overbearing, Katey Sagal (who I like) was annoying, and not in a good way (is there a good way to be annoying?). The entire show was just too slick for me, didn't have any warmth, no reason to enjoy it.

Good concept, bad writing.

 

[mr.unnatural]

Never watched it and then I heard it got canceled. I was tempted to check it out because I like Katey Sagal, but they really pushed the promos hard so I had a feeling it wasn't going to be that great. Apparently I sniffed that one out correctly.

 

[Pokemon_Dad]

I enjoyed it, and was happy to see some of my favorite actors, including John Corbett (Northern Exposure... I was not in the Sex in the City demo), Adam Arkin (also Northern Exposure, and he directed three episodes of Rebel too), Ariela Barer (Marvel's Runaways), and Tamala Jones (Castle).

I can imagine the story might not play well with certain groups though, what with all the chaotic lives and woke correctness. I'm fine with that, though it did seem a bit over the top at times, and I know certain people I wouldn't want to sit near during a show like this (in case their heads explode, lol).

 

[mattack]

yeah I watched the last two.. and no, it didn't end on a cliffhanger (though they set up a plot line that would have continued if the show had continued).

I liked it. oh well.