Feed the Beast

The basic premise is uninteresting so I won't be checking this one out....


Great Actors Still Need Great Writing

As excellent as the acting (and the chemistry) are from Schwimmer and Sturgess, this show really seems to lack the type of writing that its performances deserve. From the network that has delivered some of the most hard-hitting dialogue we've ever seen on TV (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead), you'd really expect them to at least stay on this same level for a show featuring so much organized crime. Instead, it's the scenes where Dion and Tommy have to deal with the gangsters that are the hardest to watch because every word exchanged between them feels far too cliche.

You hear the same expressions that you've heard a thousand times before in these sort of back-alley meeting scenes, like, "I'm gonna pay you back, I swear" and the played out "cutting off of a finger." What makes shows on AMC so great is that they usually keep the material fresh. They were doing zombie shows before zombie shows got cool. In fact, they made zombie shows cool. If you're going to take two stories we see on TV all the time, ("friends open a business together" and "friends get mixed up with the mob") at least don't put in the same conversations we hear all the time, too.

I decided to give this one a pass based on these kind of comments. The premise sounds all right. And I love shows about chefs....but I want good writing too. There is so much to watch, I can afford to be choosy.