Justified on FX: Modern day Deadwood [fingers crossed]

I suspect we haven’t seen the main recurring nemesis yet … though they did refer to him a couple of times during the first episode.

Raylen’s anger comes from somewhere, I’ll bet.

Breaking Bad is AMC.

I asked a blogger who has seen the first several episodes of “Justified” how serialized it was and he said it was largely episodic with a few serial elements.

Yes! All my expectations were exceeded. Great first show.

The first couple of times they said “shit” or “bullshit” I was thinking; ok, I know it’s 10 o’clock and it’s a cable network but that has to be their quota right there. I lost track after 10 and caught a couple "asshole"s as well. Someone bring me up to speed… I know they warned about L and V in the ratings but seriously? Anyways, gave it a nice HBO series vibe which is always welcome in my opinion. But I guess I won’t be watching it with my kids (DVR).

I believe they foreshadowed that the one who will likely provide the Swearengenesque foil for Olyphant will be his father. This was alluded to several times and I’m on pins and needles waiting to meet him.

FX lets their shows curse as much as they want. Fun fact: cable networks are allowed to air whatever bad language they care to. They’re only beholden to advertisers.

I did not know that. Thanks.

Check out FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” sometime. Nearly every epsiode of that show features a content warning that reads like an eye exam chart. They’ve said things in that show that I would have sworn I would never, ever hear on television, even cable. I love it.

Just to back up extarbags on this, if you go about halfway down the page here, the FCC states that they don’t regulate cable or subscription television for language.

That being said, cable channels usually adhere to the post-10pm watershed.

So Burn Notice with the marshal in a redneck area replacing a burned spy.

They need to have the occasional voiceover, “When you’re a US marshal and your territory is filled with rednecks…”

Hell, Archer would make a sailor blush sometimes. I don’t think I’d ever heard the word “cock” on basic cable until I watched Archer.

This show is really good.

I liked it enough. Felt a little constructed. Like, wacky killer former-sweetheart, hardcore chick cop, moron hick criminals. Very Elmore Leonard in his Carl Hiaasen leaning.

The scenes that didn’t feel like they were leaning on those elements were interesting. Any time Olyphant psyches out some thug, I suppose. That’s when it felt most Deadwoody.

But that scene where they’re leaving the motel and everyone else gets interdicted by the yokel hit squad, and Olyphant is right the fuck behind them and perfectly capable of breaking the siege and the bossman calls over gunfire ‘no, it’s ok, you go on without us!’ might’ve been the stupidest contrivance I’ve seen of late outside of Lost.

I like the ex-wife much more than the sweetheart. Looks like she has a more prominent role.

Yeah, I kind of agree, I guess. It could be that they weren’t willing to completely commit to the show’s conceit, and I honestly hope they do, because this show doesn’t really need to be believable. Hell, it’s already not believable. The first scene would never, ever happen… but that scene was also awesome and captivating and probably as good a first scene of a first episode of a show as I’ve ever seen in terms of drawing the audience (well, me anyway) in and making them want to see more.

Fortunately, they didn’t falter enough to detract from my enjoyment of it. I just hope they never do. There are plenty of other (mostly worse) shows on TV featuring normal policework and/or mopey introspection, but there’s a distinct lack of this kind of chaotic-good-old-west-gunslinging-lawman action, and the more of that, the better. That’s the thing, actually, I’ll forgive a fair amount of contrivance, because the premise is so surreal and awesome that as long as they can pull that off, I’m happy.

I’m in it for that.

As long as they have one or two decent ‘can you rack in a load before I put a hole through you’ scene per episode, I’ll be good. This one had about five.

Oh, man, it was killing me trying to figure out from what I recalled some of the actors … Mostly the sweetheart.

She was Penny from High Fidelity! How does she still look so young? I took her for a typical underage casting, but she’s only a few years younger than Olyphant.

Penny was nice …

It’s kind of killing me that Walton Goggins is in a show on FX and in this thread he’s being talked about as if he’s a ‘you know, that guy’ from Major League instead of having been one of the main characters in all seven seasons of one of FX’s biggest shows ever.

Hell, the guy’s got an Oscar!

(Not for acting, admittedly.)

I’m with you. The fact that it was Walton Goggins from THE SHIELD is the thing that convinced me to watch. (Well, other than the Elmore Leonard connection and the cool previews.)

Wait-what did he win an Oscar for? Bah–I’ll find out on Wikipedia before you answer. :)

To me he’s Tino Armani from Randy and the Mob.

He’s going to be in Predators. I bet it’s his breakout role!

To me he’ll always be “Com Officer” from JAG.

Well, they weren’t ALL dumb hicks. The ones that were dumb were just being used.

And I do agree on the fact that a couple good lines and Olyphant is all I need.