Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

The SF Giants games always preempt this show or start it 15 minutes early and I have to catch it on demand.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Its hard to believe the show could be that bad with the cast they have. Has it not improved?

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

I watched about 25 mins of the first episode... it was pretty bad. a PG rated pirate show? what's the point?

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

I've been keeping up with every episode (five so far), and the violence has been pretty gruesome at times; plenty of beatings, cut throats, sword impalings, shootings, and even a severed eyeball, all shown on camera. Fairly typical for modern broadcast standards: show as much grisly violence as you want, as long as there are no nipples or four letter words.

It's not a typical pirate show, however. The traditional pirate stuff, like ship battles and swordfights and buried treasure, has totaled maybe five or ten minutes of footage so far in the series. You could almost shoot the scripts in a modern setting and not change anything. It's got more in common with Apocalypse Now than any other pirate film or TV show I've seen.

I think the show's a lot better than some people have been making it out, but even among those who don't really like it, I don't think many would agree that it's being held back much by broadcast standards.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

I tend to agree, although I have only seen the first two episodes. I have the rest recorded and I intend to watch them all eventually. It's much better to skip the commercials. It suffers from the typical Network TV Political Correctness, but I am interested in seeing how it all winds up.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

I got that vibe from the pilot, which is why I didn't bother to keep up with the series. Pirate action is expensive and Malkovich is likely taking up most of the budget.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

I somehow missed this announcement late last month, but Crossbones will be on DVD, set for September 2nd. No Blu-ray, and it's only a two-disc set, so I'm not going to expect many extras if they're cramming five 45-minute episodes on each disc.

I took PhantomStranger's advice and watched a bit of Dracula, since it's still available for steaming on the NBC app, and I've enjoyed it so far... but for some reason Episode 4 isn't on there. The Blu-ray set is already out in the UK, but it's Region B, and there isn't even a release date for it in the US.

Between Crossbones getting a (presumably bare bones) DVD-only release and Dracula getting no DVD or Blu-ray release scheduled at all so far, I'm wondering if they're intentionally neglecting the physical media market to try to get people to just buy digital episodes at three bucks a pop. Which isn't too bad, compared to how much a Blu-ray set would cost, but I'd still like it on physical media.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

That UK Blu-ray set for Dracula is almost certainly region-free, despite Amazon.co.uk's listing info. Universal virtually never locks their releases, anywhere in the world.;)

You don't have to worry about Dracula hitting Blu-ray in the United States, those plans got scuttled when it was canceled by NBC.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Unfortunately, someone in a Blu-ray.com message board thread confirmed that it's Region B locked. Everyone was just assuming that it was region-free, and someone ordered it based in that assumption. It wasn't. (EDIT: Found the message board link here.)

Amazon does have a listing for a US release, but there's no release date. I guess I'll just have to watch the rest of the episodes on the NBC app on my iPad, even though Episode 4 is mysteriously missing.

Anyway, thanks for turning me on to something I would have otherwise avoided. The previews looked awful, but the three episodes I've watched have been quite enjoyable.

EDIT 2: Just saw a promo for the next episode of Crossbones. Looks like we finally get to see Malkovich looking like the traditional Blackbeard for once. YouTube link.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Just finished watching the newest episode, "A Hole in the Head." I noticed that it was written by Josh Friedman of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I don't think it's any coincidence that it was the best episode yet. I can't find any writing credits online for the remaining four episodes of the season (and probably the series, since I'm assuming there won't be a Season 2), but I'm hoping they kept him around to end this thing on a strong note.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Crossbones moves to Saturday

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

I didn't bother with this one because I figured it was doomed. Plus, I just don't think John Malkovich is a draw for network TV audiences. He's more of a quirky character actor.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Been catching up on this on Hulu. It's ok.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Huzzah. :D Just announced.

I wasn't expecting them to release it either, or maybe it would get a DVD-only release like Crossbones, but I guess they figured they already went through the trouble of releasing it in the UK and why not just port those discs over to Region A.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

JM's accent goes in and out and the Doctor is an annoying asshole.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Black beard makes an appearance!

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

Kris Kristofferson is looking pretty good for his age.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psa5926fb8.jpg

Wait. Rob Zombie?

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psac8c0799.jpg

It was nice seeing Malkovich actually looking like Blackbeard in the flashback, but it would have been nicer if he had said a single word. It's hard to tell with Malkovich when he's sleepwalking through a role and when he's actually trying to be stoically creepy. I'm still sort of wishing they had gotten Ian McShane, although the tone of Crossbones is so different from the Pirates of the Caribbean films that I can understand why they would want to avoid comparisons.

A filler episode for the most part, lots of drama relating to secrets and grudges and misunderstandings that amount to nothing much at all. Even though I seem to be this show's only fan, I'm sort of glad it's only getting a single season. Probably the only way to do a Season 2 would be to make it a prequel. Ryan Hurst for Blackbeard? Make it happen, NBC. God knows you're not going to find much success with those godawful-looking sitcoms you keep advertising on your iPad app.

Re: Crossbones (NBC) -- S: John Malkovich as Blackbeard -- From the creator of Luther
 

just got through my backlog of episodes
it wasn't bad but could have been better. As a Sid Meier's Pirates! fan more ship stuff would have been nice