Reviews

As a longtime fan of Philip K. Dick's novel, I was definitely interested when I read that Amazon had ordered a pilot. Now that I've seen it, I have to say it exceeded my expectations. The acting is good and the production values are excellent, as the crew did a superb job of bringing to life an alternate 1962 America. But perhaps Frank Spotnitz's greatest success is in his management of the source material, as his script remains pretty faithful to PKD's novel within the parameters of a 1-hour pilot. I would love to see Amazon make this a series, not only to see how Spotnitz and his team adapt the rest of the novel, but also to see where they might take it in seasons to come.

I stumbled across this show one day on a "series marathon" run by one of those triple-digit cable channels. Watching it was a nostalgic reminder of those crappy low-budget shows that popped up in syndication in the 1908s and 1990s, and it is no joke to say that this was a pale imitation of them. The fact that Eric Roberts was their idea of a great host (or just the best host they could get) speaks volumes about what follows. While there are some decent performances and a couple of good effects, the plots are tired, the sets bare-bones, and many of the "actors" are never-would-bes for whom their appearance is the first -- and fortunately last -- time they were able to convince someone to put them in front of a camera. It is less remarkable that only thirteen episodes were produced than that they actually found someone to produce those thirteen. If this ever shows up on the schedule, don't be tempted and watch something better instead, like a test pattern.