The Americans (1 Viewer)

[meanjoegreen]

I remember the time period vividly and thought they did a great job with set design, and hair & makeup. The show takes place in '81 . . . the decade as most people think of it—with its new-wave looks, synth-based pop, pastel everywhere—didn't truly shift into its own until around '82 - '84. 1980 & 1981 still looked very much like the late 70s.

 

[shadyridr]

Nitpick: the dad told his kid to show me your war face.Full metal jacket didnt come out until 1987

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

I remember the time period vividly and thought they did a great job with set design, and hair & makeup. The show takes place in '81 . . . the decade as most people think of it—with its new-wave looks, synth-based pop, pastel everywhere—didn't truly shift into its own until around '82 - '84. 1980 & 1981 still looked very much like the late 70s.

So do I. I'm well aware of the differences between 1981 and 1984. Keri Russell's 1981 hair and clothes were so out of period it was a joke. Take a look at all of the suits and ties in the FBI meetings. Not even close.And there were an awful lot of guys with shaved heads in that episode. Not exactly early 80s style.

Not to mention the obviously post 2000 decor of the shopping mall.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

1980-81

Not even close

1981 suits etc

 

[Kumerica]

I remember the time period vividly and thought they did a great job with set design, and hair & makeup. The show takes place in '81 . . . the decade as most people think of it—with its new-wave looks, synth-based pop, pastel everywhere—didn't truly shift into its own until around '82 - '84. 1980 & 1981 still looked very much like the late 70s.

So do I. I'm well aware of the differences between 1981 and 1984. Keri Russell's 1981 hair and clothes were so out of period it was a joke. Take a look at all of the suits and ties in the FBI meetings. Not even close.And there were an awful lot of guys with shaved heads in that episode. Not exactly early 80s style.

Not to mention the obviously post 2000 decor of the shopping mall.

Will have to watch again for the suits & ties in the FBI meetings, and agree with the mall decor. I disagree with you re: Russell's hair and, for the most part, her clothes. But hey, they were on a basic cable pilot budget, so I'll forgive a few things for now.

 

[Kumerica]

1980-81Not even close1981 suits etc

1981

 

[pollardsvision]

1980-81

Not even close

1981 suits etc

1981

Now we're getting somewhere.

 

[meanjoegreen]

1980-81Not even close1981 suits etc

1981

Here is a girl from my 1981 annual. I think Russell fits the time frame fine.

 

[beer 302]

I remember the time period vividly and thought they did a great job with set design, and hair & makeup. The show takes place in '81 . . . the decade as most people think of it—with its new-wave looks, synth-based pop, pastel everywhere—didn't truly shift into its own until around '82 - '84. 1980 & 1981 still looked very much like the late 70s.

So do I. I'm well aware of the differences between 1981 and 1984. Keri Russell's 1981 hair and clothes were so out of period it was a joke. Take a look at all of the suits and ties in the FBI meetings. Not even close.And there were an awful lot of guys with shaved heads in that episode. Not exactly early 80s style.

Not to mention the obviously post 2000 decor of the shopping mall.

Will have to watch again for the suits & ties in the FBI meetings, and agree with the mall decor. I disagree with you re: Russell's hair and, for the most part, her clothes. But hey, they were on a basic cable pilot budget, so I'll forgive a few things for now.

Good God why? You people can ruin sex, serious. Watch the ####### show without the intent of nitpicking it death and rushing to an internet message board to post every discrepancy you find. Might actually enjoy the shows you subject yourselves to

 

[Insein]

1980-81Not even close1981 suits etc

a) Those are teachers so they are all weirdos.b) What's with the dude/chick in the first pick bottom row 2nd from the left? I'd hate to have had that teacher.

 

[Insein]

I remember the time period vividly and thought they did a great job with set design, and hair & makeup. The show takes place in '81 . . . the decade as most people think of it—with its new-wave looks, synth-based pop, pastel everywhere—didn't truly shift into its own until around '82 - '84. 1980 & 1981 still looked very much like the late 70s.

So do I. I'm well aware of the differences between 1981 and 1984. Keri Russell's 1981 hair and clothes were so out of period it was a joke. Take a look at all of the suits and ties in the FBI meetings. Not even close.And there were an awful lot of guys with shaved heads in that episode. Not exactly early 80s style.

Not to mention the obviously post 2000 decor of the shopping mall.

Will have to watch again for the suits & ties in the FBI meetings, and agree with the mall decor. I disagree with you re: Russell's hair and, for the most part, her clothes. But hey, they were on a basic cable pilot budget, so I'll forgive a few things for now.

Good God why? You people can ruin sex, serious. Watch the ####### show without the intent of nitpicking it death and rushing to an internet message board to post every discrepancy you find. Might actually enjoy the shows you subject yourselves to

Or just don't watch it since it's obviously bothering them this bad.

 

[Psychopav]

The 1980's didn't scream "1980's" to the people in it. It does to a 2013 crowd.

Actually, I'd have to disagree with this. It pretty much did scream "1980's" to the people in it.

 

[Aerial Assault]

Caught it on Thursday night after DVRing and I floved it. Who knew Keri Russell could play such a hard edge? Other interesting things to me: - Although Russell is the credited lead and obviously more well-known than Rhys, if I'm not mistaken, Rhys had about 1.5x the screentime that she did, and drove far more of the action (fight in the alley with Timoshev, pretty much all garage scenes except of course the fight that KR was in, beating up the pedo, hovering menacingly with his silenced gun in the shadows at the end) than she did. This surprised me, and I never saw Rhys in anything before, but I loved it and thought he was great. - I thought the pilot avoided a problem frequently seen on the increasingly silly Homeland and some seasons of 24: the "too few speaking parts and extras" syndrome. On Homeland, in most episodes, the entire CIA consists of Danes and about four guys. Here, however, the FBI meetings seemed appropriately staffed, Agent John Boy the CIA liaison added depth as did Michael Gaston, and I just thought the show did an excellent job of world-building. It felt SOOO much more realistic than Homeland (which also suffers from the Charlotte filming location; I'm still not sure who thought that was a good idea). - The age of Russell's character was interesting. If her father was killed in Stalingrad when she was 2, that had to be in about 1942 (or early 1943 at the latest), meaning that Elizabeth was roughly 41 here in 1981. Since KR is only 36 or so (IIRC), I was surprised by this, as there seemed to be no reason for the discrepancy. Granted, only a few years, but still intriguing to me. - I thought the musical soundtrack was primo. "Tusk" - brilliant. I can even forgive the reuse of "In the Air Tonight" (partially in a moving car no less) because it's such an atmospheric song and it fit the mood perfectly. I hope they keep doing this. - I see what some are saying about the period authenticity, although I thought the clothes and hair were done pretty well. The mall was a problem, but they clearly wanted to have a scene in a store, and maybe budgetary constraints prevented them from doing a better job there. For what it's worth, they did say or imply that it had just opened, which I guess means that it wasn't Crystal City or Pentagon City, but maybe that helped explain its "futuristic" look. I dunno. It wasn't "Mad Men" but it didn't bug me. Honestly I think I would have added it to the DVR just based on the closing scene in the garage. 4.5/5 with the potential to go higher and I can't wait for Wednesday. Also: 13 episodes!!

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

1980-81Not even close1981 suits etc

1981

Here is a girl from my 1981 annual. I think Russell fits the time frame fine.

You're delusional. Not even close.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

I remember the time period vividly and thought they did a great job with set design, and hair & makeup. The show takes place in '81 . . . the decade as most people think of it—with its new-wave looks, synth-based pop, pastel everywhere—didn't truly shift into its own until around '82 - '84. 1980 & 1981 still looked very much like the late 70s.

So do I. I'm well aware of the differences between 1981 and 1984. Keri Russell's 1981 hair and clothes were so out of period it was a joke. Take a look at all of the suits and ties in the FBI meetings. Not even close.And there were an awful lot of guys with shaved heads in that episode. Not exactly early 80s style.

Not to mention the obviously post 2000 decor of the shopping mall.

Will have to watch again for the suits & ties in the FBI meetings, and agree with the mall decor. I disagree with you re: Russell's hair and, for the most part, her clothes. But hey, they were on a basic cable pilot budget, so I'll forgive a few things for now.

Good God why? You people can ruin sex, serious. Watch the ####### show without the intent of nitpicking it death and rushing to an internet message board to post every discrepancy you find. Might actually enjoy the shows you subject yourselves to

OK, forget costumes, hair, set design etc...the rest of the show was crap regardless.But it just shows you how little they care about putting out a good product.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

I remember the time period vividly and thought they did a great job with set design, and hair & makeup. The show takes place in '81 . . . the decade as most people think of it—with its new-wave looks, synth-based pop, pastel everywhere—didn't truly shift into its own until around '82 - '84. 1980 & 1981 still looked very much like the late 70s.

So do I. I'm well aware of the differences between 1981 and 1984. Keri Russell's 1981 hair and clothes were so out of period it was a joke. Take a look at all of the suits and ties in the FBI meetings. Not even close.And there were an awful lot of guys with shaved heads in that episode. Not exactly early 80s style.

Not to mention the obviously post 2000 decor of the shopping mall.

Will have to watch again for the suits & ties in the FBI meetings, and agree with the mall decor. I disagree with you re: Russell's hair and, for the most part, her clothes. But hey, they were on a basic cable pilot budget, so I'll forgive a few things for now.

Good God why? You people can ruin sex, serious. Watch the ####### show without the intent of nitpicking it death and rushing to an internet message board to post every discrepancy you find. Might actually enjoy the shows you subject yourselves to

Or just don't watch it since it's obviously bothering them this bad.

It was the pilot geniusburger.

 

[Insein]

1980-81Not even close1981 suits etc

1981

Here is a girl from my 1981 annual. I think Russell fits the time frame fine.

You're delusional. Not even close.

OPM, I know you have very high standards when it comes to tv. So maybe it's just a good time to back out of this one if the pilot bugs you this much. Don't want to get roped into another "Sons" type scenario where you are watching just to see what to bash.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

1980-81

Not even close

1981 suits etc

1981

Here is a girl from my 1981 annual. I think Russell fits the time frame fine.

You're delusional. Not even close.

OPM, I know you have very high standards when it comes to tv.

Not sure why you don't. If more people had high standards they wouldn't put crap on TV.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

And BTW..thanks to Insein...I am going to come to this thread as often as possible and cockpunch this show.

 

[Insein]

And BTW..thanks to Insein...I am going to come to this thread as often as possible and cockpunch this show.

The entertainment value of that alone will be worth coming back to. I can only hope you live up to your work done in the SOA thread. BTW, I do have high standards for TV. That's why I don't watch a lot what's on now. In fact I was thinking about it and the only two channels I tune into regularly are FX and BBCAmerica. I didn't finish season 5 for SOA because it began to bore me. Stopped watching 24 for the same reason. I don't get too carried away with the show unless I was fully invested in it. Even then, I usually will only gripe for a week and then move onto something else. But to each their own.

 

[Brady Marino]

Great, another unreadable TV show thread in the FFA. Awesome!

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Great, another unreadable TV show thread in the FFA. Awesome!

And yet somehow you read it.

 

[Brady Marino]

Great, another unreadable TV show thread in the FFA. Awesome!

And yet somehow you read it.

Ripped right out of the internet forum playbook. You're better than that.I read it because I enjoyed the show. But you seem to want to sabotage the thread because it'll make you feel better. Other iTools have destroyed other TV threads here because they think their shtick is just oh so ####### awesome. Whatever gets your rocks off.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Great, another unreadable TV show thread in the FFA. Awesome!

And yet somehow you read it.

Ripped right out of the internet forum playbook. You're better than that.I read it because I enjoyed the show. But you seem to want to sabotage the thread because it'll make you feel better. Other iTools have destroyed other TV threads here because they think their shtick is just oh so ####### awesome. Whatever gets your rocks off.

1.You shouldn't enjoy the show. It wasn't good.2. I have no idea how anyone "destroys" a thread by presenting opposing view points.

3. My shtick(s) are awesome.

4. You'll keep coming back.

 

[Brady Marino]

1.You shouldn't enjoy the show. It wasn't good.

Ok, chief.

2. I have no idea how anyone "destroys" a thread by presenting opposing view points.

Opposing viewpoints aren't the issue. Concerted efforts to doosh up a thread for entertainment value is.

3. My shtick(s) are awesome.

Is that what you keep telling yourself when you look in the mirror every morning?

4. You'll keep coming back.

I will, but not for you.

 

[simey]

I never saw Rhys in anything before, but I loved it and thought he was great.

I've seen him before on the show Brothers and Sisters. He played the gay brother Kevin. He was really good in his role. That show had a lot of good actors on it. I didn't catch the show until it went into syndication, so I'm not sure how popular it was.

 

[Insein]

Great, another unreadable TV show thread in the FFA. Awesome!

And yet somehow you read it.

Ripped right out of the internet forum playbook. You're better than that.I read it because I enjoyed the show. But you seem to want to sabotage the thread because it'll make you feel better. Other iTools have destroyed other TV threads here because they think their shtick is just oh so ####### awesome. Whatever gets your rocks off.

1.You shouldn't enjoy the show. It wasn't good.2. I have no idea how anyone "destroys" a thread by presenting opposing view points.

3. My shtick(s) are awesome.

4. You'll keep coming back.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Great, another unreadable TV show thread in the FFA. Awesome!

And yet somehow you read it.

Ripped right out of the internet forum playbook. You're better than that.I read it because I enjoyed the show. But you seem to want to sabotage the thread because it'll make you feel better. Other iTools have destroyed other TV threads here because they think their shtick is just oh so ####### awesome. Whatever gets your rocks off.

1.You shouldn't enjoy the show. It wasn't good.2. I have no idea how anyone "destroys" a thread by presenting opposing view points.

3. My shtick(s) are awesome.

4. You'll keep coming back.

That's perfect. A scene from a totally overrated movie/performance that dullards seem to think is good.

 

[Insein]

I never saw Rhys in anything before, but I loved it and thought he was great.

I've seen him before on the show Brothers and Sisters. He played the gay brother Kevin. He was really good in his role. That show had a lot of good actors on it. I didn't catch the show until it went into syndication, so I'm not sure how popular it was.

I wasn't a fan of the show. Just the genre for me. My wife liked it. I liked him a lot in the pilot here. I can get on board with him and Russell carrying the show.

 

[Insein]

Great, another unreadable TV show thread in the FFA. Awesome!

And yet somehow you read it.

Ripped right out of the internet forum playbook. You're better than that.I read it because I enjoyed the show. But you seem to want to sabotage the thread because it'll make you feel better. Other iTools have destroyed other TV threads here because they think their shtick is just oh so ####### awesome. Whatever gets your rocks off.

1.You shouldn't enjoy the show. It wasn't good.2. I have no idea how anyone "destroys" a thread by presenting opposing view points.

3. My shtick(s) are awesome.

4. You'll keep coming back.

I agree.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

1.You shouldn't enjoy the show. It wasn't good.

Ok, chief.

2. I have no idea how anyone "destroys" a thread by presenting opposing view points.

Opposing viewpoints aren't the issue. Concerted efforts to doosh up a thread for entertainment value is.

3. My shtick(s) are awesome.

Is that what you keep telling yourself when you look in the mirror every morning?

4. You'll keep coming back.

I will, but not for you.

BURN!!!!!! DOUBLE BURN!!!!!!!!!!Enjoy your mediocre show and looking forward to watching you try to ignore how correct I am.

 

[Brady Marino]

Enjoy your mediocre show and looking forward to watching you try to ignore how correct I am.

If the rest of the series sucks, I'll give credit where credit is due.

 

[Aerial Assault]

I never saw Rhys in anything before, but I loved it and thought he was great.

I've seen him before on the show Brothers and Sisters. He played the gay brother Kevin. He was really good in his role. That show had a lot of good actors on it. I didn't catch the show until it went into syndication, so I'm not sure how popular it was.

Ahhhh, that guy. Yeah, I only saw pieces of two or three episodes and didn't put it together. Thanks, simey. Good actor.

 

[Ignoramus]

I might be staing the obvious here, but they had the husband take the agent into the garage just because it was more of a 'close call' than having the agent wait in the kitchen, plus it set up the last scene where the agent wants to sneak back in later to snoop around and see why the husband slammed the trunk shut so fast.

For the pedo: They want the husband to be a 'good' badguy anti-hero type. I mean, he's a Russian spy, we should be rooting against him - but he's a family man first (puts his kids before his job, whereas the mom is the opposite), he seems sympathetic (or at least adaptable) to America, and to top it off they just needed a blatantly obvious bad guy (the pedo) for him to go all bad### on. If he'd crossed paths with someone who stole his parking space the message is totally different.

Point is, I don't think either scene is worth over analyzing as anything more than something they threw in there to help advance the plot and establish character - which I'm totally fine with.

Good points by you and Snogger. I guess I was just taking the scene at face value instead of realizing that what they were doing was also establishing a clear disconnect between Dad the spy and Dad the dad. He could have broken that dude's face in half right there in the mall but then his daughter would probably wonder how her dad learned these bad-### skills. Portrays him as a very calculating dude to be able to back down despite all the obvious rage he was feeling.Of course, he did get to unleash hell on the pedo later on which was probably very cathartic!

That, and if he beats the guy down in the mall, chances are good that cops get involved.

 

[Psychopav]

Dear Brady Marino and others: most of us come into tv threads to discuss the show and read others' opinions on the show, not to discuss other posters. If anyone's ruining these threads it's not the ones griping about the shows. It's easy to move past those posts if we disagree with them. The thread gets extremely tedious when it turns into an ifight. Please just stay on topic and the rest of us will handle "negativity" just fine. You do not speak for us.

HTH

TIA

Thoprawishes

 

[prosopis]

Dear Brady Marino and others: most of us come into tv threads to discuss the show and read others' opinions on the show, not to discuss other posters. If anyone's ruining these threads it's not the ones griping about the shows. It's easy to move past those posts if we disagree with them. The thread gets extremely tedious when it turns into an ifight. Please just stay on topic and the rest of us will handle "negativity" just fine. You do not speak for us.

HTH

TIA

Thoprawishes

 

[Koya]

Thread pissing matches aside, thought it was a really good show. Is this the best piece of writing ever? Hardly. Are there some inconsistencies? Definitely. But overall, it's good acting, a great idea, some interesting tensions, and I found myself caring about the characters, especially the father, and the children - totally innocent of all this.Sometimes you just need to allow TV to be TV and enjoy some guilty pleasures. Lets not over-analyze the direction, continuity etc. when it was, imo, a fun overall experience and I look forward to the next episode, especially when it was above average on most/all counts in my book anyway.

 

[wadegarrett]

Watched last night. Not bad. Will keep it in the rotation.

 

[Michael Brown]

And BTW..thanks to Insein...I am going to come to this thread as often as possible and cockpunch this show.

Similarly to how we don't want people cluttering up shark pool game threads with nonsense complaints just for the sake of nonsense, that kinda stuff really shouldn't be happening here either. It's obviously less strict in this forum, but there's a difference between discussing the show's strengths and weaknesses versus just coming in to rip a show for the sake of it.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

And BTW..thanks to Insein...I am going to come to this thread as often as possible and cockpunch this show.

Similarly to how we don't want people cluttering up shark pool game threads with nonsense complaints just for the sake of nonsense, that kinda stuff really shouldn't be happening here either. It's obviously less strict in this forum, but there's a difference between discussing the show's strengths and weaknesses versus just coming in to rip a show for the sake of it.

Point taken.I will strive to provide thoughtful commentary and contribute to the overall discussion in a positive manner.

 

[Brady Marino]

And BTW..thanks to Insein...I am going to come to this thread as often as possible and cockpunch this show.

Similarly to how we don't want people cluttering up shark pool game threads with nonsense complaints just for the sake of nonsense, that kinda stuff really shouldn't be happening here either. It's obviously less strict in this forum, but there's a difference between discussing the show's strengths and weaknesses versus just coming in to rip a show for the sake of it.

This is what I was getting at last night, but was too drunk and ornery to convey.And with that, I'll stay silent on this for the rest of the thread's sake.

 

[pollardsvision]

Let's just get back to posting pics of hot chicks in 1981 while we wait for Wednesday at 10.

Brooke Shields in '81

 

[Aerial Assault]

Let's just get back to posting pics of hot chicks in 1981 while we wait for Wednesday at 10. Brooke Shields in '81

404

 

[The Kuhn]

Liked the show. The only nitpicks I had was not speaking Russian in the flashback scenes and the way too convenient insta-attraction between the agent's son and the teen daughter.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Liked the show. The only nitpicks I had was not speaking Russian in the flashback scenes and the way too convenient insta-attraction between the agent's son and the teen daughter.

Didn't think either was that big of a problem. Kids are horny. The KGB seemed to stress speaking English as much as possible. Maybe it was part of a larger overall effort to "forget" Russian.

 

[Koya]

Liked the show. The only nitpicks I had was not speaking Russian in the flashback scenes and the way too convenient insta-attraction between the agent's son and the teen daughter.

I thought they spoke English on purpose, in an effort to get the true accent and ingrain the idea that they speak like the Americans from there out.

 

[Tau837]

Liked the show. The only nitpicks I had was not speaking Russian in the flashback scenes and the way too convenient insta-attraction between the agent's son and the teen daughter.

I thought they spoke English on purpose, in an effort to get the true accent and ingrain the idea that they speak like the Americans from there out.

 

[shadyridr]

Liked the show. The only nitpicks I had was not speaking Russian in the flashback scenes and the way too convenient insta-attraction between the agent's son and the teen daughter.

I thought they spoke English on purpose, in an effort to get the true accent and ingrain the idea that they speak like the Americans from there out.

of course

 

[The Kuhn]

Liked the show. The only nitpicks I had was not speaking Russian in the flashback scenes and the way too convenient insta-attraction between the agent's son and the teen daughter.

I thought they spoke English on purpose, in an effort to get the true accent and ingrain the idea that they speak like the Americans from there out.

When they first introduced them to each other, I didn't think the Russian official would greet them in English or tell them their instructions in English...important instructions would likely be given in their native language rather than be misinterpreted. It just felt like they were trying to avoid captions to me- pretty minor detail.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

In.