Gotham: The Series

[DRW50]

I noticed they named her Dinah. That's clever, I guess.

I hope these web serials work out but it's hard to say. I wish Victoria Wyndham could do one. It might be like the Hey Paula of web serials.

[Vee]

I am not willing to view Victoria Wyndham on digital video without some sort of protective visor or eye shield.

[DRW50]

There must be a market for Victoria Wyndham and Charles Keating reading Shakespearean sonnets with long, flowing hair. Then, for a special request, they can both wear the Justine hook and eyepatch.

[Vee]

These shows can only be vastly improved by George Reinholt: Rugged Heterosexual.

[Actor87]

That was intentional. I think Catherine was trying to avoid eye contact with Richard.

I, too, was baffled by the random make-out sesh. The only thing I can guess is that homegirl saw Catherine checkin' out her man.

Audio is DREADFUL. I thought a 2 week "read feedback and make adjustments" grace period would prompt them to edit the sound, but apparently not. Eith that, or it's not fixable. With all the clout MB has, I'm surprised she doesn't have access to better cameras and booms.

And Anne Sayre talks really fast. Mixed with the audio, I heard about 2 words that she said.

The whole slow-motion headspin with MB is a bit..........odd. It was on the first episode, and now, the second.

I wish I knew more about the characters, namely the awkward tension between Catherine and Richard.

The opening is a minute long, and so are the credits. I get bored easily, and I have a feeling people are going to get sick (awfully quick) of watching the same one minute intro, over and over and over and over. (Especially with that loud ass music)

[koos]

Would it kill them to make these longer than 20 seconds? At least 10 minutes, like old soap operas, for crying out loud.

[JackPeyton]

Venice is pretty diverse, IMHO.

[Cat]

LMAO! And then because this reminds me of SteveFrame who was such a fan (and font of information about 1970s Another World).

The problem with Gotham is that it is just too short. I know they have constraints because of the non-budget and actors' time and salaries. But these do not feel like episodes to me. They feel like the segment just before a soap will run its opening credits.

They should have just put together a 15-18 minute show once a month, IMO. I know I am biased as I have just been viewing old skool Loving on YouTube but, honestly, those 20 minutes of soap are a thing of a beauty. Perfectly constructed. Efficient, effective storytelling. Well and richly-defined characterization. Dammit, you WANT to tune in tomorrow to find out what happens! Loving didn't faff around with "Oh, look, we're filming outdoors!! Isn't it so cool and new and awesome?! Digital rocks!" They just got down to story -- an A and B story and maybe half a C story and just went with it. Right now, both Gotham and Venice feel like TPTB are so busy patting themselves on the back for actually presssing the Record button on the camcorder that they forgot the most important elements: story and characters. If you want to make it like a soap, pretend you are a soap! Think like a soap! Act like a soap!

[Chris B]

I thought this was much improved! A little longer and it flowed better. I find myself interested in the characters and story. My only thing is...if the episodes are five minutes, how will the fit all these new cast members in? I LOVED Maeve Kinkaid as Dinah. She looked BEAUTIFUL! Her hair was flawless. GL was clearly doing her no favors.

[bellcurve]

This is exactly what the people behind Gotham and Venice should remember. Martha Byrne and Crystal Chappell's aim is to appeal to soap fans. Well what do soap fans want? Good, soapy stories. Not mini-segments.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree with Cat--It'd be better to have three or four of these combined nad aired once a month instead of these TINY bites--in two weeks I'll completely forget what we learned in 3 minutes (!) here And yes,Martha does look high--what was with the ENDLESS slow motion fade out at the end? just to make it seem longer>?

[SOAPSFOREVER]

I thought the first episode was dreadful, but number two totally tanked. Sorry Martha, you're bombing, from the writing to the production, there's just nothing to hold my interest.

[Chris B]

I do think Bryne is trying to craft an actual soap. I'm not seeing the egos and cockiness of Venice. Gotham isn't perfect, but it doesn't seem like a pet project. There is an actual story and the characters aren't just re-treds of what these people did on other soaps. I also like the diversity in the actors chosen. It's not just "Who are my friends on other soaps right now?" I'm sure she could've filled all these roles with the current ATWT and GH cast, but what fun is that?

Now the length is definitely a problem, but I'm hopefully they recognize those complaints and fix it for season two. 5-7 minutes was the standard length for all of these things. Everyone said "Oh people can't focus on the internet! They don't wanna watch the full thing." That's a load of crap as much stuff as I watch on my computer. For me the ideal length would be 15-20 minutes, at least 15 includes credits.

[EricMontreal22]

Right now we get abotu 3 minutes of actual content. That simply is too little--in two weeks will I even remember what happened this week? probably not (maybe she should add a recap to kill another minute )

[Vee]

I don't see any characters. There is no characterization. None of these websoaps have that. Well, Gotham attempted to establish Richard Manning with the phone bit in the first episode, but who is he really? Does he really know Catherine? Who is she? Or her friend? Or Margaret Reed? Or Maeve K.? Meanwhile, Venice is just doing a retread, Otalia II, but at least, unlike Gotham they managed a two-character scene with a modicum of some depth for a brief bit. I wasn't very impressed with either show though. These shows are plotted like they have an hour. They don't, so instead of focusing on character for the brief time period, they do plot and Ellen Wheeler it.