First, does anyone know if this is going to be in HD?

Second, does anyone know what's up with the running time of the first episode? It's listed on Dish's interactive guide as running from 10:00 PM to 10:50 PM, and then repeated from 10:50 PM to midnight. When I look on A&E's own website, it doesn't clarify the situation -- the first airing is listed as having a running time of 52 minutes and the second airing is listed as having a running time of 68 minutes! Not just in the guide, mind you, but clicking on the individual episodes and looking at the running time.

First, does anyone know if this is going to be in HD?

Second, does anyone know what's up with the running time of the first episode?.

I don't know if A&E is going to show it in HD, but it was definately produced in HD. I managed the (few) effects for the pilot.

First, does anyone know if this is going to be in HD?

Second, does anyone know what's up with the running time of the first episode? It's listed on Dish's interactive guide as running from 10:00 PM to 10:50 PM, and then repeated from 10:50 PM to midnight. When I look on A&E's own website, it doesn't clarify the situation -- the first airing is listed as having a running time of 52 minutes and the second airing is listed as having a running time of 68 minutes! Not just in the guide, mind you, but clicking on the individual episodes and looking at the running time.
I would assume 10PM is without commercials while the second airing has standard commercial breaks.

Is that the Peter Benchley one? I opened the thread thinking it was about the movie with the Russian tank in Afghanistan.

Is that the Peter Benchley one? I opened the thread thinking it was about the movie with the Russian tank in Afghanistan.
It's the new series starring Patrick Swayze.

The show was in HD, with 2.0 sound.

The previews for the rest of the season were in stretch-o-vision.

For the first run of the first episode, there were no commercials until about 5 minutes before the end. Strange.

Unfortunately, I was recording Supernatural and CSI during the first airing, so I had to catch the second one. I was very disappointed to see them do the "first scene over the compressed credits of the previous show" thing. Very annoying way to start a new show.

I didn't get a chance to watch the whole thing yet, but the first half isn't quite grabbing me. Hopefully the show steps it up in the second half. I'll finish watching it tonight.

It seems interesting, but I'm not sure that's enough to warrant my watching it every week...yet.

My main complaint so far? Too much "explainer" dialog. For example, in the scene in the car where Swayze gets his next case, his contact had to specifically say "Enjoy your new case file". There were a few other times that type of thing happened. I hate stuff like that.

with 2.0 sound...

Incredible.:rolleyes:

It's a copy of the shield only FBI instead police and appears to be somewhat toned down. You gotta admit blowing up that vehicle was pretty cool though. I guess I will be watching this one.

For anyone with iTunes or an apTV, the first ep is available as a free download in HD. I snagged it but haven't fully watched yet, so the jury's still out determining if it's really any good.

I watched the rest and it's not bad. I'm not sure it's good enough to keep me watching, but we'll see.

A few nits (I put spoiler tags on them in case some people haven't watched the episode yet):

- I'm pretty sure that when the arresting officers/agents come in, they "arrest" the undercover agents, as well in order to preserve their cover. Word gets around pretty quickly among the criminal set about UC's.

- On the subway, Ellis admitted to smoking crack in the course of the investigation and even pulled a gun on a supervisor. I don't know what FBI these guys work for, but there would be a required evaluation after that sort of thing, especially since he wasn't involved in an active investigation at the moment. For that matter, being that he was still "in training", he would be required to undergo some kind of evaluation after his first real operation before being allowed to continue to ensure he was holding up to the pressure of it.

- It would have been stupid for Ellis to chase the guy down. He should have left that to the uniforms. Likewise, Swayze's character shooting an unarmed man in the back would not be considered close to a clean shoot.

- The whole drunk guy plot line seemed a bit unnecessary. I would have been fine with it if it had simply been a test to see who Ellis handled himself when in trouble - i.e., not resorting to pulling out the badge - rather than continuing beyond that.

Other than that stuff, it was pretty good.

this is funny, comparing a tv show to reality is futile. Come on guys it's a tv show, it is entertainment. If you must lable it to be able to watch it call it a Fable.

I liked the show, it was entertaining, of course it was not realistic in any way but if I want realism I can watch 48 hours, and I do watch 48 hours as it is one of the best shows on the tube, ever.

this is funny, comparing a tv show to reality is futile. Come on guys it's a tv show, it is entertainment. If you must lable it to be able to watch it call it a Fable.

I liked the show, it was entertaining, of course it was not realistic in any way but if I want realism I can watch 48 hours, and I do watch 48 hours as it is one of the best shows on the tube, ever.
I hear this all the time and I still think it's BS.

There's a difference between, say, Batman (which is set in a fictional city involving a really, really wealthy who dresses up as an armor-clad bat and fights crime) and a show set in a real city involving undercover FBI agents.

When you set your story in a realistic environment, there is a certain standard of realism that needs to be realized in the plot. Further, I don't think my nits were unreasonable to address. In fact, I would submit that failure to do so shows a lack of research - just like how every friggin' crime show has to do the "zoom insanely far in on security footage to read a guy's business card or license plate" thing.

We're not talking about things that affect the overall story arc - we're talking details that make the story more immersive by not taking you out of the moment. It could be something as simple as having an appropriate car, apartment or spouse for a character or be as big as whether a guy is able to run around creating mayhem without consequence.

Since it was brought up earlier, The Shield would be an example. It started out solid enough - even regarding the intentional "friendly fire" incident. You have a strike team that has a relationship with the gangs that keeps the balance. However, it went completely off the rails later on when it became a big conspiracy plot.

If you want to do a serialized version of Dark City, Sin City or whatever city, that's fine. However, the standard gets raised when you sell it as a reflection of reality. I think it's appropriate and necessary that we hold the shows to a higher standard than being able to just make it up as they go along. An aweful lot of money goes into making this stuff. It should be done with a reasonable expectation of research.

They don't have to produce documentaries - just have the characters play within the boundries of society or face realistic consequences.

The "it's only a TV show" arguement is like saying "it's only a toaster - none of them toast properly". That attitude is why you get burned bagels, yet have to push toast down twice.

The real question is, why do people feel that something can't be entertaining while being realistic?

NetworkTV: Great post. Loved the toaster analogy.

For anyone with iTunes or an apTV, the first ep is available as a free download in HD. I snagged it but haven't fully watched yet, so the jury's still out determining if it's really any good.

Thanks for letting us know. I DL'd it and watched it on my new macbook. I liked it. I will tune in for future eps.

I hope A&E keeps this series. So far I have enjoyed watching this show and although I started watching for Patrick it is the actor playing his partner who is the scene stealer LOL !

I turned off in the first ep when Swayze pulls out a pistol to threaten an otherwise fairly friendly CI in order to intimidate the "control cards" for the missile launcher out of her. Seemed like they were trying WAY too hard to make Swayze seem like a bad-ass as he probably could have just asked her or maybe bribed her. If that is indicative of his "investigative" powers I'm not interested.

The show was in HD, with 2.0 sound.

The previews for the rest of the season were in stretch-o-vision.

For the first run of the first episode, there were no commercials until about 5 minutes before the end. Strange.

It's 1080p24 (not 720p60) for select (meaning they have a display capable of communicating to the Dish's DVR's that they are 1080p24 capable) Dish Online customers! :D

http://www.multichannel.com/article/162387-Dish_Offers_A_E_s_The_Beast_In_1080p_Resolution_On_VOD.php

It's 1080p24 (not 720p60) for select (meaning they have a display capable of communicating to the Dish's DVR's that they are 1080p24 capable) Dish Online customers! :D

http://www.multichannel.com/article/162387-Dish_Offers_A_E_s_The_Beast_In_1080p_Resolution_On_VOD.php

Has anybody seen this in 1080p? I connected my 722 to my network when I read about it but I won't beable to watch it for 6 hours?! That's with a 15 mbps connection. Maybe the mods can change the thread title to "'The Beast' in 1080P from Dish on Demand." I think this is pretty huge news.

On another forum, virtually 100% of people are reporting that their receivers would only play it in 1080i instead of 1080p. I, personally, don't care about 1080p vs. 1080i, but I certainly don't intend to participate in Dish's ersatz VOD scheme until they somehow acquire enough internet bandwidth to download programs at a decent speed!

By the way, the 1080 version allegedly still only has 2-channel audio.

It's two channels but it looks very, very good. I'm from Chicago and I loved seeing the city in gorgeous HD. Some scenes are grainy, but you can tell it's an effect, because they turn it on and off. The cop who breaks all the rules theme is a bit tired, but I'll watch it again. Too bad you can't just set up a season pass like "normal" programming. You have to wait for the new episode to show up and then set up the download, which takes 6 hours per episode for me even though I have a 15 mbps connection. It's free and close to Bluray video quality, what's to complain about?

Has anybody seen this in 1080p? I connected my 722 to my network when I read about it but I won't beable to watch it for 6 hours?! That's with a 15 mbps connection. Maybe the mods can change the thread title to "'The Beast' in 1080P from Dish on Demand." I think this is pretty huge news.

Took 2 hours for me on a 5mbps connection.

It would be great if NBC or CBS started to do this (and with DD 5.1). The quality is excellent but it's pretty hard to sit through one of these; it is so corny. The Chicago location is a nice change, but I have a hard time believing the FBI would let one of its agents get away with "borrowing" an RPG.

My usual way of getting two channel audio from the VIP 722 doesn't work for this show: HDMI to my Panny plasma and then two channel analog out of the TV to my preamp. That method gives me silence. I have to use the 722's optical out to get any sound out of "The Beast."

Best episode yet. I hope I didn't jinx it :)

What's going on with 1080p? My 722 only shows eps 101 and 102 available in 1080p; no 1080p for last week's and this week's eps.

Disappointed with 2/0 audio, but the 1080p is noticeably superior to 1080i.

The A&E feed of The Beast on Cox OKC has 720p video and 2.0 audio. The 720p is just fine and when I matrix the 2.0 audio to 7.1 with my receiver it's acceptable, although inferior to genuine DD 5.1.

I thought this week's episode was riveting television. Patrick Swayze is a terrific actor and was perfectly cast as the tortured Charles Barker. I also though that this week's guest star, Lou Diamond Phillips, was excellent as an equally tortured undercover DEA agent.

I still don't quite know what to make of Swayze's costar, Travis Fimmel, who plays Ellis Dove. Sometimes I think he is a pretty good young actor but he often seems to be just another winey-voiced pretty boy beefcake. The show's writing, though, has been outstanding, with one taut script after another.

I like this show and hope it gets renewed. If Swayze's health holds up, I suspect that it might be picked up for a second season.

...I also though that this week's guest star, Lou Diamond Phillips, was excellent as an equally tortured undercover DEA agent.

He switched government jobs. On Numb3rs he plays an ATF agent. ;)

Hey All - any word? Looks like no episode tonight - I don't remember seening anything about it being cancelled.

I opened the thread thinking it was about the movie with the Russian tank in Afghanistan.
good flick!

Hey All - any word? Looks like no episode tonight - I don't remember seening anything about it being cancelled.

It's listed for next week. The funny thing is, until two days ago the same new episode was listed for this week, at least on Dish Network.

Cancelled.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20283378,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines