This premiered tonight. The PQ is good even on Dish/E*. The scenery of Botswana is gorgeous.

I'm surprised no one mentioned this, yet.

I just finished watching this and it looks amazing as you said allargon the cinematography of Botswana is beautiful. There is a lot of color to be seen in the buildings, clothes, etc that really stands out. I enjoyed the acting and story as the characters are enjoyable. Let's see how it plays out.

Wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that HBO is 2 weeks behind the broadcasts on BBC HD (and the pirate copies on the Internet made from the BBC HD broadcasts)?

The pilot for No.1 Ladies Detective Agency ran last year on the BBC, with the series starting a couple of weeks ago (I think we had episode three of the series last night on BBC HD)

It does look great doesn't it? (Though we've noticed a few reflections in sunglasses that maybe we weren't meant to see!)

Great to have a series set in Africa that isn't doom and gloom (though it doesn't avoid issues either) - and isn't centred on an ex-pat US or UK family moving to Africa.

Is this show suppose to be a comedy? There were several scenes that made you want to giggle a little, but other than that, I don't get what this show is suppose to be. Comedy? Drama? Dramedy? Something else?

Yes, the scenery is gorgeous in HD. The English was a little hard to follow at times being laced with so much Setswana and we had to turn on Closed Captioning to catch a lot of that and it seemed that they did several episodes in one long one.

We aren't sold on it yet, but will give it another try next week then decide if we want to stick with it.

(Though we've noticed a few reflections in sunglasses that maybe we weren't meant to see!)

I see a lot of that now in all kinds of surfaces that you never saw in SD. If it is shiny and you are watching it in HD, you will see the reflection.

I watched 10 minutes of it. It wasn't my type of program. I did like the scenery.

Edit: I also read up on the storyline/plot.

Great to have a series set in Africa that isn't doom and gloom (though it doesn't avoid issues either) - and isn't centred on an ex-pat US or UK family moving to Africa.
So many bad things happen in Africa and keep happening there that I have a strong inclination to avoid any dramatic show set there. I haven't hated every drama I have seen about Africa, Hotel Rwanda comes to mind, so maybe this show will also have some appeal. I hope so. I will follow this thread and try to get a sense of what is going on. Just learning that it looks great is a plus, so maybe a little more positive feedback will be enough to convince me to start watching.

I watched the first half hour and will watch the rest tonight. I have nothing bad to say about it and so far, for me, it has some potential.

larry

So many bad things happen in Africa and keep happening there that I have a strong inclination to avoid any dramatic show set there. I haven't hated every drama I have seen about Africa, Hotel Rwanda comes to mind, so maybe this show will also have some appeal. I hope so. I will follow this thread and try to get a sense of what is going on. Just learning that it looks great is a plus, so maybe a little more positive feedback will be enough to convince me to start watching.

From seeing your posts to other threads, I believe you would enjoy this show. It's kind of a throwback: very upbeat, lightly humorous, non-threatening entertainment. It won't appeal to everyone, as there is no nudity, foul language, or heavy violence. The dialog was very good, and the production values were excellent.

Give it a shot.

Art

From seeing your posts to other threads, I believe you would enjoy this show. It's kind of a throwback: very upbeat, lightly humorous, non-threatening entertainment. It won't appeal to everyone, as there is no nudity, foul language, or heavy violence. The dialog was very good, and the production values were excellent.

Give it a shot.
OK, you convinced me. I just set up a season pass and will record the pilot at 10:30 tonight. I'll post my impressions after I get a chance to watch it. I must confess that part of my decision to try the show was based on my cheapskate nature. I am paying Cox OKC a rapacious monthly charge for HBO already, so I figured I might as well get the most out of it. :) More seriously, HBO has an excellent track record with their series. In Treatment, for example, was a sleeper, which ended up working very well. I am looking forward to its second season, which starts soon.

Is this porn?

Is this porn?Yes, too bad you missed the one time showing.

larry

I finished watching the pilot. Not bad. Like others said, cute, light hearted and touched on issue that is probably more prevalent in Africa than the USA. The writing is decent and the location and cast made up of locals made it enjoyable to watch. I'm sticking with it for now.

larry

Yes, too bad you missed the one time showing.

larry


You beat me to it. And it was some of the nastiest XXX there is or was, plus it had some bug DVR's weren't able to record it, so we can't show any proof. :D ;)

I have mixed feelings so far. Imo it felt more like cbs,nbc.abc show then a hbo show and Im not talking about vulgarity or nudity. The package was just too neat and tidy for me, missing many of the suddleties that make hbo shows great. All of her cases worked out too perfectly and quickly imo. I also find Jill Scotts acting a little distracting.

With all that said I still enjoyed the show. A show based in Africa about a female detective has a lot of potential and as everyone said it looks fantastic.

I think it ticks the warm/feel good box, and is suitably different to other shows to merit viewing. It's nice to have something different, set in a non-standard location, and with different actors and actresses. The Wire it is not!

I like the dialogue, and the show has a great look.

It isn't gritty drama, it isn't "real life", it's quite gentle, both in its humour and its characterisation. I think it will make some serious points though - I don't think a series set in Africa can ignore some of the issues facing the continent.

It airs at 9pm on Sunday evenings on BBC One (simulcast on BBC HD) - and that's a good slot for it IMHO (for a UK audience at least)

I ended up liking the pilot. It is no surprise it looked as wonderful as it did because the late Anthony Minghella, who won an Oscar for Out of Africa, directed it. Whatever we may think of Out of Africa's dramatic merits, there is no dispute that it is filled with glorious images. Minghella proved again in the pilot here that he is a master of that.

The cast was also very strong. I was particularly impressed by the star, Jill Scott. I had not seen her before but she was terrific in the pilot, playing a smart, shrewd, but essentially sweet woman who loves Botswana and her fellow man. Not surprisingly, Aniki Nori Rose, who stole every scene she was in in Dreamgirls and Idris Elba, who has worked a lot, most lately on The Office, were great. Rose is clearly a regular but how much we will see of Elba in future episodes is still unclear.

The pilot took its time. That could have been a bad thing but I think it worked here. We got to know the characters, particularly Scott's Precious Ramotswe, and Rose's snarky, smart (ass :)), feminist, but bone loyal secretary, Mma Makutsi. Africa's problems with evil men doing evil things, superstition, and ignorance were not ignored but, thankfully, were handled in a measured, sometimes nearly passing, way. That was a good thing in a story about Africa, I thought. Too often such tales seem to beat you about the head and shoulders with all the tragedy. Not here, though. This was a relaxed, mostly good humored, tale, which entertained me. I'll be around, at least for awhile.

The second episode played out like the pilot. It's "cute" and it's a nice change of pace. I agree with what Sneals said above. And, children would benefit from watching this. I did like some of the music, too - the drum arrangement in the beginning and some of the vocal/chorale arrangement later on.

larry

The wife turned this on and I started watching this with low expectations but I'm glad I did. I've seen both episodes and they're great.

Its very low key, the humour is subtle and any drama is non-violent and always works out in the end...peacefully. The star does an excellent job and her assistant breaks me up....some of those lines. I think its an excellent reflection of how things are in peace-time Africa....their pace..their way of solving problems.

The PQ is stunning and the audio/soundtrack great to listen to.

Highly recommended.

I found the second episode so disappointing, I quit watching about half way through and deleted my season pass. The second episode was way too much like the first for my tastes, which made it predictable. Worse, I thought the PQ was just ordinary, in stark contrast to the startlingly beautiful two hour pilot, which had been directed by Anthony Minghella. Sayonara, Gang.

This show sounds boring why watch. :confused:

I found the second episode so disappointing, I quit watching about half way through and deleted my season pass. The second episode was way too much like the first for my tastes, which made it predictable. Worse, I thought the PQ was just ordinary, in stark contrast to the startlingly beautiful two hour pilot, which had been directed by Anthony Minghella. Sayonara, Gang.

Sadly, I have to agree. I really enjoyed the pilot, but just couldn't get into the 2nd episode. I'll revisit the show, but it won't be something I'm itching to watch, like Deadwood, Brotherhood, or Trueblood. :)

Art