Suprised to not see a thread for this new show. I thought it was an excellent start and glad to see James Purefoy back on TV. Also, nice to see a show that has a mostly positive theme.

If you missed the first episode you can find it on Hulu:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/79501/the-philanthropist-pilot

I enjoyed it. Not great, but definitely a good start.

did you just say "excellent" when referring to an NBC drama? will wonders never cease?

:)

I'm not as much sold on the basis of the program as I am on the visuals -- it is a pretty show to look at, and over the summer, that might be enough.

I've been a fan of James Purefoy since I saw him in A Knight's Tale 10 years ago (to paraphrase a semifamous fangirl moment -- "Heath is Great, Who is THAT?") and I've been following his career ever since. It's great to see him on widely available American TV. I'm so glad they let him keep his accent -- he is just one of those actors whose charm seems to decrease by half when forced to use a different one.

It was also great to see The Wire's Michael Kenneth Williams -- I hope he gets more to do in future episodes.

I've been a fan of James Purefoy since I saw him in A Knight's Tale 10 years ago (to paraphrase a semifamous fangirl moment -- "Heath is Great, Who is THAT?") and I've been following his career ever since. It's great to see him on widely available American TV. I'm so glad they let him keep his accent -- he is just one of those actors whose charm seems to decrease by half when forced to use a different one.

He really got some exposure here when he played Marc Anthony in the HBO series Rome. He was outstanding in every show he was in. The sequence in which Anthony does his "walkabout" in Egypt was first rate thanks, in large part, to Purefoy's acting ability.

He really got some exposure here when he played Marc Anthony in the HBO series Rome. He was outstanding in every show he was in. The sequence in which Anthony does his "walkabout" in Egypt was first rate thanks, in large part, to Purefoy's acting ability.

Oh, I was a big fan of Rome :) (I said "widely available" because this is his first series that isn't on subscription TV.) My main gripe was that it ended far too soon and we didn't get nearly enough of Antony and Cleopatra.

I watched this on hulu today...I enjoyed it a lot!

is this not just a limited series?

Yeah the "Season 1" thing may be wishful thinking. Visually it was great, plot wise not so much. I almost turned it off several times over the plot -"I promised to get this medicine to..." was repeated so many times, if it wasn't for the great visuals I'd have quit. With all the resources this guy has he has to end up running through the jungle barefoot? Come on.

I'll give it one more week, if the plot doesn't get better I'm out of here.

I thought the pilot episode was pretty interesting compared to other shows this summer. Maybe my expectations are kind of low since so much else has struck out with me, but I think this show can gain some steam before the summers out

As summer filler goes I can live with this. I won't be rushing to watch it every week but it's an entertaining diversion when I don't want to concentrate.

The locale is a nice change too.

Omar from The Wire is a bit wasted here.

I think it has some of the best production values I've seen lately in a scripted hour show. It looks great in other words, and the show is fine as network stuff goes.

Isn't it already cancled?

I think it's just a summer 8 episode "mini-series", there's 3 eps left.

It does have very good production values with locations in South Africa and the Czech Republic and some quality production companies including some of the folks involved with HBO's "The Wire".

Enjoyed the first ep a little, then got bored of the premise during the next 2 eps. Removed it from the DVR record list.

I gave up on it too. The African storylines got old. Plus, I find the background "music" (drums or whatever) to be way too loud and intrusive, almost drowning out the dialog at times. Very annoying.

I think it was the creator of the show or perhaps the lead actor that stated the network wanted the lead to be more of a James Bond (fighting, taking on bad guys etc) character, but that they fought to make him a "regular" guy. That, at least for me, has killed the show. It's boring. Yay he got out of another jam by paying someone off! Yay that's exciting! Lame.