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Alphas on Syfy HD

18K views 227 replies 60 participants last post by  DaveFi 
#1 ·
Surprised there isn't a thread on this show yet.


Anyway, watched the pilot last night and really enjoyed it. Looks like a promising show.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183865/
 
#152 ·
DVR'ed the Monday marathon of "Alphas" and watched them through the week (only missed "Bill and Gary's Excellent Adventure," which my DVR didn't record). I'm officially a convert to the show. It started slow and iffy, unable to conceal its blatant thievery of just about everything in the genre ("X-Men," "Heroes," "Misfits of Science," "Justice League," etc.) but it got by on the shoulders of David Strathairn and Ryan Cartwright. It's almost like the show was built for these two to carry the premise but they needed the other 'alphas' with cooler, more TV-friendly abilities (and GQ-pretty actors portraying them) to sell it to the SyFy suits and public. As the storyline/mythology built though even the initially-annoying Bill (Malik Yoba, playing literally and figuratively and angry black man) grew on me, and I realized the show got me hooked not because of what would happen next (though the twists to the genre were pretty cool) but because I wanted to see how the characters would interact with one another. Though Rachel and Gary seem to do the heavy lifting for the team (without either one of these two Dr. Rosen's team would be a great disadvantage) I enjoy just tuning into "Alpha" to see how 'the team' would get out of the next jam that Red Flag, the government or a rogue alpha would bring to their mist. Considering the SFX/budget is miniscule (pretty obvious in the shootout in the season finale; that looked as cheap and badly-slapped together as a "Heroes" season finale... ouch!) it speaks volumes that I enjoyed "Alphas" an awful lot more than I did bigger-budgeted Hollywood fare like "The Green Lantern" or "Sucker Punch."


And that's what separates "Alphas" from recent on-a-small-TV-budget TV superhero shows: when you grow to like and care about characters (not in the pilot, but slowly over the entire first season) it's easy to overlook cable TV production values and lack of SFX set pieces. What I liked about the ending of S1 isn't the worldwide consequences of the Alphas being outed, but how Gary's mother will react to the knowledge her son is special. Or that Cameron's kid will wonder if he has his father's ability when playing baseball. Or how Bill's wife will react to the knowledge that (a) her husband has kept secrets from her all these years and (b) whether she still wants to have a kid with him. Count me among those that can't wait for Season 2 because, when watched from beginning to end, "Alphas" has a lot to say and I'm listening/waiting with bated breath and anticipation.
 
#153 ·
TV Notes
Bruce Miller Joins Syfy Series Alphas' As New Showrunner

By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - September 30th, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: Syfy's drama Alphas is heading into Season 2 with a new showrunner. Bruce Miller has joined the series starring David Strathairn as executive producer/showrunner. He replaces Ira Steven Behr, who is departing after running the series in its first season.


Alphas, from BermanBraun, Universal Cable Prods. and co-creators Zak Penn and Michael Karnow, follows a team of ordinary citizens who possess extraordinary and unusual mental skills. It was renewed for a second season earlier this month. Miller will serve as an executive producer on the show alongside Penn and BermanBraun's Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein. Karnow serves as co-executive producer.


The gig extends Miller's relationship with Syfy. He most recently served as an executive producer/showrunner on the network's series Eureka, which wrapped production on its fifth and final season last month. ICM-repped Miller's series credits also includes ER, Medium and 4400.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/09/bruc...ew-showrunner/
 
#154 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dad1153 /forum/post/21023857


Bruce Miller Joins Syfy Series Alphas' As New Showrunner

Hrm - not sure how I feel about this. I really liked the first two to three seasons of Eureka, but I gave up on the series this year after a bunch of predictable, yawner episodes. I personally was happy with Alphas the way it was - let's hope the new showrunner doesn't Eureka-ize this show. We'll see when season 2 airs next year I guess.
 
#155 ·
Watched an episode of this show, it was like watching Mutant X (sadly I caught an episode of it way back when).
 
#160 ·
I've been catching up after recording the marathon. I'm loving this show. I'm too old to enjoy other "superhero" shows, but this one is really a cut above. The entire cast is very good, the characters are well thought-out, and there is real humor:

"That's not what we do. It's a front."

"Gary....!"


David Strathairn is the glue that holds it all together.


Doug
 
#161 ·
Oh totally, without Strathairn as the show's Professor X (or Ryan Cartwright's take on Gary and his growing importance to the team) "Alphas" wouldn't work. That said, can we lay off on seeing Dr. Rosen's junk when he's swimming?
Once was enough during the pilot, but again for the season finale? Too much!



Shame John Pyper-Ferguson has already been introduced as a cold, unemotional leader for the Red Flag opposition. With no history between the two team's leaders (impossible since Stanton Parish was alive and being mischievous when Dr. Rosen was in diapers) there won't be that back-and-forth between friends that made the X-Magneto arguments in the "X-Men" movies so compelling. Who knows, maybe the show will benefit from not having such a direct "X-Men" connection between the leaders of the two alpha movements.
 
#162 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joxer /forum/post/21009660


The episode was a a few minutes over 1 hour, not 2 hours.

It had "limited" commercials too.

Big Whoop! The length of the episode is 45:20. Avg length of normal episode is 42-43 minutes. So, the extra three minutes just pushed it three minutes past the hour. Couldn't have been much in the way of "limited" commercials.


To me an extra length episode would be in the 50-55 minute range. 45 minutes is where every episode should be, if not 2-3 minutes longer!
 
#163 ·
From the "Hot Off The Press" Thread (top of 'HDTV Programming' page)


TV Notes
'Alphas' action-packed season 2 trailer

By James Hibberd, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog


The world now knows about the existence of super humans. The Alphas team is scattered. But new threats prompt the government to reassemble Dr. Rosen’s group of reluctant heroes.


Here’s the first action-packed trailer for Syfy’s Alphas season two. And be sure to click here for our interview with new showrunner Bruce Miller for more details about the season (a Civil War episode!): [CLICK LINK AT BOTTOM]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/06/08/alphas-season-2-trailer/
 
#164 ·
I am really looking forward to Season 2 of Alphas. It has been so long since Season 1 ended, I had forgotten that the show had been renewed until I saw dad1153's recent post.
 
#166 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantom Stranger  /t/1347169/alphas-on-syfy-hd/150#post_22137632


This show ended up being overlooked for some reason by many people in its first season. I think some whom would like it have completely given up on SyFy and never gave it a chance.
Well, that's what happens when you completely sell-out as a network- you lose all creditability with regard to decent content.

Once they renamed the network, started featuring wrestling, and continued showing endless Asylum productions.. many, including me, did give up on them.


In any case- I glad to see Alphas returning soon...
 
#170 ·
I enjoy this show but I'm not sure how far this Alpha war thing should play out. They also seem to be making Alphas more and more powerful which puts it into X-Men territory which I didn't think was the idea behind the show. Having some abilities which weren't that great or powerful was the idea that I thought was great.
 
#171 ·
I'm enjoying the new season episodes....

In S02E05 "Gaslight" about 13 min in- there was a funny bit where Hicks shoves a wad of clothing right up in Rachel's face and says "take a wif of this" she immediately pulls back and retorts "Um... EXCUSE ME... I'm not a dog!" Rare humor on Alphas...
 
#172 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by replayrob  /t/1347169/alphas-on-syfy-hd/150#post_22350400


I'm enjoying the new season episodes....

In S02E05 "Gaslight" about 13 min in- there was a funny bit where Hicks shoves a wad of clothing right up in Rachel's face and says "take a wif of this" she immediately pulls back and retorts "Um... EXCUSE ME... I'm not a dog!" Rare humor on Alphas...

The humor doesn't translate well here, but in the most recent episode (the one with River Tam, er... Summer Glau), when the Alphas are stopped in the minivan and the one guy kills the van by touching it and someone in the van says "They're alphas! I wonder what the other two can do," I admit I laughed out loud when Gary remarked "That one opens doors!" (when the guy walked over and opened the door to the minivan). Clever, quick little bits of humor sprinkled in there, and the line wasn't given any time or any pause for you to appreciate it. Good stuff.
 
#173 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flambe  /t/1347169/alphas-on-syfy-hd/120_60#post_22351357


The humor doesn't translate well here, but in the most recent episode (the one with River Tam, er... Summer Glau), when the Alphas are stopped in the minivan and the one guy kills the van by touching it and someone in the van says "They're alphas! I wonder what the other two can do," I admit I laughed out loud when Gary remarked "That one opens doors!" (when the guy walked over and opened the door to the minivan). Clever, quick little bits of humor sprinkled in there, and the line wasn't given any time or any pause for you to appreciate it. Good stuff.

Gary is hysterical. I enjoyed that line too.
 
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