YELLOWSTONE - KEVIN COSTNER PILOT

[KingKC]

Did anyone see the pilot movie on Paramount TV with Kevin Costner last night? It is about a modern day Montana rancher that battles the Indians over his cattle and developers of subdivisions next to his huge ranch. His family was depicted as quite dysfunctional and he loses a son in one of the fights with the Indians. My wife and I were sorely disappointed as we thought there was some unnecessary violence and gratuitous sex. A lot of the conversations were in hushed tones and hard to hear and understand. The flow of the movie was very disjointed. Apparently it will be on Wednesday nights at 8 or 9 PM Central time. Would love to hear any comments.

[Steve]

I have the first two episodes saved on my DVR. I guess I can delete them now after reading your take on it. Too bad, I love Costner and anything set in the Montana, Wyoming, Black Hills area. Did you watch the Don Johnson series Blood and Oil a couple of years ago. I was getting into that series and it was cancelled, I am sensing this may suffer the same consequences....

[KingKC]

I have the first two episodes saved on my DVR. I guess I can delete them now after reading your take on it. Too bad, I love Costner and anything set in the Montana, Wyoming, Black Hills area. Did you watch the Don Johnson series Blood and Oil a couple of years ago. I was getting into that series and it was cancelled, I am sensing this may suffer the same consequences....

You should probably make your own decision. No I did not see the Blood and Oil show but I did like Don Johnson. I think he made the transition to Nash Bridges from Sonny Crockett quite well. I think Cheech Marin had a lot to do with that show though. I was very surprised that Costner decided to come to the "little screen." Just about as surprised as Tom Selleck going to the "big screen." I did not like TS in his movies because I kept seeing Tom Magnum when I looked at him.

[Kevster]

I've TRULY enjoyed KC when he had creative input in western-centric projects, but I think he's going to get screwed in this project. Whether it's his call or someone else's, it sounds that quality has been ceded to formula. This "get out the checklist" method of creating entertainment doesn't appeal to me, and I imagine performers like KC, with experience in high-quality projects in the past, can't be inspired.

I hope that KC doesn't go the Jeff Bridges route. I liked Jeff Bridges in some roles in the past, but his "mush-mouthed" character trend of recent years has ultimately made me DETEST watching him. If he's in it, that is my litmus test to whether it is going to be junk or not. Example: Hell or High Water was great high drama, DESPITE HIM.

So many actors can't bring that "energy" to a role like they had in the past. If they can bring more depth in projects as they mature and age, that's great, but they can't appear to phone it in. Example: Bruce Willis. Most recent projects: he doesn't bring it.

That's always been an area where any Magnum, PI movie or revival might have been an issue. TS matured, and I wondered if he could still bring the same energy to the character a decade or more after the original show ended. Clearly, his character on Blue Bloods is much more subdued than much of MPI required. Magnum required a blend of goofy "re-adolescence" combined with that more serious man of seasoning and contradictions (and occasionally going full lethal) that would require far more horsepower than TS seems to need for BB.