Thoughts on Gotham?

So I started rewatching this, originally a few years I dismissed it. But the pilot was actually really good, better than most tv shows. Second episode was meh, but I plan on sticking with it.

This video encouraged me to give it a chance.

I think the problem was that I was going in with the perception that a show without Batman was pointless, and stuff like Arrow and Flash left a bad taste. Although Black Lightning and Supergirl are admittedly great.

I just disliked the entire premise of the show. It seemed like telling Batman stories before he became Batman, which pretty much cuts against the entire idea of most of these characters. Bruce didn't travel the world studying martial arts, he stayed in Gotham and fought crime as a pre-teen? With Gordon's help? And the supervillains didn't start popping up around the same time as Batman? Selena Kyle and Bruce Wayne were compatriots as kids? If you're basically going to do a live-action Batman show then why not actually do a live-action Batman show and not be like "oh, it's not Batman, it's pre-Batman Bruce (even though it's totally still Batman). Oh, that's right, because WB is prickish about TV adaptations of Batman and Superman.

I just look at it as "another take". Pretty much all live actions/animated versions take libereities.

But I definitely get the point you're making, and that's what stopped me bothering with it in the first place, as mentioned above.

The basic premise doesn't bother me but I agree with everything else you said. The rampant retconning so everybody were childhood friends is an over simplified, network TV approach to a premise that could have been handled way better. Plus, it got so campy as it went on and on, but not in a good way. I know some people who say they like it like the old Adam West series, but it tries to take itself way too seriously for that and it ends up just being cheesy.

I like Donal Logue as Bullock, though. That's an inspired casting choice, although it would have been even better if they'd gotten him back when he was on the heavier side.

-Byshop

I liked the original idea of what the show was supposed to be--a focus on the Gotham PD, and their interactions with criminals and Batman's rogues gallery. Batman was supposed to be implied and not shown directly. This...I don't know what this was supposed to be. I couldn't make it past season one. Surprised it's still on the air.

And Byshop is right--Donal Logue as Bullock is great. It's just not enough to keep me watching though. Oh well...at least I have the blu-ray set of TAS for my Batman fix.

Yea, it does suck, at least the first season. I did like this Jim Gordon and the guy playing the Penguin.

Oh wells, back to TNG.

Like every one of these hero shows, it just falls apart after the first season. I liked the first season because it was about Gordon and the city but now it's just the young batman show.

The actors are at least good in their roles but it struggles to really fit any of the plot into its own premise.

@uninspiredcup: Well, it's a nice city, if you are rich and can go to the fancy parts. Not a good place if you are an average salary man. But if you absolutely want to go on vacation there, avoid dark alleys.