Pilot review: Crusoe

This show has pirates. And a tree house better than the Swiss Family Robinson. And two smokin' hot shirtless dudes. And treasure hunts. And a backstory that involves Sean Bean and Sam Neill. And a female pirate who's very weirdly reminiscent of Captain Jack Sparrow.

All logic indicates that this should be my favorite show of all time. And while I did enjoy it tremendously, there was something vaguely mid-90s New Zealander production about it, if you catch my meaning*, albeit with better filming locations. I will continue to watch it while it's on, but just based on the extreme Britishness of it, the unapologetically historical nature of it, and the fact that it's numbers weren't really so hot, I give it six weeks. Although maybe NBC just doesn't have anything better. We'll see.

One thing I found odd was that presumably the actual Robinson Crusoe story has an ending. This is just like Life on Mars where I'm wondering how they plan to make it an ongoing story for several seasons. And judging by the nature of the show itself, I really think it would be better as a miniseries. When is American network television going to discover and embrace the miniseries? It works great in England. Over there practically everything's a miniseries. And they can do multi-season miniseries if they see fit. Then they could just air it all, continue it if it's successful, and not deal with the stigma and humiliation of having to cancel a show that they purchased in the first place if it's not.

Also, the episode title was "Rum and Gunpowder". There was plenty of gunpowder, but I didn't even hear a mention of rum. The question (and obligatory reference) of course being: "Why is the rum gone?".

One more thing. Why oh why oh why didn't Philip Winchester play Will Turner in Pirates? He's like Orlando Bloom, just without the gross facial hair and able to act.

* my meaning(s)