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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

"The Last Ship" racks up 7.4 million viewers



It's the End of the World - Again




By Gary;

TNT continued its ratings hot streak with the premiere of their end of the world action-adventure series The Last Ship.

The Last Ship launched with a total of 7.4 million viewers in Live + Same Day delivery for its 9 p.m. premiere and 11 p.m. encore.

Aliens or giant flesh eating insects were a favorite end of the world story line starting in the 1950s with classics like The Day the Earth Stood Still along with The War of the Worlds and Them!

Certainly nothing is more fun than a good old alien attack.  It keeps us entertained and the theaters packed right up to today.

But the late, great Michael Crichton started something new in 1969 with his riveting techno-thriller end of the world novel The Andromeda Strain.  Crichton introduced the often man-made scientific germ warfare angle to the movie genre.
The Father of the techno-thriller.

This was a new type of film where man's science dooms the human race.  It has taken off with productions like Resident Evil and the zombie classic The Walking Dead along with I Am Legend.

The Last Ship

TNT's The Last Ship picks up right on the fertile ground pioneered by others.

The crew of a naval destroyer is forced to confront the reality of a new existence when a pandemic kills off most of the earth's population.  The fictional USS Nathan James, must try to find a cure and stop the virus in order to save humanity.

I watched the pilot episode with some hope, if not high hope.  There is some good action in a few scenes.  That is a start, but character rules.

One thing that struck me at once was how boring the characters are.

Yes this is the first episode and one hopes there will be improvement.  But from my point of view the series has a serious flaw . . . the stuffed shirt, over disciplined American military as the main characters.

The Walking Dead struck ratings gold with a huge variety of non-military personalities each ready to kill the person at their side in order to survive.

Unless the writers decide on a mutiny, and the abandoning of all military discipline, then the series will not soar.  It will meander down a predictable military path of marionettes just reading their lines, saluting and saying "Yes Sir" every five minutes.

We will see in future weeks what direction they take.





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