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Hazbin Hotel (2019)
I'm in love with this show
I've fallen in love with Hazbin Hotel since the pilot on YouTube and subsequent comics and extra video ("Addict," the music video of Cherry Bomb and Angel Dust-it's a banger). When it was picked up by A24, I knew there would be a fully fledged show on the horizon... But, as these things go, it faded from my mind.
Until I turned on Amazon Prime yesterday. With a mix of excitement and trepidation, I turned it on...
It's not quite what I expected, but I still love it. My main gripe is the recasting of voice actors. In particular Keith David. I don't dislike him as Husk at all, but he takes a little getting used to for me. It's both because I probably played Mass Effect and just associate him with captain Anderson by default, and because I really liked the voice actor in the pilot, Mick Lauer (the line delivery of "What? You think you can buy me with a wink and some cheap booze? Well you can!" is excellent). Other new VA's, such as Vaggie's, also sounds notably different, but I adapted more quickly to them than to Keith David. The main point is that if you're familiar with the pilot, the new VA's can sound a little... off.
The show also feels a little less edgy than the pilot (my inner cynic waxes poetically about everything lost when large corporate streaming services smooth stuff down to appeal to an audience as large as possible instead of creating something genuine) but it still seems like something the creator(s) wanted to make. I never had the feeling I (or anyone) was pandered to. Further, the subtle differences in tone and style are probably only something that hardcore fans who have watched the pilot several times might spot.
Neither of these points stand in the way of enjoying this show as it turned out. The writing is great. I was wondering what direction it would take. It could have been very episodic, something along the lines of a new guest every episode to be redeemed (or rather, spectacularly failing to). But it turns out there's an actual story here. And from what I've seen in the first few episodes, it's fun and engaging. I really like the writing, storytelling and world building.
I also enjoyed the musical numbers. They're not all great but still very decent. It absolutely elevates the show a little that there in there.
So, Hazbin Hotel, even though you're not quite what I expected as a show, I'm still in love with you and will watch you to the end.
Channel Zero (2016)
I died of boredom due to this show, and now haunt the web to warn others
Disclaimer: my rating is based on the first two and a half episodes of season one. That was how long I could hold out until boredom killed me, and now I am neither able nor inclined to continue watching this show. Take that as you will. Thank goodness though, my internet ghost powers have granted me the ability to post a review on IMDB, so here goes.
The show is an adaptation of the Internet phenomenon "creepypasta" (a play on the words copy & paste, as they are short, creepy stories copied and pasted over various web sites, often passed off as real). While this is not a bad thing, per se, the fact that one of the creators flat out stated they chose an(y) adaptation over coming up with original material because it's easier to get studio executives to approve, kinda sets the tone where they were going with this in terms of caring about the source material.
The first season borrows from the creepypasta Candle Cove. For those unfamiliar, the story is set up as an exchange of messages on the fictional NetNostalgia Forum, where anonymous users reminisce about a low budget kid's show that got progressively creepier, with a neat twist at the end. The story works really well in this format, and is a favorite pasta of many people, including me.
So, through the magic of Internet, I discovered, somewhat late, that Syfy channel chose this story as a basis for the first season of their show, Channel Zero. I was familiar with the Syfy channel mostly through 5 Sharknado movies, so I don't really know why I thought this could possibly turn out good, but whatever you can say about the Sharknadoes: they are not boring.
Not so much can be said for Candle Cove, Channel Zero edition. The season's runtime is 6 episodes of about 45 minutes each, and boy, they did NOT adapt the (quite short) Candle Cove story to that runtime well. Before going into that, a short summary of the show's premise is in order: instead of the message board format, it's a small town where several years ago 5 kids went missing, 4 of which their bodies were found, horribly murdered. A group of adults, present day, remember seeing the show Candle Cove as a kid, at the time of these murders. Hijinks ensue.
The premise seems decent enough and it could have maybe worked if they, oh, I don't know, wrote a decent script or something, but they clearly lack the effort and the talent for that. Instead, we get painfully long silences, drawn-out shots of trees and fields, nonsensical storytelling elements, and shoehorned-in Stephen King tropes to pad the runtime.
Most of what I saw before I so tragically got bored to death, was bad, but a special word about the acting: it's debatable whether most of the actors are bad at acting, or just had nothing to work with. I'm going to go with both.
I did find the emotional range (about a toothpick) of the main actor, Paul Schneider, and his overall performance, especially grating. He reacts to every situation (being interviewed on a show, encountering a dressed-up-creep in the forest, getting sliced with a knife by his mother) with the same, vague expression, something akin to a toddler trying to grasp whether or not someone with hands before their face has actually disappeared. Please, everyone who makes movies, never hire Paul Schneider as an actor, this guy cannot act.
The one star I rate this is for the design of the actual Candle Cove kid's show. It is they only thing that shows some level of caring about the source material. Otherwise, this soulless husk of a series will bore you to death if you are just a little bit critical. I suppose the only way to survive is already being uncritically brain dead due to years of gradual exposure to cable garbage before going in, but lacking such preparation, the shock was too great for me, and I perished. Be warned.