Better Late Then Never

As Good As It Gets

Absolutely Fantastic

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I just saw it for the first time last night. However unoriginal the premise, it is still intriguing. As I understand it, the central character has witnessed the entire history of New York City. That is at least as interesting as the immortality bit.So immortality has been done. No problem. Now why is he a cop? That has been done and done and done. This review is based on a single episode, but I saw so many elements that are hallmarks of prime-time mediocrity. They have a police department that is staffed by former underwear models. Not a single cop in the city wears a uniform. A conflict is introduced and resolved in one episode, and the solution is embarrassingly simplistic (talking to people with street cred until someone gives them a tape recording of the murder).I see that it was canceled last year in the US. Honestly, it had potential. Someone took a good idea and played to the middle. If the formula worked for twenty other cop shows, why should it not work one more time?

I think it's too easy to say NA is similar to "Highlander," simply because its lead character is immortal. While McLeod cannot die unless beheaded, he, and his fellow immortal Nick Knight, are immortal primarily defined by their supernatural natures. The great appeal of John Amsterdam (or York, or Dutch, or any of his other aliases) is that he is a relatively ordinary man who, by virtue of having lived in New York since the 17th century, has learned much and experienced more. None of us is likely to picture ourselves as McLeod or Knight, but practically anyone can imagine that given the right circumstances, we could be John Amsterdam. He is extremely human, not at all superhuman....except for that one thing. He cannot die, not until he finds and commits to The One. It is refreshing to find a sci-fi story framed in a police setting in which the crimes are the least interesting parts of the hour we spend with him. We want to see more of John with his son, Omar. We want to go back into his past. Unfortunately, I at least have no desire to see him further his relationship with the woman he believes is The One.

This show started off sounding great, but its only real strength seems to lie in the novelty aspect of the lead character. The acting and stories are a bit soft.The show is about a 400 year old man who doesn't seem to age past his 30s. He's a police detective in New York and is destined to immortality until a particular circumstance arises.OK - that sounds pretty cool. It was totally cool until we learn that the special condition was that he won't regain his mortality until he "weds" his one true love ("their souls are wed"). That sounds a bit cheesy.Another issue is that the episodes aren't very memorable. The only interesting parts are bits that involve his immortality (his children, his past, etc). I can recall those little snippets, but can hardly remember the previous week's episode. The story-telling isn't very compelling.If you're a sci-fi/fantasy fan, check out an episode or two and see what you think. If you're like me, it's worth watching, but just barely. If you're only in the market for an all-around good TV show, look elsewhere.

This show is OK, seen the first 4 episodes. It borrows from the Highlander TV series in that the main character is immortal. He is made an immortal as a result of an act of kindness that he committed some 400 years ago and will only be made mortal again when he finds his one true love ? Well the historical flashbacks are OK and the show's a reasonable cop type show however the reason for his immortality is a bit daft and taking 400 years or more to find his true love is a bit stupid and kind of lame.The idea behind the show is not as cool as highlander and is a bit of a wishy washy version of it. I guess it's better than Highlander the Raven but is in no way as entertaining as the original Duncan MacCloud based Highlander series. It's premise is just too soft and daft. Highlander for girls if you like ? Bring back Highlander this doesn't quite cut it.