The Americans and Zero Hour

I caught the pilot of FX's The Americans (2013) the other day, and I was hooked instantly. TV shows as good as this come only once in a few years. Staged in the 80's during the height of the cold war, thatcould not have been better setting for this larger than life thriller - pre-digital age with old school spying and nuclear tension, why didn't somebody come up with that earlier!?! The script was superb and the characters were amazingly well crafted out. Within an hour and a half you already know Philip, Elizabeth and even the main antagonist Stan better than you would have had they been on another show for an entire season. The icing on the cake? Spoiler alert! Spolier alert! even on the first episode it manages a complex scene like Philip singing the national anthem with his son at the school for the astronaut. It's just a stroke of pure genius to tell the story through the eyes of the Russian spies. Scratch that, the entire show is pure genius, period. Watch it, you won't regret it.

Guess what. I watched the pilot of the new ABC show Zero Hour (2013) right after this. They show this on prime time? Really? Seriously? They can't even show the story they need to employ the used and over used trick of having some kids seek out and old guy and have the old guy just tell the story... what is this a radio show? I just listen to the story instead of having those overpaid actors act them out? Woo, there's conspiracy. I am so scared. Seriously? A elementary school kid could have come up with a better story; the bozo under the highway pass could have given a better performance. I so wanted to throw up after.