Lonestar

[Emperor]

I had little hope for this show... but I ended up LOVING the pilot. This is by far the best new network pilot I have seen this fall. The characters were rich, the music was superb and the plot was interesting. I just hope people give up on the event and migrate over to this before it is too late.

 

A suspense drama created by screenwriter Kyle Killen (the upcoming Mel Gibson-Jodie Foster feature “The Beaver”), “LoneStar” follows a conman (James Wolk) with two wives (“Friday Night Lights’” Adrianne Palicki and “Crash’s” Eloise Mumford) in two different Texas cities. Jon Voight plays the Palicki character’s wealthy oilman pop. David Keith plays the conman’s conman dad.

 

I found the pilot, which gradually reveals what is essentially the central character’s triple life, terribly compelling. But once all the man’s secrets were revealed, I was left to wonder if the conman’s plan would make for a good second episode, let along a whole series.

 

I can only recommend you enjoy the pilot for what it is, then tune in for episode two and hope for the best.

 

USA Today says:

 

… throws a lot of balls in the air tonight — and not all of them are of equal weight. Bob's wife and her dad are more interesting than her brothers, and Bob's life in Houston is far more interesting than his life in west Texas, which feels too sweetly artificial. Still, if Monday's debut leaves problems in its wake, it also does an impressive numbers of things remarkably well. It firmly establishes its intriguing main character's brains, skills, and skewed-but-real moral code. …

 

 

The New York Times says:

 

… clever … offers an amusing and novel television conceit, but in an age of Enron and Bernard Madoff, it takes a very persuasive actor to keep viewers rooting for a swindler. Mr. Wolk is well cast. …

 

 

The Los Angeles Times says:

 

… creator Kyle Killen and executive producers Amy Lippman and Christopher Keyser (the latter two best known for "Party of Five") are betting that the callow charm of their leading man, shored up by tailor-made roles for Keith and Jon Voight, who plays gimlet-eyed oil tycoon Clint Thatcher, will overcome the ridiculousness of the setup. It's a lot to put on the shoulders of a 25-year-old with virtually no television experience. Certainly, Wolk is not hard to look at, so like a young George Clooney, down to the self-deprecating smirk and sideways twinkle, copyright infringement may be involved. …

 

 

TV Squad says:

 

… There's no doubt that the pilot for 'Lone Star,' the story of a young con man in Texas in love with two women, is a strong and well-crafted hour. But 'Lone Star's' first installment inevitably invites questions: Should it have been the first half of a two-hour movie? Can the stories at its core sustain a full season of television? After all, any con, even a long one, has a built-in expiration date. …

 

 

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

 

… has enormous potential to be a complicated, tightrope-walking tale of two lives. Or it could just implode. …

 

 

The Washington Post says:

 

… tells its tale in a deliberate, well-written and subtly acted way. … better than almost anything new this season-- which isn't saying much; this season goes wanting for standouts. …

 

 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

 

… There's no denying the quality of the pilot but with a show that paints its protagonist into so many corners -- he has a wife in Houston and a girlfriend in Midland -- viewers are left to wonder how the "Lone Star" writers can keep the show's house of cards from tumbling down. …

 

 

HitFix says:

 

… the best pilot episode of the network TV season … It is a very, very, very strong pilot. But is there a series here? … I fear that John is speaking as much to his show's writers as to his son there - that good as "Lone Star" looks at first, there's no way it holds up over the course of a 13-episode season, let alone the 5+ seasons that successful American shows are expected to run. There are so many lies in so many places, so many people on the verge of finding out and/or being hurt, that it feels like "Lone Star" might become very frustrating and repetitive by episode 3 or 4. I would watch a movie version of "Lone Star," and I will stick with the series hoping it proves me wrong, but it doesn't feel like this premise has legs. …

 

 

The Boston Herald says:

 

… so full of plot holes you could drive a motorcade through it with a parade of elephants behind. … The final plot twist sets up a “Big Love” - OK, “Little Love” scenario that seems unsustainable. Wolk, who resembles “Bachelor” host Chris Harrison, occasionally rises above the script, but it’s hard to be sympathetic to somebody who comes off like a narcissistic sociopath who is bedding two beautiful women and determined to have everything. Complicating the premise: Wolk has tremendous chemistry with Mumford and zip with Palicki. The series rests on him spinning his deceptions from week to week and not getting unmasked, presumably, until the final episode. One quick Google search would end Bob/Robert’s lies, but then Fox wouldn’t have a show, would it?

 

 

The Boston Globe says:

 

… what I like about “Lone Star,’’ what could make it the strongest TV newcomer of the season, is the ways in which it differs from classic nighttime melodramas. The show, which premieres tonight at 9 on Channel 25, is as much a bittersweet character study of con man Bob Allen as it is a new spin on the Ewings. To some extent, the Fox show operates something like a cable drama, as it toys with moral ambiguity and instills its hero with both cruelty and nobility. …

 

 

The Hollywood Reporter says:

 

… In less capable hands, the series' premise would be preposterous: a troubled con man who's only fooling himself if he thinks can stay with two different women, both of whom he loves. And yet Wolk pulls off a tricky role with the help of some strong writing, providing some emotional grounding for this engimatic character. …

 

 

Variety says:

 

Among the boldest bets from a major net this season, "Lone Star" bursts out of the starting gate -- a big, sprawling, perfectly cast soap, with talent to burn. … the pilot is so slickly executed as to raise hope for a happier fate than that of "Profit," the Fox antihero series this most closely resembles. If nothing else, the prototype is misnamed, since the first hour merits a four-star rating. …

[Emperor]

Lonestar is no more. Due to bad ratings it has been cut and will be replaced with Lie to Me. I am sad as I thought this was the best pilot of the Fall on network tv.

[Krakalakachkn]

That was quick, and disappointing. I'll watch the pilot just to see what could have been.