HBOGO.COM HAS EPISODE 2 OF LUCK RIGHT NOW.

[maddog42]

Episode 2 of luck and all subsequent episodes will be available one week in advance on HBOGO.com.
Degenerate gamblers and racing fans can be the first kids on their block to see the new episodes. HBO did this with True Blood and a few other shows. Episode 2 has a lot of nudity and violence which also appeals to sicko liberals and conservatives alike. Very good episode.
The next time I mispell a word or jump on you for some slight (real or imagined),
remember this Public Service announcement.

[njcurveball]

Thanks for posting this.

[bigmack]

I resent being manipulated by HBO in this fashion.

Polly wants a cracker and paid for said cracker. PollyMassa throws cracker on floor and says "Polly want a cracker, Polly go get cracker. Polly want me to bring him cracker, Polly wait a week."

Polly say: Say WHA?

[olddaddy]

Episode 2 is also on comcast on demand now.

[maddog42]

I resent being manipulated by HBO in this fashion.

Polly wants a cracker and paid for said cracker. PollyMassa throws cracker on floor and says "Polly want a cracker, Polly go get cracker. Polly want me to bring him cracker, Polly wait a week."

Polly say: Say WHA?

I know what you mean. I'm not sure why this bothers me.

[Prairie Bettor]

This series seems really boring to me...

I'm trying to like it since I love horse racing, but I don't see it lasting very long...

Any other opinions?

[tbwinner]

This series seems really boring to me...

I'm trying to like it since I love horse racing, but I don't see it lasting very long...

Any other opinions?

Was just renewed for a 2nd season. 3.3 million viewers first night.

[Grits]

Mad, sweetheart, thank you for posting. Its nice to learn that I'll be able to view this series online. I've been so disappointed with the thought of having to wait for DVDs and whatnot.:( Now, I feel better. :)

[maddog42]

Mad, sweetheart, thank you for posting. Its nice to learn that I'll be able to view this series online. I've been so disappointed with the thought of having to wait for DVDs and whatnot.:( Now, I feel better. :)
Grits, I think you still have to have HBO. I do know there is at least one slightly illegal website that will have it. Ignore some of the armchair critics. This show is damn good.

[bigmack]

Was just renewed for a 2nd season. 3.3 million viewers first night.
Wrong. 3.3 over several airings.

[Grits]

Grits, I think you still have to have HBO. I do know there is at least one slightly illegal website that will have it. Ignore some of the armchair critics. This show is damn good.

One way or another, bud, I'll somehow watch this program. Even if I have to go to a friend's home, and say, "Look. I really need to watch "Luck", then I got to GO. Hope you don't mind!":lol:

[5k-claim]

Wrong. 3.3 over several airings.Is the part about being picked up for a second season true? What would that make, about 19 episodes?

.

[tbwinner]

Is the part about being picked up for a second season true? What would that make, about 19 episodes?

.

Yeah the part about 2nd season is. I was wrong about the 3.3 on Sunday. It was 3.3m total.

[5k-claim]

Yeah the part about 2nd season is. I was wrong about the 3.3 on Sunday. It was 3.3m total.Yeah, I saw that news yesterday. "Luck" looks like a promising series for HBO, with 18 more opportunities for people to quibble over things.

.

[Prairie Bettor]

Yeah the part about 2nd season is. I was wrong about the 3.3 on Sunday. It was 3.3m total.

OK, so alot of people watched the first episode. The previews made it look awesome.

But is it a good series? Seriously?

Where can the go with this? They've already won the pick six for gods sake!

And what about the camera views during races? Do horses really run like that? Head high in air, mouths wide open?

I don't think it can be good for racing to show a trainer cashing 26k. And felons using beards to buy horses and even a racetrack to get a casino?

That being said, I'll keep watching, because I love racing. Plus it gives me more reasons to stay away from California racing, it all looks fixed according to the show.

[bigmack]

Plus it gives me more reasons to stay away from California racing, it all looks fixed according to the show.
Solid point. I hadn't thought of that.

Are you Harvard or Yale?

[Grits]

Solid point. I hadn't thought of that.

Are you Harvard or Yale?

:lol: LOLOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLl:lol:

Oh, man. Mack its always good to start my day laughing.

[andymays]

OK, so alot of people watched the first episode. The previews made it look awesome.

But is it a good series? Seriously?

Where can the go with this? They've already won the pick six for gods sake!

And what about the camera views during races? Do horses really run like that? Head high in air, mouths wide open?

I don't think it can be good for racing to show a trainer cashing 26k. And felons using beards to buy horses and even a racetrack to get a casino?

That being said, I'll keep watching, because I love racing. Plus it gives me more reasons to stay away from California racing, it all looks fixed according to the show.
Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com - Horse Racing Message Board - Racetrack Characters

http://216.92.33.211/forum/showthread.php?p=696701

[Tom]

A scene has to be shot with Andy chasing behind some guys in suits and holding a list of things he is trying to talk to them about!

"And another thing....." would be his line, as he shakes the papers at them, they holding their hands over their ears.

And occasionally, we see that same group off in the distance, out of the main shot, but ever present on track. Scene inside the barn, the group passes by the open stall doors at the end of the barn.

[v j stauffer]

This series seems really boring to me...

I'm trying to like it since I love horse racing, but I don't see it lasting very long...

Any other opinions?

I just watched the 2nd episode and thought is was TERRIFIC. In this kind of format it takes more than a few shows to establish and get to know characters. By the end of the first season and into next year I think this show is going to be a huge hit. Hope so!!

[HoofedInTheChest]

Am i going deaf or was it really hard to hear the dialogue? I couldn't make out half of the conversations, ill have to watch it again.

[chickenhead]

he must have brought over the same writers from Deadwood, some of the gamblers dialogue in certain scenes had the same dense, odd language patterns. I like it, but it played more natural in the Old West.

In all movies they are in, gamblers seem to live in motels. It seems like a sort of law. Which I always thought was curious, are crap motels really any cheaper than a house? It can't be for the maid service, their rooms are always filthy. They just live in hotels because they're kind of shifty, I guess.

[bigmack]

he must have brought over the same writers from Deadwood, some of the gamblers dialogue in certain scenes had the same dense, odd language patterns. I like it, but it played more natural in the Old West.
It's Milch.

He wrote 36 episodes of DW & all of Luck. No writer from DW is involved with Luck.

[Tom]

OK, I like it myself, but if this is how we want to advertise racing to the "newbies" we better hope that target audience includes mobsters, hookers, degenerates, and crooked security guards. And animal haters.

I think the shows makes a mockery of the game myself.
I have never liked ANY HBO series, so this one is unusual in that I do like it - But I know better than most folk who have not been racing fans.

[Robert Fischer]

Thought episode 1 was entertaining.

Even cast in an infamous light, HBO at least casts horseracing, and that can be beneficial when the sport itself is so in need of mass media broadcast.

[Light]

.. if this is how we want to advertise racing to the "newbies" we better hope that target audience includes mobsters, hookers, degenerates, and crooked security guards. And animal haters.

I think the shows makes a mockery of the game myself.


You hit the nail on the head. I don't think this will do a thing for the sport except to reinforce the stereotype of degenerates that people think horse players are.

[thaskalos]

And since when have horseplayers been so reluctant to spend their newly-found wealth...for fear that they will "attract attention"?

I thought only thieves worried about that...

[mistergee]

And since when have horseplayers been so reluctant to spend their newly-found wealth...for fear that they will "attract attention"?

I thought only thieves worried about that...
I guess they were afraid of being called "redboarders" I also like the previous poster found some of the mumbling to be hard to hear and distinguish, and I have good hearing. I guess it portrays an extremely dark side, but I guess it wouldnt be as entertaining if they just showed happy bettors and trainers, etc. High fiving after a win?

[bigmack]

Some may consider it "over the top" but had I had a hand in the direction of this particular scene I would have have Stevens not only scratch his chin in a gesture of wonderment over Nolte's comments, but I would have had Stevens scratch his head as well at the same time. That way anyone who didn't 'get' the chin scratch would be sure to get it with both a chin AND a head scratch.

Creative subtlety is where it's at.

W9iznAmZVbQ

[maddog42]

And since when have horseplayers been so reluctant to spend their newly-found wealth...for fear that they will "attract attention"?

I thought only thieves worried about that...

IRS fears. We never saw them actually cash the ticket.

[thaskalos]

IRS fears. We never saw them actually cash the ticket.

What "outsider" could be trusted with cashing a $2,600,000 ticket?

I thought Andy Beyer said that the show was "realistic"...:)

[Tom]

What part?
The two hookers bonking that guy on the head? :lol:

[Roy C]

Jimmy the hat is the outsider you are looking for

[NJ Stinks]

I find the sound lousy too. It's aggravating going back again and again.

Taking some of the joy out of Mudville for sure.

But the story is good so far. :ThmbUp:

[maddog42]

I find the sound lousy too. It's aggravating going back again and again.

Taking some of the joy out of Mudville for sure.

But the story is good so far. :ThmbUp:

NJ you are quite right about the sound. It is terrible.

[v j stauffer]

Since we're talkng about TV I'll try to slip this in without getting smashed.

Smash. No not the Baffert horse. The new series on NBC. Did anybody watch it? What did you think?

It was must see TV for me cuz I'm such an addict for Broadway musicals.

Thought it was pretty good. Liked the character played by Megan Hilty. Have to admit I'm a bit biased though since I've seen her about 50,000 times as Glinda in Wicked.

[dinque]

i think that LUCK portrays everything in such a negative light....i do not understand why the industry and racetrack fans embrace it....the whole show upsets me....would think the cheating and violence would be kind of a negative for attracting newbies but what do i know

on a very side note i watched SEABISCUT today and i find it hard to believe that tick tock mcglaughlin and frank gallagher are one and the same ......

[bigmack]

Episode 2 officially out en masse.

What can I say but high hopes, quickly dashed for this effort.

You have Hoffman and you spend more camera/development time with a bunch of degenerates than you do with Farina (Denny) & Dustin? I wonder how The Sopranos would have done had they shown little of Tony and his family and a whole bunch of Paulie & Co. in the initial episodes. :rolleyes:

If Hoffman has it written into his contract for limited use, USE HIM EARLY to garner attention!

Thusfar, the show is a mess. Rotten production value, less than average writing, and less than engaging material.

What a laugh - People around here OVERLY scrutinzing details of the shoe. Can you imagine some oldtimer looking at Deadwood and sayin' - That ain't the way we did it ? Laughable stuff.

Degenerates aren't ordinarily a subject folk choose to sit and watch. No shortage of competition for the viewing hour brings a product like Breaking Bad which arguably makes this production look silly.

Less degenerates. More mob.

[Kevroc]

I can't disagree more.

If I want mob, I'll dial up Mario Puzo.

Hoffman was laughable in the ripping his shirt off scene.. I was embarrassed for him. I don't buy his whole character. I know he's a legend and I respect him as an actor but, not here.. DRY TOAST.

The degens and colorful racetrack characters are the draw for me. Mob shows are a dime a dozen and yawn-worthy for a Brooklyn kid like myself who has been around way too many of them irl. That being said, I like Boardwalk Empire and I'll get my dose of mob action from there, thanks. :)

Personally, I'd like more backstretch stuff. Show me the trainers going at it.. the jocks.. the promising horses.. that kind of thing that we don't already have on eleventy billion other shows.

[JBmadera]

I'm hooked, of course it could be better but at the end of the day it's a show about horse racing and gambling so what's not to love. (this from a guy who listens to tvg on xm radio.... :lol: )

[Jasonm921]

I think the show is spot on...some small issues but enjoyable so far. As far as showing the sport in a negative light? In a weird way that could be a good thing. People are attracted to seediness...it's just a part of the subculture of the country. Ask any kid who Al Capone is...then ask the same kid who Harry Truman is and you'll see my point.

Vic I saw Smash thought it was good. I saw them filming it in Times Square and got a great shot of Kate McPhee a few months back.

[5k-claim]

thinking they are watching a documentary on racing could possibly get the impression that everything is criminal. They will probably also wonder what happened to the career of Dennis Farina that he now has to work as a driver for fellow actor Dustin Hoffman.

Everyone else might assume that they are watching an entertainment program.

.

[classhandicapper]

I liked the 2nd episode, but that's mostly based on liking the subject matter.

I don't really like any of the characters (casting?) like I did in Deadwood. IMO Al Swearengen was one of the greatest TV characters I have ever seen. Without listing them all, I think you could make a case that Deadwood was at least 5-6 deep in absolutely great characters. So far, the only character that has me mildly interested is Escalante. I guess Nolte and Stevens are "OK" in their parts also. Maybe it will grow on me in time.

[bigmack]

HBO's Luck, a drama about the big bad horse racing scene, has been warmly received by most media critics, but lax production standards have roused critics less concerned with quality acting and believable narratives. According to the New York Observer, two horses used in filming were euthanized following on set injuries, prompting PETA to put the HBO show on blast. "Perhaps if producers had considered the proved safety protocols that we would have suggested, these horses would still be alive," the animal rights organization wrote in a blog post from a few weeks ago. PETA may be controversial, but considering the generally accepted moral standard for animal safety in media production, its disappointment doesn't seem so histrionic.

The NYO notes that two Luck episodes carried a less emphatic disclaimer: "The American Humane Association monitored the animal action," rather than the typical "No Animals Were Harmed" certification that typically follows an episode in which a dog gets kicked, or something similar. In concordance, the AHA released a statement saying that euthanasia was the only option following the injuries, and that it's since worked with HBO to make sure the same thing won't happen again. PETA is understandably more upset, and wants more information regarding the deceased horses, information that HBO is reluctant to provide. It's kind of a sad story in which no one really wins, but hopefully, safety standards on forthcoming episodes will be higher.
http://www.blackbookmag.com/tv/hbo-s-luck-under-scrutiny-after-accidental-horse-fatalities-1.44706

[dinque]

thinking they are watching a documentary on racing could possibly get the impression that everything is criminal. They will probably also wonder what happened to the career of Dennis Farina that he now has to work as a driver for fellow actor Dustin Hoffman.

Everyone else might assume that they are watching an entertainment program.

.

like "tilt" ..that great entertainment program about poker

[Tom]

I liked the 2nd episode, but that's mostly based on liking the subject matter.

I don't really like any of the characters (casting?) like I did in Deadwood. IMO Al Swearengen was one of the greatest TV characters I have ever seen. Without listing them all, I think you could make a case that Deadwood was at least 5-6 deep in absolutely great characters. So far, the only character that has me mildly interested is Escalante. I guess Nolte and Stevens are "OK" in their parts also. Maybe it will grow on me in time.

Obviously, there is a glaring hole in the cast that only Gary Busey could fill.
Or Charlie Sheen?

[tzipi]

http://www.blackbookmag.com/tv/hbo-s-luck-under-scrutiny-after-accidental-horse-fatalities-1.44706


Yeah saw that too. Not good. :ThmbDown:

[mountainman]

Two major knocks here. First, the degenerate horseplayers just aren't real interesting and are so over the top as to come off as parody. Also, the characters don't seem to converse as much as exchange stilted little speeches in sentence patterns barely discernable as english. I've never heard ANYBODY talk like the people in this show, and that makes it hard sometimes to follow.

Give me more Escalante, the cute female jock who contorts the 'f' word, and send Farina to end somebody about twice a month.

[thaskalos]

Two major knocks here. First, the degenerate horseplayers just aren't real interesting and are so over the top as to come off as parody. Also, the characters don't seem to converse as much as exchange stilted little speeches in sentence patterns barely discernable as english. I've never heard ANYBODY talk like the people in this show, and that makes it hard sometimes to follow.

I keep thinking of Andy Beyer's proclamation that these characters are...REAL!

I am still waiting for the first "real" person to appear on the show...

A brilliant handicapper who is perpetually broke is not a rare sight...but to see him win half a million dollars, and put it in all in a paper bag and head for a Chinese restaurant...in order to engage in a big-money poker game with its owner?

C'mon...

[mannyberrios]

Did you see Gary Stevens smoking and drinking ?

[mountainman]

Come to think of it, the good citizens of Deadwood ( free-flowing profanities aside) talked in the same peculiar manner. And love that show or not (which I did), who won't admit to rewinding 5 times an episode just to figure out what the frick they (especially Swearingen) were talking about?

[bigmack]

Kudos for the wonderfully poignant montage from Ep 4.

A shout out to the episode’s director, Phillip Noyce, who also helmed Dead Calm.

A wonder sound scape piece from the great composer, Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight.

Might even give some of you nerds that see little value in classical music to spin a track or two every now & again, and think pensively about this nutty place called Earth.

9t_kwsEGCms

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Notebooks-Max-Richter/dp/B0001FT2EE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329798656&sr=8-1

[bobbyt62]

WAAAAAYYYYY over the top melodrama . i don't see how anyone other than lovers of BIG melodrama could like it. i thought they'd go for "barney miller" vibe, some drama, some downbeat humor..... it is a nice looking show, but i don't know if i can stand many more.

[bigmack]

i thought they'd go for "barney miller" vibe, some drama, some downbeat humor..... it is a nice looking show, but i don't know if i can stand many more.
Barney Miller? :lol:

Best get out now. You're in for a BIG disappointment.

[Ocala Mike]

What bigmack said. Episode 4 was the best one yet. The depiction of the race with Nolte's horse had a decent musical backdrop and used cutaways to what all the characters were involved in at the time (montage). I thought this was well done. Pacing problems not evident and I could (mostly) hear what the characters were saying.


Ocala Mike

[blind squirrel]

i loved episode 4....Nolte is doing Jack Van Berg,and Stevens is doing P Val.
No Gary was not anything like the character....But we've all seen him....As for the Horse Players,Haven't you ever seen the Railbirds at Aqueduct?

[johnhannibalsmith]

...Give me more Escalante, the cute female jock who contorts the 'f' word, and send Farina to end somebody about twice a month.

Laf... I'm with you there... Escalante is the highlight and the most accurate depiction of a player... guy is boffing the vet and wants to know how a winner in another barn cooled out... if that ain't real...

On the other end, we still have Burgess Meredith as the Penguin in a never ending bitch battle with both of his jocks, telling one not to get the other hooked on the shit, while screaming at that other that the game is zero-sum and he must drop the pounds by any means necessary... geeez... I wonder what's going to happen there...

[Tom]

The Penguin!

:lol:

[Ocala Mike]

Richard Kind (Joey the Agent) = Burgess Meredith (the Penguin).
Good one!

Was wondering who this guy reminded me of.


Ocala Mike

[Beachbabe]

It's a far cry from The Wire, yo !!!

Mos def !!

[magwell]

Who ever edited last weeks show didn't know you cant sell or transfer a claimed horse a few days after the claim?

[cj]

It's a far cry from The Wire, yo !!!

Mos def !!

Best show ever!

[Tom]

Who ever edited last weeks show didn't know you cant sell or transfer a claimed horse a few days after the claim?

He came with the grill.

[proximity]

I am still waiting for the first "real" person to appear on the show...

A brilliant handicapper who is perpetually broke is not a rare sight...but to see him win half a million dollars, and put it in all in a paper bag and head for a Chinese restaurant...in order to engage in a big-money poker game with its owner?

C'mon...

i hear ya, they need to add in some blackjack and a few trips to the asian massage parlor to make it more realistic!!:)

[bobbyt62]

bigmack, i'm already very disappointed. what i'f really like to know is if the non hard core racing crowd likes the show . most of us on this site probably give anything with racing a long leash (though i'm at the end of mine) but ultimately this show is about people and i'd love to see the metrics that hbo has on it. i do believe that they have renewed it, so i'm certainly in the minority. i wish they'd have spent what this thing is costing them on keeping david chase and the (relative to 'luck') no name cast of "the sopranos" on the air. i'm not a mafia fan or interested very much in what the "backside of crime " is like, per se---i'm just a fan of a well written universe of people and events, like the sopranos, and many others.

[bigmack]

bigmack, i'm already very disappointed. what i'f really like to know is if the non hard core racing crowd likes the show .
I can appreciate your vantage but having an expectation of Luck being like Barney Miller would be like watching Deadwood and expecting it to be like F Troop.

Milch, the creator of the show, is known for presenting dark material. I don't think you're going to see much in the way of levity on the show.

[tbwinner]

Who ever edited last weeks show didn't know you cant sell or transfer a claimed horse a few days after the claim?

Well, technically you can't but it happens all the time. It just isn't recorded on the books by way of a bill of sale until 30 days or whatever the rule is in California.

Of course they do it anyway because they go to the racing office to pay sales tax. So...you're right.

[Zydeco]

Milch, the creator of the show, is known for presenting dark material. I don't think you're going to see much in the way of levity on the show.[/QUOTE]


Except for the $7500 grill showing up in the next scene....cooking burgers...and the cop accepts a free meal! laughed out loud

[statepierback]

i hear ya, they need to add in some blackjack and a few trips to the asian massage parlor to make it more realistic!!:)

Bingo!

[elhelmete]

Milch, the creator of the show, is known for presenting dark material. I don't think you're going to see much in the way of levity on the show.


Except for the $7500 grill showing up in the next scene....cooking burgers...and the cop accepts a free meal! laughed out loud[/QUOTE]

Yeah I laughed out loud as well when I saw that the degenerates actually took possession of the grill.

[5k-claim]

bigmack, i'm already very disappointed. what i'f really like to know is if the non hard core racing crowd likes the show . most of us on this site probably give anything with racing a long leash (though i'm at the end of mine) but ultimately this show is about people and i'd love to see the metrics that hbo has on it. i do believe that they have renewed it, so i'm certainly in the minority. i wish they'd have spent what this thing is costing them on keeping david chase and the (relative to 'luck') no name cast of "the sopranos" on the air. i'm not a mafia fan or interested very much in what the "backside of crime " is like, per se---i'm just a fan of a well written universe of people and events, like the sopranos, and many others. You really did start off in the minority when you thought the show would be like Barney Miller. (Maybe you can jump off "Luck" and find Barney Miller on TV Land?)

The show was picked up for a second season, so HBO must be encouraged.

I like it so far.

.

[magwell]

So far the trainers are , crooked, lying or a old bust out, the vet and the girl jock are sluts, the old jock is a drugged out alcoholic the bug boy is close to ruining his health trying to make weight... the bettors are 4 degenerates and thats just the race trackers. BTW I'll still watch it.....:)

[johnhannibalsmith]

So far the trainers are , crooked, lying or a old bust out, the vet and the girl jock are sluts, the old jock is a drugged out alcoholic the bug boy is close to ruining his health trying to make weight... the bettors are 4 degenerates and thats just the race trackers. BTW I'll still watch it.....:)

There are things I don't quite like about the show, but this constant criticism in various forms boggles me.

What do people want? It isn't a PSA for racing. If we had a Puritan, a Quaker, and a Shaker as the trainers, two nuns for the female perspective, and Dr. Oz' two kids as the jocks - who the hell would tune in?

Stories are more than the characters and their episode to episode activities. There will be tales of redemption, success, and glory. Pat Day wasn't always a racetrack preacher and Garrett Gomez history makes Gary Stevens' character look like Anderson Cooper.

Drama is built on contrast and there has to be a starting out point. The degenerates had a big wave of 'good luck' from the outset, you can bet there is going to be 'bad luck' that evolves out of good luck.

Escalante is depicted as a cold hearted loner slimeball for two episodes, then he's in his underwear being a normal, loving human in the next. He peers out the shedorw almost longingly at the three owners that he despises, appreciative of how they view "the horse" when simply feeding a carrot, the memory of a sort of naivete or innocence.

The gambler in the wheelchair demeans the goofball for wanting to claim the nag and then smiles as broadly as he has in the whole series as the horse runs off to win. He's a detestable barbarian that rides Jerry about being a piece of shit constantly, but feigns a terrible health condition to facilitate "rescuing" him from himself.

There are many more examples of humanizing these characters from episode to episode. They are all flawed and that is how we meet most of them. Then we get glimpses of their heart, moments of redemption.

Sometimes I actually think it becomes redundant, I'm totally sick of the scenes at the poker tables with the predictable outcomes and the "ahhh Jerweee" dialogue. But the show is doing something fairly unique in trying, I think, to cast all of these characters as being completely different. Trying to make no character or theme of characters, the MAIN character. Making the main character the RACETRACK itself and how so many different, otherwise totally unrelated people can share one core thing that DOES expose their heart, their good side, even if it often is the forum for their darkness.

Maybe that doesn't make a lot of sense as I'm trying to be succinct, but this notion that LUCK should serve the industry on the surface - with noble, honorable, honest, beautiful human beings all on the up and up - not only makes for a terrible program for people disinterested in racing, but it doesn't allow the chance to show just how powerfully horses and racing can bring out the true grace and love in otherwise flawed humans.

[bigmack]

Maybe that doesn't make a lot of sense as I'm trying to be succinct, but this notion that LUCK should serve the industry on the surface - with noble, honorable, honest, beautiful human beings all on the up and up - not only makes for a terrible program for people disinterested in racing, but it doesn't allow the chance to show just how powerfully horses and racing can bring out the true grace and love in otherwise flawed humans.
BeeeeUteeful, Baby. Beautiful.

[Dahoss9698]

I agree, excellent post JHS.

[chickenhead]

also what made Deadwood so great. That review could be about either, with a tiny tweak here or there.

[Ocala Mike]

JHS's post is :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp:


Ocala Mike

[5k-claim]

There are things I don't quite like about the show, but this constant criticism in various forms boggles me.... it doesn't allow the chance to show just how powerfully horses and racing can bring out the true grace and love in otherwise flawed humans.A most excellent post.

.

[maddog42]

While at Remington Park a couple of days ago, I happened to look around me at some of the people that were betting and sitting next to me. These people were weirder and more degenerate than the people in LUCK. The part of Luck that is less true, is the Mob part, and the Crime element is probably not much of a stretch.

[maddog42]

I keep thinking of Andy Beyer's proclamation that these characters are...REAL!

I am still waiting for the first "real" person to appear on the show...

A brilliant handicapper who is perpetually broke is not a rare sight...but to see him win half a million dollars, and put it in all in a paper bag and head for a Chinese restaurant...in order to engage in a big-money poker game with its owner?

C'mon...

About 30 years ago at the Dunes, I saw a guy do exactly that. He reached into a brown paper bag that was so greasy, it looked like it had fried chicken in it. I was Wonging. Back counting the Deck at blackjack. I was an obvious card counter, but the pit bosses were too busy watching this guy, who looked like he had slept in a Dumpster, and kept his money in the dumpster too. I have seen gamblers so weird and crazy and compulsive, that it makes the guys in LUCK look like choir boys. My GUESS is that this guy had a couple of thousand in the greasy paper bag.

[mountainman]

Making the main character the RACETRACK itself and how so many different, otherwise totally unrelated people can share one core thing that DOES expose their heart, their good side, even if it often is the forum for their darkness.


Almost poetic, dude. You really nailed it. For a truly addictive show, however, the writers shouldn't depend too much on the backdrop. Exploit its beauty and natural drama, and keep it authentic for denizens such as us, but tie the characters together in surprising, compelling ways that don't seem contrived. The racetrack alone can't do that. The scribes have to, and my jury is out in that regard.

[PaceAdvantage]

Damn JHS...you rock...you just summed it all up perfectly...