Reviews

Although, James Michener, the father of historical fiction, is one of my favorite writers. His characters did interfere with the story. That said, the Hollywood precinct has dealt with some of the most unbelievable cases in modern history. The selection of this time period was excellent.

However, we have a hard enough time trying to tell a factual history, we don't need anyone to stir it with a poop stick.

This show is beautifully written and well produced. The characters are compelling and acting is nice. Duchovny is excellent.

Season 1 I'm straight up rating an easy 8 and at times 10. There are great plot points and dialog is honest and insightful.. AND, there are reasonable facts to support the show, kinda... Season 2. Pissed me off from the beginning. There is no evidence that Manson was present at either the Tate or Labianca murders. I understand why it was approached this way, yet, plausible deniability is same as pleading the 5th.

Grrrrrr This whole historical fiction issue is solved by renaming everyone. Like instead of Charles Manson, name him Joseph Manchin. Oh wait...that doesn't sound right.

I've done several years in prison for selling meth. Ya make more money by slinging grams than pounds. This entire plot point is wrong. It would have been more realistic to sell a pound and the cook to claim it's not enough.

"Now all I want her to do is to stop talking so I can take a leak." That whole voiceover is one of the funniest film moments ever.

It just too bad that anyone under 60 just doesn't understand.

The writing is compelling. The character dialog is very good, and at times excellent, given the premise. However, often, the premise dissolves under scrutiny.

Spoiler alert: There are so many examples of this, but I'm going to reference a scene that I just watched - NASAs chief engineer is informed that the Russians have the exact design of an American space shuttle compliments of covert spying. But those designs were 2 years old. Historically, this is reasonably accurate. The Russians absolutely possessed American designs for virtually all-American intellectual property, then and now. This premise is based on the Challenger disaster. An event that didn't seem to have any more significance in this series other than to provoke a humanitarian bonding moment between a Russian and an American to prevent further disaster. However, that conversation, at that point, was useless. The reason for the explosion of Challenger was determined and released by the press within weeks of the event. It was clear that cold conditions were responsible for the tragedy. Everyone on the planet with a connection to any wave-link reception was aware of the O ring problem. The reason for the explosion was public knowledge. The admission of an engineering problem from an American to a Russian was useless, simply drama. And if a NASA chief engineer was sincere about informing a Russian about that problem, they would have indicated some kind of solution. This scene is ultimately empty.

Time and time again, a series of 8 to12 episodes is produced to tell a story. This is an incredible freedom that gives a writer an unlimited opportunity to give a reasonably factual (and dramatic) account of a history that is rarely exposed. In this respect=this account does not. Real life is far more fantastical than an imagination based upon imagination. The story of NASA is a turning point in humanity. A turning point that has been lost by fanciful drama interpreted by historical fiction.

Thousands of hours and millions of dollars of this project was approved by those who have no respect or history. I'd be more accepting of the premise had they not used actual historical figures and actual events to tell this story.

I despise historical fiction. It's hard enough to get honest history, we don't need finely produced media to confuse the past for all mankind...to get honest history, we don't need finely produced media to confuse the past for all mankind...

The production, the direction, the acting, the props, the details and the dialog are compelling. That's what the 2 stars are for. I'm not a fan of historical fiction. History is rife with lies that obfuscate our true history. There are several good movies that portray this place in time, but for some reason this show wants to Trump it up. But to be fair, if Trump had his say, the women's roles would be entirely different, if not completely ignored and definitely no black people. Personally, my favorite plot line was the Latino story. However, this whole concept is lazy, destructive and does a disservice to our understanding of our past. It's like the producers said "who cares about history!" Yes, I know this isn't a documentary, but it is made in a fashion that a reasonable person would think this is what happened given the artistic and dramatic license of a Hollywood production. If you're a film student, there are many lessons to learn regarding production. But there is little to no truth or honesty about this show. I'm a history wonk and this is an incredible time in world history. This show distorts almost every fact about this time period. Going so far as to fold in historical footage to support this illegitimate story. I'm pretty solid on this point in time and I kept having to research events this show portrayed thinking my knowledge was wrong. At no time was my knowledge wrong. This production had so many opportunities and resources to tell stories that have rarely or never been told and someone decided...let's just lie. This does not connect us with history in anyway shape or form, even though the premise is based around historical events. Boooo! and shame on this series. Btw, I did watch the entire first season. I do not recommend it. If you do partake realize that although the characters are historical, this story is almost a completely fictional.