LB Sees CROSSBONES

The Good:

• The first episode of CROSSBONES plunges us right into an action-packed story with a rousing sea battle.
• John Malkovich joins the ranks of great TV actors of 2014. (A year filled with great TV actors, btw.)

The Not-So-Good:

• The first episode of CROSSBONES does indeed plunge us right into an action-packed story, but that story is about a bunch of psychotic, cruel, and totally stereotypical barely human beings with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
• John Malkovich great’s acting may in fact make him the best showbiz incarnation of Satan in a year that’s also distinguished by masterful showbiz incarnations of Satan.

Bottom Line:

CROSSBONES is the obvious result of a meeting that went like this:

Exec #1: GAME OF THRONES is the hottest thing on TV. Let’s give our audience all the barbarity of that one and watch it grow!

Exec #2: Plus pirates. Gotta have pirates for the kids.

Everyone involved in this exercise in re-hashed, over-the-top crap deserves to be tortured the same way they now are torturing their characters…and viewers.

The most disappointing thing about this series so far is that they won’t.

Author: LB

A legendary figure in the television writing and production world with a career going back to the late ’60s, Larry Brody has written and produced hundreds of hours of American and worldwide television and is a consultant to production companies and networks in the U.S. and abroad . Shows written or produced by Brody have won several awards including - yes, it's true - Emmys, Writers Guild Awards, and the Humanitas Award. View all posts by LB