Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry
New This Week
A new Starz hourlong created by writer-producers Robert Levine (“Harper’s Island,” “Human Target,” “Touch”) and Jonathan E. Steinberg (“Human Target”), “Black Sails” is a prequel following the adventures of J. Flint, Billy Bones, and a young, two-legged John Silver in the West Indies of 1715, two decades before the events depicted in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island.”
Michael Bay (“Transformers”) lends his name as executive producer but leaves the directing to others, including Neil Marshall (“Dog Solidiers,” “The Descent”).
Marshall also directed an excellent episode of “Game of Thrones,” a fact that illustrates, I think, that good writers are more important than good directors when it comes to this sort of enterprise. There are no characters here as compelling as the Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons or Targaryans. And “Sails” is certainly not in the same league as Starz’ best series to date, the late, lamented “Boss.”
“Black Sails” can get way too talky but it’s by no means the worst series I’ve seen this season. The acting is generally decent. One can learn how the pirate trade might have worked back in the day. Hot lesbians get naked and have sex. There’s a bloody sword fight.
And, if you’re wary of investment, Starz has already ordered a second season.
... tedious … wants to inject some complexity into its sand-and-swords premise, but the drama runs aground of ambitions it doesn't have the skills to fulfill. … a sodden and occasionally infuriating mixture of cable-TV tropes that takes a perfectly good premise and allows it to lurch around in bewildering and unpromising ways …
... settles into landlocked tedium … it's all flash and no substance, and the flash fades pretty quickly, no doubt right around the point the production accountant realized just how much it costs to film extended sequences with ships in water.
... reasonably interesting but not particularly fun or involving. Sometimes you just want a good yo-ho-ho. This is not to make the show sound more scholarly than it is. …
... gets off to a somewhat rocky start. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... Yo-ho humdrum. … Viewers don't expect much realism, and they don't want to have to think too much about what they're watching. They figure there will be sex and nudity, blood and violence. "Black Sails" has most of that, but there isn't enough action in the first four episodes. If you give us a pirate series, we want to see ships going at it on the high seas.
... There’s a whole lot else going on in just the first episode, with too many indistinguishable characters; at times “Black Sails” feels like it wants to be taken seriously as a complicated, premium cable drama (a la “Game of Thrones”). At other times, it feels more like cheesier, more niche material (a la “Spartacus”). I’ll watch a few more episodes, but walking the plank seems more tempting. Grade: C- …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... entertaining enough but not nearly as addictive as "Spartacus" came to be through its first season; perhaps in time that will change. …
... might turn out to be a voyage of the damned, but you won’t find better company. …
... During a climactic crisis in which he's left to die of exposure, Haskell muses, "The worst part is how time slows." He could just as well have been talking about the middle section of Black Sails' first season … becomes stubbornly becalmed by its landlocked third and fourth hours, as tiresome wheeling and dealing triggers a bout of Restless Sea Legs Syndrome in the impatient viewer. …
... It's quite a world that Steinberg and Levine have created. More characters show up as the episodes roll on, giving Black Sails a more dense, complicated structure (which is good). Even after four episodes, however, it's hard to tell what you're getting with Black Sails. …
... never quite takes off, developing into a tired treasure hunt with indifferent casting and stock characters. …
TV-on-Disc Calendar
Last Week
Banshee 2.x
Banshee 2.x (Blu-ray)
Shameless 4.x
Shameless 4.x (Blu-ray)
This Week
Married With Children 7.x/8.x ($14.98)
SpongeBob SquarePants: Pilot Mini-Movie
Next Week
Ancient Aliens 6.x Vol. 2
Ancient Aliens 6.x Vol. 2 (Blu-ray)
The Big House: The Complete Series
Boardwalk Empire 5.x
Boardwalk Empire 5.x (Blu-ray)
The Bridge 2.x
Dallas 3.x
Episodes 3.x
Facts of Life: The Complete Series
Gargoyles 2.x Vol. 2 ($9.99)
The Jewel in the Crown: The Complete Miniseries
Lovejoy 4.x
Mythbusters 10th Anniversary Collection
NYPD Blue 8.x
Steven Universe Vol. 1
Stingray: The Complete Series ($24.49)
Tale Spin Vol. 3 ($9.99)
The Tom & Jerry Show 1.x Vol. 2
Tyrant 1.x
Tyrant 1.x (Blu-ray)
January 20
King & Maxwell: The Complete Series
Little House on the Prarie 4.x (Blu-ray)
Satisfaction 1.x
Swamp People 5.x
Wolfblood 3.x
January 27
Arthur: Fountain Abbey
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (Blu-ray)
Maison Close 1.x
Regular Show Vol. 7
Waterfront Vol. 1
February 3
Canterbury's Law: The Complete Series
Care Bears: Share Your Care
Pound Puppies: Puppy Love
The Wonder Years 2.x
February 10
Captain Scarlet: The Complete Series
Clarence Vol. 1
Hart To Hart 4.x
Nurse Jackie 6.x (Blu-ray)
Olive Kitteridge: The Complete Miniseries
Olive Kitteridge: The Complete Miniseries (Blu-ray)
Power Rangers Super Megaforce - The Silver Warrior
Slugterra: Slug Fu Showdown
Transformers Rescue Bots: Jurassic Adventure
Z Nation 1.x
February 17
Action Man: The Complete Series
Batman 2.x Vol. 1
Breaking Amish: Los Angeles 1.x
Doctor Who: Last Christmas (Blu-ray)
Dungeons & Dragons - Beginnings
Game of Thrones 4.x
Game Of Thrones 4.x (Blu-ray)
Godzilla: The Animated Series - The H.E.A.T. Is On!
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: 10 Episodes
Jumanji: The Complete Series
Power Rangers: Super Sentai Zyuranger: The Complete Series
Starcom: The Complete Series
Wahlbergers 2.x
Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego - ACME's Most Wanted
WishKid: The Complete Series
February 24
Midsomer Murders Vol. 25
Mountain Men 3.x
My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Adventures Of The Cutie Mark Crusaders
Sons of Anarchy 7.x (Blu-ray)
March 3
Adventure Time Vol. 9
CHiPs 3.x
Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection (Blu-ray)
Battlestar Galactica: The Remastered Collection (Blu-ray)
A Place To Call Home 1.x NEW!!
March 10
Fireball XL5: The Complete Series
Matlock's Greatest Cases
New Tricks 6.x-10.x
Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy: The Complete Series
Quincy 8.x
Shane: The Complete Series
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3.x Vol. 1
March 17
Maude: The Complete Series
WKRP in Cincinnati 1.x
March 24
The Donna Reed Show 2.x
Hello Ladies 1.x
Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXXII
March 31
Lovejoy 5.x
Silicon Valley 1.x
Veep 3.x
Veep 3.x (Blu-ray)
April 14
Teen Titans Go! 2.x Vol. 1
April 28
New Tricks 11.x
May 5
Foyle's War Vol. 8
Mr. Selfridge 3.x
Mr. Selfridge 3.x (Blu-ray)
Herc Loves Both Of These!! Blu At Last This Month!!