mjmack-35444

I read the Richard Russo novel "Straight Man" over 20 years ago. Something about it impressed me and I still remember some scenes. It led me to read several of his other novels. So I was interested to see how this series would treat the novel, its characters and tone. Now having watched all eight episodes, I'm impressed with the ambitious effort to take the rich Russo material and find a compelling balance of humor and drama. The pilot, "The Clock," and now "Chopping Block," stand out for how well written and directed they are, how ambitious and challenging the material is. The hour-long "explainer" following "Chopping Block" was effective in explaining the writers/producers' intent. If more people saw it, it might help "Lucky Hank" find an audience. But now I'm surprised how this quality effort hasn't gotten more support.

We've enjoyed the originality of this show from the beginning but we're not sure we'll last through this final season. The first season was quirky and fresh and the fondness for the era was clear, cleverly treated. Through the seasons not all the story lines or scenes worked. Now they're clearly throwing things at the wall and shooting it whether it works or not. Plausibility is out the window. The characters have become caricatures, writing is on steroids, and sets and fashions are so exaggerated that they're distracting. The high ratings for the first two episodes this final season indicates to me that people have largely lost their critical thinking skills.

As with the same-named books, we can only see "a slice" of America "... And not all states are represented. It did show the good, the bad, the disturbing, the hopeful. Some transitions were striking in their contrasts. We remain a diverse, troubled country. We can only hope to be unified by shared American values that transcend our divisions. Shows we're ALL blessed with diverse natural wonders. Replying to the reviewer about the poem, think it was titled "Time will tell" or "Only time will tell" but Google search gives only other poems with same title.