Customer Reviews

Over There: Season One

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I was very excited for the premier of Over There. I love how FX really takes risks with their programs and Rescue Me, The Shield, and Nip/Tuck are three of television's finest shows. I knew Over There was going to raise a few eyebrows and it dealt with a very sensitive topic but the show was very respectful of the troops in Iraq.

Over There was the first show to depict the U.S. in a current war. That was enough to get the conservatives on their case but if you watch the show you will get a feeling of how hard it is to be "over there". The cast were very believable characters and the writing was very good. Obviously the show couldn't really be in Iraq but the set looked a lot like Iraq. Over There dealt with humanizing topics and it was a treat to watch.

Here's why I don't think Over There was right for television. Its ratings were not that bad for a rookie cable show but FX was under a lot of fire so they crossed it off their list of problems. Despite critical praise I don't think enough people were ready to handle the war fictionalized but it's a shame. I'm glad that we can relive the thirteen adventures through this DVD and it is a steal for the price Amazon lists. If you missed it when it first aired, then this is a great way to see the entire series.

The short lived TV show "Over There" is the first TV show that actually takes place during the conflict overseas that it's dramatizing. Well written, directed and acted the show the show garnered too much controversy forcing Fox to abandon the show despite decent ratings. Produced by Steven Bochco ("L.A. Law", "Hill Street Blues", "Cop Rock", "NYPD Blue" among many others) the show manages to be more gritty and realistic than anything attempted on television before. While Bochco and his production crew were clearly influenced by gritty war dramas like "Black Hawk Down" but the show manages to establish its own style with the pilot episode (which was previously available solo on DVD).

"Over There" follows the misadventures of a group of GIs fighting the war in Iraq and at the same time also followed their families and the impact their absence had on them. It was a unique blend of the personal and the global that portrayed more than one aspect of the effects of war. Unfortunately the show faced political minefields that Fox couldn't dodge and the show was buried in the FX cable schedule. It's very unlikely this show will come back for a sophomore season. It's too bad because this terrific show put a unique human face on a war we've only become familiar with from rhetoric and sound bites on TV.

Grainy and all the better looking for it, the director of photography of the show went for a deliberately grainy look to emphasize and heighten the sense of reality of the show. There's a lot of the jittery hand held camera shots that were popular in Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" that has come into vogue lately with a lot of movies (including Ridley's brother Tony Scott in his last two films). "Over There" strikes the right balance between creating the environment of the show and making it entertaining without causing audiences to be overcome with motion sickness. I didn't see any analog defects and the digital ones are minimal at best. Unlike many shows "Over There" boasts a solid 5.1 Dolby Digital mix that makes nice use of the surround speakers. The mix places the audience right in the middle of the action.

"Weapons Debriefing" will make you familiar with the different types of guns in the series and what's being used. At just under six minutes this featurette is right on target. "Tour of Duty: Filming `Over There'" documents the production of the last episode of the show. Given that its ratings were so poor unless a major network picks it up, the show is DOA and it's terrific that we have a feature length documentary on the series production. Usually when shows are cancelled there are a couple of featurettes in the can in anticipation of DVD release but nothing as elaborate or involved as here.

We also get three exceptional commentary tracks. The pilot episode features writer/director Chris Gerolmo and producer Joan Gerolmo discussing the challenges of shooting the pilot episode and bringing the sense of realism to the screen. "Spoils of War" features many of the cast members and "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding" (quoting Bob Dylan no less in the title) features the military advisors. The latter is particularly interesting because you discover the amount of detail that went into creating a realistic production and some of the short cuts the production had to take to get the series to TV.

Although it's time on TV was brief, "Over There" provided a fascinating glimpse into modern day war. The most realistic looking TV show of its time and the only one to air during the conflict it's about, the show looks extremely good in this transfer with a nice clip of extras. The price along with the extras makes this an essential purchase for fans of the show.

I first heard of the show shortly after I returned home from Iraq, I don't have cable so my brother taped the season for me. I have to tell ya, this was very realistic for it being a t.v. show. I mean most movies or shows you see that try to recreate something like this, they don't do their homework. Someone at FX did...maybe too well. Yeah I have to disagree with some things; like how the soldiers spoke so formally with their suepiors, and the guys are a little more casual with the females in real life, but otherwise they did great. I happen to like the song, but it does get annoying that they play it so much. Also I found it to be suspenseful and compelling, the people at FX found some good writers, I mean look at "E-ring" Now with those charactors they are hard to believe because we know them from other movies and shows. It's nice to see some young fresh faces that act pretty well and are beleivable. Thumbs UP!

I just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan and was weary at watching a show portraying my brothers in arms. I read the reviews and was skeptical reading all the negative reviews. I watched this show for the first day off in two weeks and enjoyed from start to finish. Everyone who says that this show does not accurately depict the US military obviously is not in the military or holds a position in the military that does not routinely work with the field soldiers and marines. The characters were pretty much right on you can spend time with any group of freedom fighters and see multiple personalities similar to those depicted in this show, sometimes even worse. I am sorry but that is fact while we do our best in the military to present only the best we have to offer there are individuals who are not so perfect...not to mention this was aired on FX and not discovery or history channel. I would have to say it was a great show and did give every citizen who wanted a peek into military life "Over There" an 90% accurate portrayal what it was like and a 100% enjoyable show if this is the type shows you like.
SUPREME2W1@YAHOO.COM

I am currently serving in northern Iraq, I caught the first eight episodes of Over There and just kept me glued to the T.V. It is a very good series, and shows the American public how hard it is for us over here. They not only see combat but also emotions that every soldier/marine, navy personel go through, and some of the things may seem hard to believe but they have happened to soldiers over here. I know I read on one of the reviews that it didnt show the fear that we have for Vehical Borne IED's (improvised explosive devices) but you need to understand that this takes place around OIF I or OIF II (Operation Iraqi Freedom) when VBIED's where not that common. Unlike now, alot of things have changed, the enemy comes up with new eays of attacking us here, but the time line when Over there happened alot of that hadent come into play yet. Thats why I would like to see another season or more come out becuase there is alot more they could come up with. But over all it is a very good series and cannot wait till I get it in the mail over here, it will blow time for the days I have to watch it.

This was sort of a weird series in terms of what works and what didn't. For this review I'm going to bullet-point some things.

What Worked:

1. Erik Palladino- The ER alum deserves special recognition. He STOLE the series. He was really that good here.

2. The production value was terrific. I don't know where they were filming at, but they did an outstanding job designing the sets and props. EVERYTHING looked totally authentic.

3. The story-lines in Iraq did a great job of holding my interest. Granted, I have absolutely no idea how "real" any of it is or how much is "Hollywood", but they never lost my attention and I was never inclined to fast-forward anything.

4. The interplay between and characters in the unit seems completely natural and flows wonderfully. I totally believe it as I'm watching the fire-team get to know one another and develop relationships with each other.

What Didn't:

1. Almost everything on the home front. With the lone exception of Dumphy's alcoholic wife, I just can't seem to generate even the smallest amount of interest in ANYTHING going on at home.

2. The role of the First Lieutenant. First it was "Mad Cow" then "Underpants"; the role of the "Idiot First Lieutenant" is the "red-shirt ensign" of the series. The production team would have done themselves a favor by filling the role for more then a four or five episode story arc.

3. The closing 'Over There' anthem. Simply put, I hate that song. I also can't stand that I'm forced to listen to it because it's running over the last five minutes of the episode. Unfortunately for me though, Chris Gerolmo wrote and performs it. It's something he's clearly proud of and he wasn't going to cut his own song out.

A lot of the problems I felt like the series had, I chalked up to this being a first year show still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. Absolutely none of the issues I had were anything that couldn't (pretty easily) be fixed or corrected. It simply needed a little more time to find it's way a bit and gain some polish, the same way any new show would.

It's really a shame that FX canceled this after one year. From what I read, the ratings were awful; but I felt there was so much room to grow that if a little more patience was shown this could have been a real winner.

It's too bad FX could hang in there a bit longer ...

I accidently ran into this show while doing the usual end-of-day channel surf. It was absolutely thrilling and engaging. I have no idea how realistic the show was, as I have never been in the service or Iraq. However, the characters seemed real and struck me as kids that you'd see working at the local fast food joint or gas station, but wearing fatiques and carrying weapons. And that seems to be to be the difference between war and real life -- the uniform and the tools (in this case automatic weapons) empower everyday individuals with extraordinary powers.

Also, Erik Palladino was fantastic. I hated his character in ER, but here he showed his acting chops. I loved this show and sad to hear FX cancelled it, but 'hello' make it easier for your audience to find your shows by playing them at the same time, same day every week.

The strongest aspect of "Over There" is the way the various characters are developed. Their lives are fleshed out to the point that you feel like you know them and care about what happens to them. As a military wife I have an idea what's goes on. Some shows manage to alienate their audience with characters that are so annoying or unlikable it's impossible to care about them, but "Over There" accomplishes something rare: even when one of the characters does something unforgivably stupid, cruel or selfish, they remain sympathetic and keep you invested in what happens to them.

There have been complaints about the way the soldiers are depicted, but I think the show does a good job of being realistic while highlighting these soldiers' professionalism, self-sacrifice and constant struggle to do the best job they can in what are often difficult and dangerous no-win situations.

The producers also deserve a lot of credit for not sugarcoating the war or the soldiers' attitudes about the Iraqis. If anything they could do more to make clear what the US media has mostly overlooked: the horrific toll of war on the civilian population. Many people opposed this war on humanitarian grounds. Just as in Vietnam, just as in every war of the modern era, there are 10 innocent civilian casualties- mostly women, old people and children- for every armed insurgent or "terrorist" killed. War should always be a last resort, never an affirmative policy objective.

The war in Iraq took a bad situation and made it worse, compounding the error through ignorance, arrogance and incompetence. At a time when major news organizations have grown so timid they are only willing to show a sanitized, non-controversial version of the war for fear of offending those in power, we need more shows like "Over There", shows that are willing to tell the whole, unvarnished truth, uncolored by any agenda.

I am an army wife. My husband is currently deployed for the second time in Iraq. I think this series is definately worth seeing. Of course there are some unrealistic parts, but it depicts what our guys are going through over there as best as can be expected. I thought the homefront was a little slow. It does depict the adultery side well. Unfortunately it happens. The Iraq part was great. Lots of action and drama.

I'm a Desert Storm Vet. I liked Jarhead, both the book and the movie. But I know other Desert Storm Vets who hated them. I have more than a few friends and relatives who are either in Iraq right now or are home from Iraq. The ones who are home who saw this show agreed that some of the tactics were wrong and not all the jargon was correct, but they were so appreciative that someone finally seemed to nail how they felt and what they went through. I really liked this show. The characters reminded me of men and women I served with. No, not all soldiers act like these characters. I was a soldier, I was deep in Iraq in Desert Storm. We were soldier's, but we were still people with personalities and lives. As collective as war may sound each soldier will have a different experience. Soldiers who served right next to me will have a completely different story to tell you. To dimiss this series because it lacked exact details is a disservice to the fine writing and acting on the show. I found it vitally important that someone had the guts to make this show. It seems this war just keeps going on and on and it moves from front page news to 4th page news. People seem to care more about whether Nick and Jessica are together more than how many American soldiers were killed in Iraq. "Over There" at least took this war and the plight of our soldiers and put it back in the forefront of people's minds. I know many vets who like this show a lot. If you find this show doesn't represent your experience or tell your story, then get out a pen and tell us your story. Seriously, I wish more vets would put their stories out there in one way or another.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.