Harper's Island

[jeanine123]

This is a new show that will be premiering on CBS Thursday, April 9 at 10pm ET. It's a murder mystery about a wedding party that is stranded on an island off of Seattle, one by one members of the wedding party are murdered. It's a 13 episode special event, one or more member of the cast will be killed each week and by the 13th episode you will know who the murderer is and everything will be wrapped up, you will not be left hanging. I saw the pilot sneak peek at WonderCon in San Francisco a few weeks ago and it was great. This is far more than just a body count. They also have an online tie in website that just started airing short webisodes to lead up to the premier, they will continue to air these webisodes during the 13 week run of the show.

http://www.harpersglobe.com/

I haven't watched the whole thing yet, it's just over 6 minutes long, because it caught the interest of my youngest and I didn't want him watching someone chained and thrown into a trunk.

And here's a link to CBS's Harper's Island page. There's more info on the show there along with a short clip of the pilot.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/harpers_island/

[mom2snugbugs]

Is this a reality show? Like that show way back called "murder in small town x?"

[fivi2]

The ads have me intrigued snough to set my dvr and give it a chance, but...


Do I have to watch the internet stuff to "get it" ? Because that bugs me and I refuse to do homework for a tv show

[jeanine123]

It was first pitched as a reality show. But when the producers heard the concept they wanted to make it into a limited event drama. No one, not even the actors, knew who would be killed off when. They were all kept guessing right to the end. And no one knows who the killer would be.

And no, I don't think you need to watch the webisodes in order to understand the story and follow along. It's more of an enhancement. But you more than likely will need to see each television episode in order for it to make sense.

I saw the pilot at WonderCon in San Francisco a few weeks ago and it was great! When the show ended I had more questions than answers and can't wait to see the next one.

[annettemarie]

I'm really excited for this.

[jeanine123]

Just a reminder that Harper's Island premieres this Thursday at 10pm ET.

[bayberry*moon]

This is definitely one of my most anticipated shows of this spring! I'm so excited to see a thread about it. It's going to be one of those shows where you watch it and then have to talk about it the next day... there's going to be twenty million theories as to what's going on!

The premiere is tonight -- I've got it all set to record, but I think I'm going to watch it in real time because I'm impatient!

[jeanine123]

I know what you mean! I saw the Pilot just over 6 weeks ago at WonderCon and I've been dieing ever since to talk about it with someone!!

[JesiLynne]

So does anyone have any thoughts ?

[jeanine123]

I really liked it. They didn't waste any time getting down to business but they're also doing a good job in building a relationship with the characters in the hopes of getting the audience attached to them before they died. I have to admit, I didn't want to see Uncle Marty leave so soon, I really liked him and I want to know why he had all that money and the gun. Hopefully they'll still answer that in the coming weeks.

[november]

I loved it!! I can't wait until the next episode.

[bayberry*moon]

Originally Posted by jeanine123

I really liked it. They didn't waste any time getting down to business but they're also doing a good job in building a relationship with the characters in the hopes of getting the audience attached to them before they died. I have to admit, I didn't want to see Uncle Marty leave so soon, I really liked him and I want to know why he had all that money and the gun. Hopefully they'll still answer that in the coming weeks.

I KNOW. I remember the actor from Veronica Mars, and I was so sad to see him go so soon. But kudos to the show for chopping off (pun intended) one of their biggest names on the cast in the first episode! It really is a declaration of intent... they mean business! No one is safe, not even the "main" characters.

Let's get down to theories, shall we? When the little girl gets asked "who told you that?" about the people dying, she said "My new friend told me". Assuming nothing supernatural like ghosts (which I don't think is this kind of show) does that mean maybe she's been associating with the killer? Not that the previous murders are a big secret or anything...

Who do you think is the murderer??

[jeanine123]

I'm so bad at speculating at this kind of stuff it's not even funny. LOL Right now I have no idea, maybe after a few more shows. I don't think it's anyone at all obvious and I wouldn't be surprised if it's someone we haven't really met yet. As in, we may have seen him or her briefly but we haven't really heard any of his/her's story yet.

And that little girl is just beyond creepy. Who knows who she's been talking to but it could be darned near anyone since she doesn't seem to be all that well supervised. I don't think she's associating with the killer, though if the killer is a member of the wedding party than everyone will have associated with him/her.

Television Without Pity has a blog that is being written by Karim Zreik, one of the producers. He gained the nickname "The Assassin" during filming because he was the one who would pull aside the actors and tell them they were the ones who were going to die that week. He's going to be writing a new entry every week that talks about how he told the newest victim(s) what was coming.

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com...-episode-1.php

[jeanine123]

Just wanted to give everyone a head's up that Harper's Island has been moved to Saturday nights at 9pm ET.

[Carolinamidwife]

I watched the first two episodes and HATED it... it felt like a night time soap opera. Did it get better?

[jeanine123]

I watched the first two episodes and really liked it. Planning on watching the third one tonight. I know that the first 2-3 episodes you spend more time getting to know the characters and forming a bond with them. I'm pretty sure that by the third and fourth episode it starts to loose the soapy feel since the action is going to pick up even more. There are a lot of people to do away with over the final 10 episodes.

[mazajo]

Anybody still watching this? DH and I really like it! It doesn't seem like it's doing too well though. I know what you mean about the soap opera thing, but I like it anyway, lol. DH and I think it would have done better as a... mini-series? A couple of two hour shows in a row or something.

[jeanine123]

I am still watching it. And it is a mini-series of sorts in that it is only 13 episodes long. By the time the 13 episode airs, all of the loose ends will be tied up and there will be a definite ending. I really liked last week's show and I can't wait for the DVD to come out with all of the deleted scenes and commentary. I've also been having a lot of fun reading the blog that's being written by Karim Zreik, one of the show's producers. The link is in a post earlier in this thread.

[fivi2]

I am still watching... It was really really bad (imo) in the beginning and I only kept watching because dh was out of town for an extended project and I was bored.

But, I think it has picked up the past couple weeks and getting more entertaining. (since the murders picked up ) I think it is/was an interesting idea and something could work with the concept, but ITA that it was too soap opera-ish with horrible overacting in the beginning. But, I do think that some sort of a horror/mystery series is a fun idea and I hope someone can make it work!