See a super-creepy 'Penny Dreadful' trailer

'Penny Dreadful': First full trailer does not skimp on the terror

Oh my!!

Very stylish and cool.  It looks as if inspired by THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN but with a much darker, more explicitly Gothic edge.

G.

Wait a minute here... A show with elements of Frankenstein, Dorian Gray AND Dracula??

That sounds vaguely familiar!

Alt TV: Offbeat Shows You Should Be Watching - Penny Dreadful (Showtime)

Considering the show doesn't even start until May, I don't know why TV Guide has it in a list of shows we should already be watching. But no matter, it's nice to see it getting the recommendation.

wow...


I'm general not into the genre but i'll definitely give this a look. and eva green has got charisma is spades. she has the potential to have quite an interesting career.

'Penny Dreadful': Watch Showtime's freaky new drama online before the premiere

I will definitely check this out once I find the time.

Also, in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly there's a two full page ad (in the prestigious right after the cover position) that features all the characters. They certainly look like an eclectic group - as well as one whose appeal looks to have something for everybody. Hopefully the show will turn out to be great.

I guess no one has seen this yet? I caught it about a week or so ago. I saw it via On Demand. We have Verizon cable. Not my cup of tea, but anything I didn't care for stems from that perspective -- except for what to me felt like gratuitous full frontal male nudity.

I think fans of the genre will enjoy it very much. And even though I don't particularly enjoy the genre, I am intrigued enough to catch the second episode because of the cliffhanger. I'm no expert, but all the categories one might judge a production on, were above average or higher, in my opinion.

dom honey, I really appreciate your astutely written review of this bagatelle, especially your red flag regarding

gratuitous full frontal male nudity.

As the Cyber Leader on Dr. Who used to say... EXXX-CELLENT.

This is definitely on my must-view list now...

G.

I am especially looking forward to your thoughts on it, G.

just caught the first episode...


it's still too early for me to formulate an opinion. it's not really my "genre" so I'm not sure what to think about it. but it was engaging enough that i'll continue to check it out.

Gee... you thought the nudity was unnecessary?  I thought it made perfect sense given what was happening... and was pretty unexceptional...

My favorite thing is Eva Green as Vanessa Ivy. Wow.  I'm wondering though if Alan Moore has grounds for a lawsuit.  It is VERY reminiscent of the original comic books, LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN... Green's character in particular is reminiscent of Mina Murray (who, somewhat confusingly, is also a character in this).  A to-me-unrecognizable Timothy Dalton plays Sir Malcolm Murray who seems very much based on Allan Quatermain in the LEAGUE comics (borrowed from the Rider Haggard novels, of course).  Simon Russell Beale plays a possibly mad Egyptologist at the British Museum (and reminded me of the late Victor Buono in the role... hope he comes back).  A young actor, Harry Treadaway, appears as a believably neurotic and obsessed Victor Frankenstein.  Rory Kinnear has a surprise role...

The first episode includes vampires, Jack the Ripper, Frankenstein (obviously), tarot cards, Egyptology, mummies, carnivorous beetles, spiders, ghosts, and no doubt more I'm forgetting...

The Victoriana here is a little more believable than was the case in Jonathan Rhys Meyers' eye-poppingly lush DRACULA.  If I had Showtime, I'd definitely be watching.

G.

Gee... you thought the nudity was unnecessary?  I thought it made perfect sense given what was happening... and was pretty unexceptional...

When it's unexceptional, who needs to see it more than once?

I was impressed by how "overstuffed" it was...


obviously I knew vampires were part of the story and then at the end when the doctor introduced himself as "Frankenstein". but it was so cacophonous. the busy Victorian setting certainly heightened the effect.

in that it sort of reminded me of AHS. season 2 threw in everything but the kitchen sink from alien abduction to demonic possession to Nazi war criminals. do we just suffer from collective attention deficit disorder today and can no longer follow a single thread story?

Entertainment Weekly reviews this in next week's issue. They say Eva Green is "great," and overall they give it a B rating. And they sum things up by saying:

Writer-showrunner John Logan robs many graves and comes this close to ripping off Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Yet I dig Penny Dreadful as a twisted romance about our twisted romance with dark fantasy. It's a Frankenstory made with borrowed bits and recycled parts that could evolve into its own vibrant creation.

Hmmm - sounds like another show we may all know - especially the "borrow-bits and recycled parts" description. 

'Penny Dreadful' New York City premiere photos