Gotham - S1E1

The idea of Fox's Gotham as an origins story for the entire Batman universe in fully serialized television formed was intriguing at first. Most of us are still pretty fresh off the high that was the Nolan movies. Marvel gave S.H.I.E.L.D. a TV show. This didn't seem like a half bad idea in comparison. Now I enjoy comic book flicks. X2, Raimi's (first two) Spiderman films and of course Nolan's trilogy are literally some of my favorite movies. And I'm familiar with the different Batman villains generally. But as I started watching the first episode of Gotham, I realized I just don't care. 

The show at its core is the story of two detectives working in a crime-ridden city in a corrupt police force. That in itself should provide for solid episodes of network TV. You add the Batman characters, and things can get more interesting. The episode starts off with the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, and obviously we've seen this before. You very quickly meet the Penguin, a young Poison Ivy and what I thought was the Riddler, but I may be mistaken. It's just not all that satisfying. Gordon is played by Mischa Barton's boyfriend from The O.C. He's fine. His partner, played by Donal Logue (who I think is great), is your typical good guy (or is he?) with problems – drinking, probably infidelity, etc. 

If you're running the show, are you trying to appeal to Batman fanatics or the people that watch dramas on Fox? I don't really fall into either of these categories. The pilot is a bit overstuffed with appearances of famous characters. While it sets up Gotham as a bad place, the police force as untrustworthy and Alfred as kind of a bitch, I don't see the show being all that entertaining. But I'll stick around for now.