Joe Pickett

For some reason I've been putting off watching Joe Pickett ever since it came out. Now that I've actually seen it I'm mad at myself for waiting so long. It was so much better than I expected it to be. I'm not sure why I waited so long because I'm a big fan of westerns. Michael Dorman is terrific as Joe Pickett. I remember Dorman from one of the most underrated shows of all-time in Patriot. This is another underrated show that he's terrific in. It's not the best show I've seen but it's definitely worth watching. It may start a little slow for some but stick with because after an episode or two it becomes addicting and the next thing you know you're going to want to binge it as fast as you can.

As a huge fan of the books I had reservations. Especially after Big Sky turned out to be such a disappointment. I was won over quickly by the actors. They brought the world of the novels to life for me. Joes commitment to his family,job,and sense of right and wrong is a breath of fresh air in our troubled times. One quibble would be the casting of Nate as a softer guy than I would have liked but future seasons could correct that. Please make more seasons!

The CJ Box book series that this is based on is a fantastic action, adventure, drama written with wit and grace and exceptional character portrayals. It's really disappointing then that this series showed little respect for the books. The characters have all been stripped of their personality and looks and replaced with empty shells who lack any chemistry or realism and the fake accents some of them are using are just annoying and distracting. The 2nd rate cgi animals too are just bizarre. The author laid it all out, all they had to do was follow his lead and translate it for the screen. Opportunity lost. We'll always have the books though and maybe some day a worthy remake will appear.

The TV series makes Joe out to be a fumbling "Barney Fife" of a game warden and not true to the character of the books. The plot lines and suspense are well structured but the dialogue is rough and predictable. It will entertain and engage you but the series could have been so much more. Does not do justice to the books, characters or franchise.

My main complaint is the series short changes the lead character of Joe Pickett. In the books, he is an intelligent, resourceful investigator with a sixth sense about criminal investigations but in the series, he is a stumbling, bumbling idiot that is a magnet for bad luck and only solves the crimes by falling into the situation/solution often as the last one to figure it out.

Having read some of the books it is a little different as usual. Over all, I loved it. Very entertaining and enjoyable. The actors are pretty good and their parts were pretty believable. I would highly recommend it. I will probably watch it again.