[the_af]

It failed and got canceled by Netflix.

Now, I know getting canceled by Netflix means little. I gave this show a chance, after being impressed with the intro sequence remake, but found it to be soulless. Maybe Cowboy Bebop just doesn't translate to live action; what seemed charming in the original was played for kitsch in the remake.

I couldn't even make it to the last episodes.

[porknubbins]

I thought Jet was great, Spike and Faye were just ok, Vicious was absolutely terrible and since the main villain was basically played for comic relief it kept the show from having any real emotional impact or gravitas.

[echelon]

They nailed Jet! I was so pleased with that casting.

The problem was the horrible writing and the campy tone. They turned the series into a WB show with cartoon characters. Vicious was laughably cheesy.

I was expecting Casino Royale set in space, but young and jazzy and cool. Instead we got standard Netflix wall spaghetti.

[excalibur]

Totally agree. And Ed. She was only shown briefly, but what was there was truly terrible. It was like they scribbled some dialogue, grabbed a kid off the street, designed a costume, and filmed the cameo in a single day. If this series were ever to continue, I hope they would reevaluate their choices here.

[KennyBlanken]

I feel like the live Ed was universally disliked, but everyone seemed to agree that Ed would have been nearly impossible for anyone to pull off in-person without it looking really cringe.

[kstenerud]

It could have been successfully moved into live action, but as the animation was built by creative genius, you'd need the same level of skill for a good live action. Maybe someone like Joss Whedon could have breathed life into it?

The show had potential, but the casting was bad, the character design was bad, the writing was bad, the directing was sub-par, and the aesthetic was 75% there which just isn't enough for something like this.

[dvtrn]

Maybe someone like Joss Whedon could have breathed life into it?

Joss Whedon has his turn with Cowboy Bebop when it was called 'Firefly' :P

[NetOpWibby]

And that was an excellent show. His work there could easily apply to Bebop.

[KennyBlanken]

Yep. Everything shouted "see, we did that thing from the anime, everyone! WINK-U FACE-U!" and on top of that, it was a jumbled mess because instead of just adapting the story, they had the audacity to "re-imagine" it. Fans love the series because it's such masterpiece of storytelling and it had amazing production quality.

It's like taking pasta, tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, raw chicken breast, etc and throwing them in a blender, tossing the paste into a pan and baking it, and being amazed that you somehow didn't reproduce a mouth-watering delicious chicken Parmesan.

[CoastalCoder]

> It's like taking pasta, tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, raw chicken breast, etc and throwing them in a blender, tossing the paste into a pan and baking it, and being amazed that you somehow didn't reproduce a mouth-watering delicious chicken Parmesan.

Funny timing on that simile. Right now I'm watching a Cutthroat Kitchen episode where contestants almost have to do that very thing.

[the_af]

Oh, I don't mind them re-imagining it. A carbon copy would have been no good; after all, Cowboy Bebop already exists.

The problem is that they completely botched it. It's embarrassing to watch.

[falcolas]

I got through it by fast forwarding through all of the scenes containing Vicious and his wife. They weren't good.

The rest wasn't really that much better, but it at least had nostalgia going for it.

[the_af]

They really butchered Vicious. Instead of an unpredictable, cold blooded killer they gave us a clown.

[AtlasBarfed]

They basically needed a reincarnation of Bruce Lee to play Spike.

They didn't find that person in casting.

Series failure inevitable.