wolkenfuehlen

Jake is just much nicer than us, apparently.

lovea

She could afford to be -- 'cause she gets to kiss Hami for real. We just live vicariously.

lovea

I just finished watching the Unaired Pilot for the first time. I think it was better than what they actually aired. Or maybe because this is all new to me.

Ed Quinn's take on Finn (although giving rise to a homosexual undertones with Will) is better than Jeremy Sisto's Finn. Ed Quinn delivered the "balls" scene better.

In so far as the on going discussion about Finn and Kate's affair, it was certainly hotter and heavier in the Unaired Pilot but the Kate here looked more like Hamilton's older sister than mom. But the affair seemed to play a more important part in what could've been the series than what actually aired.

I think the re-cast served the series better. The new Finn was better, the new Kate was more believable, and Bella has a different stepdad in the UP too.

Jake and Hamilton's first meeting was different too. I think I liked the UP better. Plus Jake's disguise wasn't about Monica. I'm not going to spoil it any further for those who still haven't seen it.

The songs are better in the UP too. They're not as annoying as the ones in the regular run.

Do you think the stories of the series would've developed differently if they went with the Unaired Pilot?

melon_collie

Ah, now I have to watch it

avasadie

I haven't watched it either, even though I have it. I will have to watch it now though, I am intrigued.

wolkenfuehlen

It's been so long since I watched it, the only thing I remember is Jeremy Sisto, and Bella's third dad. Gotta rewatch.

lovea

So what do we think? Which is better?

1. Original Finn vs. Re-cast Finn
2. Original Kate vs.Re-cast Kate
3. Original Susan vs.Re-cast Susan (Krudski)
4. Original Mr. Krudski vs.Re-cast Mr. Krudski
5. Original Grace vs.Re-cast Grace (was it Grace even in the UP)
6. Original Charlie vs. 1st Ep Charlie vs. Last Ep Charlie
7. Someday We'll Know vs. Six Pacs
8. Unaired Pilot vs. Pilot

My vote:
1. Re-cast Finn
2. Re-cast Kate
3. Original Susan (prettier)
4. Original Mr. Krudski (he didn't look psycho-violent unlike the re-cast)
5. Original Grace (not so ditsy; looks like Bella's BFF; looks like she's helping out)
6. Last Ep Charlie (I liked Matt Mulhern in Major Dad)
7. Someday We'll Know (better fit; not trying to be too trendy or trendsetting)
8. Unaired Pilot (it looked like a bigger production and the stories had promise)

s e r e n i t y

I havent watched it either, where can I see it?

lovea

Anja has a link.

s e r e n i t y

Oh yeah right thanks

wolkenfuehlen

I rewatched the unaired pilot today. I had forgotten how different it actually is!

I love Jeremy Sisto, but he's just not Finn to me. I felt there was something missing that Ed Quinn definitely brought to the role. Maybe it's really just the fact that he looks a bit more unconventional, I don't know.

I agree about original Kate, she just looked waaaaay too young. I kind of have a liking to the "normal" Kate, she looks like a mum.

Grace in the original pilot looked too old, I think. The relationship between her and Bella actually seemed like a pretty good one, not like the one they had on the show itself. That actually made Grace very uninteresting. I mean, her appeal as a character is that she's the "wild child", the irresponsible one, the complete opposite of her sister. At least to me.

I get that they took out the Kate/Finn affair of the aired pilot because they maybe didn't want to throw too many things at the viewer at once, but it's still sad, because it seems like that storyline would've been much more prominent in the season, and also that maybe Kate hadn't ended it that quickly again.

A random thing I really didn't like was the interior of Rawley Academy. It looked pretty cheap, and not at all like a preppy school with a looong tradition.

One thing that I missed was the first meeting of Bella/Scout before he goes up to Rawley. That really sets up the story of them sort of being meant to be, or something. Their talk at the end was extended in the aired pilot, and that was a good thing, I think.

lovea

It makes me wonder how everything would've unraveled -- there would probably have been more Hamilton scenes especially with Finn since the catch would be Finn "betraying" innocent Hami.
The corridor scenes did look like ordinary US high schools. The dorm rooms are bigger though but the colors are washed out. It was missing the old wood walls that made Rawley look rich. But the UP seemed to have more extras and more locations.

I feel that the way the UP was edited made it seem that the series was less about Will. It seemed that they all had equal importance especially with the deeper relationship between Kate and Finn. The scene where Scout and Bella talked in the end, I agree that the longer dialogue was better but the location seemed better in the UP. I just found it significant that she went to his bailiwick unlike in the pilot where they met at the lake which seem like a neutral place for both of them. It was like Bella was saying I'm not intimidated by the likes of you.

wolkenfuehlen

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. If I was walking into the regular Rawley Academy building with it's dark, wooden corridors, I would almost be intimidated and realise that this was a special school. But the one in the UP looked like any other highschool.


Hm, I don't know, I always kind of liked they were meeting on neutral ground. Actually, I would suppose it was the Rawley side of the lake (wasn't there boats? need to rewatch), so what you said about Bella not being intimidated still makes sense. I just loved the part with Will running into the lake much better than the three of them simply deciding to celebrate in the UP. (Then again, in the UP Finn never had his big "walking into the lake" moment, so for Will to do it wouldn't have made sense.)

Finnegan

Might not Young Americans best be improved by doing with it what Antin arguably should have done in the first place, namely to make it a film or stage play rather than a TV series?

That would entail cutting it down to less than half the length of the eight TV episodes aired in 2000. At the top of my list of scenes to cut would be those revealing Jake's true gender to the audience before Hamilton it finds out (as already suggested by Lovea on this thread). Other suggestions?

Beyond shortening, one would need either to focus more selectively on one or two of the three main love stories (Scout/Bella, Jake/Hamilton and Will/Rawley) or to make them interact more strongly rather than merely developing in parallel. Again, any suggestions?

wolkenfuehlen

I'm not sure if I'd be a fan of cutting the whole thing down. There are certainly things and scenes I wouldn't miss terribly, but I always rather liked the "slowness" with which the stories progressed. To have YA as a movie would probably end up meaning that the J/H secret would be resolved within the first 40-50 minutes, and they would then spend the last half of the "movie" being together.
Similarly, for example the fact that Bella and Scout are related would have to be revealed early on - yet the viewers would have to see enough Bella/Scout scenes prior to the revelation to get why the two of them "belong" together and to actually be shocked/annoyed by the revelation...

I don't know, I think it'd mostly be a time problem for me?

If you would cut down though I guess you would have to cut down on the secondary characters. I think the whole Finn/Kate thing would (have to) disappear. One character that should definitely stay is Ryder since there's so much "conflct potential" with all the main characters...