You know what they say the best thing about prison is: ladies drink free

April 12, 2016 11:34 AM

Terriers’ perfect one-season run defied description, marketability “Five years later, I still have not been able to think of a title that works,” Terriers creator Ted Griffin told TV critic Alan Sepinwall in a 2015 interview. “Beach Noir? Dolworth & Pollack, P.I.? Our Brand Is Competence?”

Episode recaps from A.V. Club and What's Alan Watching?

Opening theme (and full version of "Gunfight Epiphany") YouTube has all of the episodes, but they're inside a weird movie theater frame.

The New Yorker, "Shaggy Dogs"

Interview: Ted Griffin and Shawn Ryan talk 'Terriers'

Terriers co-stars Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James talk about the advantage of being close friends playing close friends on TV

FX explains why 'Terriers' was canceled

posted by kirkaracha (43 comments total)

I really love this show (and was considering doing a fanfare rewatch at some point, but life). While I would have loved to have more of it, I think it is a show that ended well - the season finale - and especially the last scene - worked well as a end point.
posted by dinty_moore at 11:37 AM on April 12, 2016 [9 favorites]

I really loved this show. I was so bummed when it was cancelled.
posted by KingEdRa at 11:40 AM on April 12, 2016 [4 favorites]

There's also something to be said for the fact that, in this age of antihero glut, the two leads manage to be flawed human beings (and actually flawed, and treated as flawed by the narrative), but still came off as genuinely likable.
posted by dinty_moore at 11:43 AM on April 12, 2016 [6 favorites]

(and was considering doing a fanfare rewatch at some point, but life)

Suggestified.

It's currently streaming on Netflix.
posted by Etrigan at 12:05 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

i think i'm still actually angrier about this cancellation than i am about firefly. it was juuuuuuuust barely ahead of its time. a year or two later netflix/amazon/hulu would have loved to have it.
posted by nadawi at 12:05 PM on April 12, 2016 [6 favorites]

I have watched the first 12 episodes of Terriers twice, but I cannot bring myself to watch the final episode because then it will be over.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:05 PM on April 12, 2016 [5 favorites]

In fact, I'm going to remove this thread from my Recent Activity, because I don't even want to hear anything about the finale.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:06 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

I used to eat breakfast each week in the diner they used for filming (it's on Newport). OB is, indeed, packed with interesting characters and they included a lot of its charm and locales/locals in the show.
posted by remlapm at 12:08 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

And we're live on FanFare.
posted by Etrigan at 12:12 PM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

Dammit, now I have the theme song stuck in my head.

Also, seriously trying to think of a better title.
posted by dinty_moore at 12:13 PM on April 12, 2016

Oh god, I loved this show and yes, the theme song!, and was freaking heartbroken (if not surprised) at its cancellation.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:30 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

That movie theater frame is an attempt to avoid being caught by YouTube's algorithms for breaking copyright law.

I love the show. I liked how its slacker protagonists turn out to be more effective than anyone gave them credit for.
posted by Monochrome at 12:36 PM on April 12, 2016

Btw, is this where we can fight to the death over the first line of the theme song lyrics? I always see it posted online as "Got a ride with a trickster and a javelin man" but I vociferously maintain that it HAS to be "Got a ride with a trickster in a Javelin, man" because that makes way more sense.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:38 PM on April 12, 2016

I thought it was 'got a ride with a trickster and a travelin' man'
posted by dinty_moore at 12:51 PM on April 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

That'd be a damn sight better than the first version.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:53 PM on April 12, 2016

Huh, is it not "Got a ride with a trickster in a travelin' van"?
posted by jacquilynne at 12:56 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Caught a ride with a vicar to a rambling land"
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:01 PM on April 12, 2016 [4 favorites]

"Caviar with my sister and the Cadillac Man"?
posted by Shepherd at 1:13 PM on April 12, 2016 [4 favorites]

This show and Battle Creek are at the top of my "picked up by Netflix for another season" list.

But no, we get the Gilmore Girls.
posted by fshgrl at 2:13 PM on April 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

Should've called it "Beach Dicks."
posted by infinitywaltz at 2:41 PM on April 12, 2016 [5 favorites]

I remember a lot of the marketing for this show was just a picture of a dog with Donal Logue and the other guy and it was really vague and didn't tell you anything about what the show was about. Who would've guessed that would not work? Not me, the purposeful ambiguity was like catnip to me and I watched this while it was airing, but it didn't really work for other people I think.

It's a lot like a grown-up Veronica Mars with the class differences, the charming sarcastic outsider leads and the private detective/noir feel of it. And I remember a lot of the cases, like Veronica Mars, had some clever twists.

Also, I had never seen Donal Logue in anything except that sitcom he was on, but boy did he surprise me in this. I did not know or expect him to be such a charismatic and awesome actor.
posted by john-a-dreams at 2:44 PM on April 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

In all seriousness, "Terriers" is probably my favorite television show of all time ever. I am not happy that it's not available on DVD.
posted by infinitywaltz at 2:45 PM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

oh man, i wateched this specifically for donal logue. even in that banal sitcom he was incredible. i wish we could get more of him in whatever way on our screens.
posted by nadawi at 2:47 PM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

Donal Logue being in Gotham just made Gotham even more of a disappointment.
posted by dinty_moore at 2:54 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

When I first realized that Donal Logue's character's sister is played by Donal Logue's own sister, I thought... yes, of course.
posted by mikeh at 2:59 PM on April 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

Yeah, it's fascinating and baffling that the FX president quoted in the LA Times article above was so adamant it was advertised well.

Look at this ad--it looks terrible and corny, like a bad Taco Bell ad, and already completely dated, even though the show's only been off the air for five years. Or this teaser ad that just shows the guys struggling to start a car and making a Duchovny face?!

The show comes from a SoCal quirky/comic/slacker noir tradition that's certainly worked before: it's from the same extended family as The Rockford Files, The Big Lebowski, Brick, Veronica Mars, Inherent Vice, Fletch, Altman's version of The Long Goodbye with Elliott Gould and Robert Crais's novels. But looking at any of the ads I can find, you wouldn't have a clue that's what the show was.
posted by smelendez at 3:06 PM on April 12, 2016 [10 favorites]

oh man, i wateched this specifically for donal logue. even in that banal sitcom he was incredible. i wish we could get more of him in whatever way on our screens.

Have you seen Copper? He's great in that. It's a perfect part for him.
posted by fshgrl at 4:24 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

I liked the show a lot, but watching it on amazon I find myself speeding through the Britt-Katie stuff. They are fine, attractive young actors, but something about the pacing, the dialog, the lingering close-ups, the I dunno what, etc. just annoys me. Way too much time spent away from the things in the show that engage me, I guess.
posted by Chitownfats at 4:37 PM on April 12, 2016

Oh hey, if we're talking about shows with Donal Logue that Netflix should pick up, I want more Life, father.
posted by sysinfo at 6:38 PM on April 12, 2016 [7 favorites]

TIL:
a) Terriers was not a heartwarming, tragically short-lived sitcom about an underdog local sports team &
b) Terriers was set in Ocean Beach, San Diego, where I once lived (back in the halcyon days of sorta-youth (say, 10 years ago))

brb adding to queue
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:17 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Laura Allen and Michael Raymond-James had just absurd amounts of on screen chemistry. It was a real joy to watch.
posted by mmascolino at 8:43 PM on April 12, 2016

I'm not in America and have never been able to find this show anywhere. Legal or not legal.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 8:47 PM on April 12, 2016

It's on Netflix in the US, so if you have a VPN, it seems possible. I think.
posted by koeselitz at 8:58 PM on April 12, 2016

Yeah, seconding Life. Damien Lewis! Sarah Shahi! There's a lot to love. The ending was not too abrupt, though I wouldn't mind some more episodes.
posted by axiom at 10:28 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Thanks a lot guys - I never heard about this show until today, and I've ended up binge watching 7 episodes so far. Don't you all know I have other shows I need to catch up on ;)
posted by littlesq at 10:39 PM on April 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Netflix kept recommending it to me so I watched about half of the first episode, but it just didn't grab me right away and I moved on. The positive reviews here are making me want to restart it and finish the series, though.

The show comes from a SoCal quirky/comic/slacker noir tradition that's certainly worked before: it's from the same extended family as The Rockford Files, The Big Lebowski, Brick, Veronica Mars, Inherent Vice, Fletch, Altman's version of The Long Goodbye with Elliott Gould and Robert Crais's novels. But looking at any of the ads I can find, you wouldn't have a clue that's what the show was.

This is exactly the context that if I had known about, would have made me much more interested in the show.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:53 AM on April 13, 2016

Wow, I binge rewatched about 9 episodes last night, and it's worth being dazed with sleep deprivation today. I got far enough to be reminded of my FAVORITE PHRASE from the whole series, also one of my fave bits of dialogue from any show. Fortunately, it's possible to share it without any spoilerization whatsoever:

"Smooth jazz"
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:36 AM on April 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

This show was amazing. It would have caught on and made mad money, especially with streaming services. Donal Logue was just so flawed but awesome it was heartbreaking.
posted by xammerboy at 11:38 AM on April 13, 2016

Other worthwhile things to check out Donal Logue in:

Vikings
The Tao of Steve
posted by Sparx at 3:05 PM on April 13, 2016

He's also in Sneakers.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:40 PM on April 13, 2016

Donal Logue is just the best.
posted by thebrokedown at 9:41 PM on April 13, 2016

The relationship between Hank and Gretchen feels so real and beautiful and sad. Hell, all the relationships are beautiful and sad.
But the feeling of history and love between those two makes the inside of my nose burn.

After my first watch through of this show, I told a few people it was my new Firefly, which was apparently all they needed to hear to check it out.

And I'm gonna go back to it again and again, maybe even more than with Firefly.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:23 AM on April 15, 2016

After reading this I watched through the show on Netflix. I very much enjoyed the show, thought it had a great mixture of episode and arc plot, enjoyed the foreshadowing and things that were set up in advance, and the characters interaction and personal development. But, heretical as it may be, I wonder if 13 episodes was the right length for this show. Sure, they left room for more machinations with the big arc plot, but I'd worry it would either be over the top or a let down, and not as personal. But it's more in the character arcs—they've changed grown enough, and resolved enough issues and in ways that feel more like a conclusion than a "Part One". Maybe ending after the first season let the show go out on a high note, without the need to look back and say "Well, this season isn't bad, but not like the show used to be."
posted by JiBB at 3:58 PM on April 21, 2016