The Last Tycoon

Add The Last Tycoon to the likes of Firefly and The Tonight Show for shows that should never have been canceled. This show is on par with Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, and Downton Abbey. It has a great core, with the ability to be a classic, but sadly it only got one season.

The Last Tycoon gives a look into a time and world completely missed by modern movies. Pre WWII Hollywood and the nuanced issues that comes with a world on the brink of war. Unbelievably talented cast, great writing, amazing costumes, and just the right amount of twist and drama. I'm incredibly disappointed that it was canceled. Each actor was made to play their character.

It's amazing how after one season Matt Bomer will forever be Monroe Star, Lilly Collins will forever be Cecilia Brady, and Dominique McElligot will always be Kathleen Moore. Amazon really screwed up with the decision to cancel.

I love the era, the costumes, sets, music and acting. The Last Tycoon has the potential to be an excellent series with a good life. Amazon has created a lush & romantic yet realistic portrait of Hollywood in the years prior to WW-2. Each of the characters are believable and theft story held my interest throughout the fast moving sixty minutes.

It's great to see Kelsey Grammarand Matt Bomerr again. There's a good love/hate relationship evident that will likely produce some excellent moments as the story develops.

The Last Tycoon is so much more enjoyable than the typical fare the networks are putting out. Carry on, Amazon. You've got a winner here.

Nothing has changed. We can believe that corporations have taken over Tinsel Town, but in this version of "The Last Tycoon" creativity has always been controlled by committee. So the filmmakers out there that think they are autonomous, without using your own money, it 'aint happening.

That aside, the story is of wunderkind Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer) a ambitious young studio executive who is known to fix movies within the walls of Brady-American International, a fictional movie studio run by Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer). During the depression, they both attempt to save the studio from outside forces including the rise of stars and divas, and dark secrets of actors, the dynamics of writers and producers and so forth. Coming into the story, we also have Brady's daughter Celia Brady (Lily Collins) who is at the edge of adulthood and fixated on making her own way into Hollywood, and also Brady's wife Rose Brady (Rosemarie DeWitt) who has a history with Monroe whilst Celia holds a burning crush on him.

Admittedly, I know very little about the book, which was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. But I've seen the late 70's version, and they both do really good things. The issue with the 70's version is that it gets TOO melancholic. This skates a very tragic line since Bomer's Monroe plays a little more buoyant and hopeful than DeNiro's Monroe, who plays it brooding and bullish.

The series has some great moments (somewhat predictable but still satisfying) and makes nods to Hollywood lore. Louis B. Mayer's (Saul Rubinek) close to making "Wizard Of Oz" a Shirley Temple reference, and also a curious one with Margo Taft (Jennifer Beals) whom I can only assume is suppose to be Merle Oberon. Any way, this does suck you in. And I loved the production design. The characters have their intentions known and fascinating when they cut between the stories. You can keep up.

IF you are interested in old Hollywood, this is a great series to remind you that movie worlds were once made by people who really cared about the content.

Sad that this series was only one season. Really awesome acting, awesome show in itself. I know they're having issues at Amazon Prime but this is one of the series that needs to continue. I hope they figure everything out and are able to continue this show. It was really really good

Those who complain that this series was canceled don't understand that it wasn't supposed to be a continuing series. It was supposed to be Fitzgerald's greatest but unfinished novel, finished appropriately.

What they wound up adding to finish it was some typical Hollywood junk that Fitzgerald would never have written, that Stahr (or Thalberg) would never have produced. But it's pretty good junk, as Hollywood junk goes. The production is beautiful, the plot isn't too silly, and Kelsey Grammer's performance is great fun to watch. So I give it a 7, a good effort and well worth watching.

But it still should not have gone beyond its nine episodes. That wrapped up the plot and was the end. To go further would mean adding real Hollywood junk. The greatest skill is knowing when to stop.