Magic City

As an author of several books I can declare with absolute certainty all movies, TV shows, plays, etc., start with the writing. These venues either have good writing or they don't. The good writers are able to draw memorable characters and plots. The STARZ presentation of MAGIC CITY was a show that had the best writing on TV. The writing was consistently good. In essence the writers wrote a movie that ran about 24 hours (run over two seasons). This is nearly an impossible task, yet the writers of MAGIC CITY did so with great creative craft and skill. They maintained consistency in the storyline and the character development. The incredibly gifted actors who gave life to the written words were a compilation of some of the greatest acting on television. The acting top to bottom was great: Jeffrey Dean Morton, Danny Houston, Steven Straight, and all the rest was a dream cast. Unfortunately, television is a great wasteland. So when a great show like MAGIC CITY gets canceled the wasteland becomes even more barren. But let's get to the real point of the matter. The viewer ship for MAGIC CITY (as well as other shows like BOSS) is not down because the show(s) was not good. The viewer ship for MAGIC CITY as well as all premium cable stations is low because the cost of subscriptions is too damn high. The economic struggles of people in America are deeper than the empty talking heads of CNN, CNBC and FOX are permitted to talk about. The proof is premium channel viewer ship since 1984 is down 58%. Compounding the issue is the viewer base is going more toward shopping and music channels. Consequently, it's no wonder great written shows like MAGIC CITY are lost to poor tastes of viewers and the inability of STARZ executives to know how to grow viewer ship for a great show like MAGIC CITY. All this is very unfortunate, primarily because the executives of STARZ originally had the intelligence and good taste to allow MAGIC CITY on the channel. Is it too much to expect then that the executives have the courage to continue to air it and see the show through to its proper conclusion? On the other hand, what should I really expect from people who are, in reality, only bean counters? You show me a great show, I get drawn into a wonderfully written drama with brilliant characters, and outstanding performances and then you close down production. Why then should I invest my time, and money, in any programing STARZ offers? The decrease of premium cable viewer ship is not lost on companies such as Viacom, MGM and Lionsgate. That's why those companies eased out of their cable network projects. I know there's no changing the minds of STARZ executives; MAGIC CITY will be canceled. How terribly unfortunate for those of us who knew we were watching entertainment at it's best. And those discerning, loyal fans of MAGIC CITY are thankful that for two brief seasons we were given. We shared in the great pleasure to hear the written words of the writers of MAGIC CITY spoken by the great cast. I wish all the actors on MAGIC CITY the best success in any future endeavors. For a brief time you were my best source of entertainment on television. And to some degree you all became people I cared about. For that I am grateful. All the best. P.S. now that MAGIC CITY is canceled there's no reason for me to scribe to STARZ.

Well I feel this show has everything good TV should bring to the screen.

The cast is excellent and acting is all on form all round. The sets and wardrobes are top notch and the attention to detail is as good as any period show on TV at the moment.

Its great to see the likes of Kelly Lynch in such a good role again at last.

Danny Huston delivers a hauntingly brilliant villain and Jef Morgan is possibly at his career best yet.

As for the women in the show, well need I say anything...

I'm happily addicted to the show and lets hope this one stays around for some time

This show caught my attention, and held it from start to finish. It moves at a slow, but steady pace, as if mimicking the slightly slower speed people adjust to when in the tropics. The pace is perfect though, as nothing is rushed, and the story seems to move at an appropriate speed without bogging itself down.

The acting is good, the characters quickly defined with a touch of slight touch of cliché personalities, but I think it helps to make the story move along by quickly separating the good from the bad and the mysterious.

Great period shots of cars, fashion, and the era of smoking abound, giving those of us old enough to remember a nostalgic look at a period that was wonderful, tumultuous, and tragic all at once. This show has the right cast, and it's future depends solely on where it's writers take it. Definitely worth a watch.

This show is one of the best shows i've ever seen, right now i only watch 2 shows dexter and this one. I started watching it because of the lead actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan i've always loved his acting, so i started watching it and it was very easy to get obsessed with it. Now I don't understand how 7.1 on IMDb almost 5/5 in almost all episodes of starz is low rated!! How can they cancel this show so fast? a lot of people like me love this show and its one of the best shows out. Canceling it its a really bad mistake they are making, they should try changing the schedule or something not canceling it! I'm really disappointed with that WRONG decision STARZ made. Please starz change your minds! I'm sure you are going to lose a lot of viewers if you do it.

After hearing that there was going to be a show about the 1960s Miami this TV Series caught my attention. Myself as a Retro fan was pretty happy that shows like these are getting more common after Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire which were and still are amazing series.

First off its not possible to rate a whole TV Series off the first Episode so this will be about the first episode and how it is in my Opinion.

Magic City looks and feels authentic in many ways. The Quality of the set is really great some improvements could be made here and there but overall it looks fine. The story looks promising with hopefully a lot of future depth in it. I hope what i saw in the first Episode is the tip of the Iceberg. Another plus is that the music of the show is truly great and was picked carefully so it fitted to most of the parts. The important thing is to keep the music as a feature and not to overuse it.

Considering that the actors here are not that well known they are acting in a great manner that makes them look like professionals at times. So a big bravo to the Cast. One of the other points i liked is that the series took good care about the date it was set in showing the affects of real occurrences on the story minorly.

The Effects sometimes did look a bit too weak compared to the rest of the show. These can be improved of course but this doesn't change the fact that it looked a bit off and unrealistic. There were some scenes where the camera angles and the look of a room in a scene wasn't that well done compared to the other great rooms or environments they had showed beforehand.

So Overall. A good watch with a few mistakes here and there on the first episode. Hoping to see the true potential of the storyline and depth out of the following episodes.

If you didn't watch it check it out and see for yourself

8/10