Lone Star: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Ratings

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Ratings

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Lone Star

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Season Details & Credits

FOX | Season Premiere Date: September 20, 2010

Starring: Bryce Johnson, Adrianne Palicki, David Keith

Summary: Robert Allen (James Wolk) is living two separate lives: one in Houston with his wife Cat (Adrianne Palicki) and another in Midland as Bob with his girlfriend Lindsay (Eloise Mumford).

Creator: Kyle Killen

Genre(s): Drama, Soap, Suspense

Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E4. Small Time
Air Date: unknown
tbd
S1:E3. Unveiled
Air Date: unknown
tbd
S1:E2. One in Every Family
Air Date: September 27, 2010

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Matt Roush

This fall's best and most original drama taps a gusher of intrigue and twisty romance, with star-is-born James Wolk the most irresistible con man since Lost's Sawyer. Read full review

Matthew Gilbert

What I like about Lone Star, what could make it the strongest TV newcomer of the season, is the ways in which it differs from classic nighttime melodramas. The show is as much a bittersweet character study of con man Bob Allen as it is a new spin on the Ewings. Read full review

Lesley Smith

As it poses existential questions, the show benefits from the casting choice of newcomer Wolk and a supple, low-key naturalism in both performances and direction. Read full review

Tim Goodman

Lone Star has enormous potential to be a complicated, tightrope-walking tale of two lives. Or it could just implode. Like "The Event," it's worth your investment, but you'll have to record one or the other. Read full review

Alan Sepinwall

There are so many lies in so many places, so many people on the verge of finding out and/or being hurt, that it feels like Lone Star might become very frustrating and repetitive by episode 3 or 4. I would watch a movie version of Lone Star, and I will stick with the series hoping it proves me wrong, but it doesn't feel like this premise has legs. Read full review

Maureen Ryan

Lone Star doesn't have quite the same sense of place as 'FNL,' and it's far more of a traditional soap than the NBC/DirecTV drama. Still, Voight and especially Keith, who projects palpable charisma, give terrific performances as the strong, stubborn men trying to bend Bob to their wills. This is no 'Dallas' but a sincere look at one man's attempt to go straight without alienating everyone he loves. Read full review

David Hinckley

So where "Dallas" was happy if we were appalled at almost every character, Lone Star depends on us coming to like most of them, including Bob. The problem is that he's not a guy who got drunk one night and wrecked someone's car on a joyride. He has spent his life stealing from people who thought he was their friend. Read full review

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User Score

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User Reviews

frankdatank

Sep 23, 2010

Hands down LONE STAR is the best new show of the season! Smart writing, heartfelt performances, smooth directing. I don't understand why the population wastes their brains on noisy and meaningless stuff like Hawaii 5-O and can get engrossed into smart storytelling like Lone Star. TheHands down LONE STAR is the best new show of the season! Smart writing, heartfelt performances, smooth directing. I don't understand why the population wastes their brains on noisy and meaningless stuff like Hawaii 5-O and can get engrossed into smart storytelling like Lone Star. The protagonist is a con man hence non relatable??? This excuse is major BS. It's a TV show and the writers have made it into a clear 3 dimensional character with a conscience. Did people understand what was going on in the show or are they too numbed by Cbs procedurals???… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

acricketer

Sep 23, 2010

Outstanding new series with an intriguing premise. Great characters ripe for development. Plenty of scope for thrills and spills, twists and turns. Read that it was going to be canned for poor ratings (maybe not even a second episode). That would be a great shame, since there is very littleOutstanding new series with an intriguing premise. Great characters ripe for development. Plenty of scope for thrills and spills, twists and turns. Read that it was going to be canned for poor ratings (maybe not even a second episode). That would be a great shame, since there is very little non law/cop quality out there.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JED_Houston

Sep 26, 2010

I wanted to watch the pilot, but missed it on Monday, caught it when it played again on Saturday. I think that it could be a really good show. I think that many people are put off by the con man angle, and it troubles me a lot as well, but I still found the premise to be a bit fascinating.I wanted to watch the pilot, but missed it on Monday, caught it when it played again on Saturday. I think that it could be a really good show. I think that many people are put off by the con man angle, and it troubles me a lot as well, but I still found the premise to be a bit fascinating. Definitely a lot better than other junk shows that make it for years. Maybe Fox doesn't have it in the right time slot. I hope that it makes it, I'll watch the second episode.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Skruff

Sep 23, 2010

An excellent premiere episode with strong characters, and a very interesting premise of a con man who wants to make a change to his life! I really hope Fox gives this show a real chance to find its audience!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TV-Tastic

Sep 21, 2010

http://tvtastic.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/advance-review-lone-star/ First, let me preface this by saying that when I first heard about Lone Star, let's just say that I was beyond skeptical. The descriptions I saw on various entertainment sites were bland and really made it sound like to washttp://tvtastic.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/advance-review-lone-star/ First, let me preface this by saying that when I first heard about Lone Star, let's just say that I was beyond skeptical. The descriptions I saw on various entertainment sites were bland and really made it sound like to was a 2010 version of Dallas using key-phrases such as "Texas," "oil" and "soap opera." I can't imagine at all why someone would come to the conclusion that this show is Dallas: The Next Generation.After watching the pilot, though, I can say that I was not only pleasantly surprised, but also a little annoyed at the marketing for this show amongst the various media outlets and even by FOX itself. Yes, it's in Texas, yes it revolves around a family oil company and yes it's definitely a soap, but there is so much more to this show than this, and unfortunately, it may be its downfall.As noted, Bob is a con-man living two separate lives, with two different women. But which one is the real Bob? Well, the answer is both and neither because Bob also has two other alter-egos as well: the man he is when he's with his father and is actually "himself" and the man he is when he's actually trying to combine the two lives. The fact is that Bob is struggling to find out what his true identity is, even in the pilot and it's obvious that this will be a main theme throughout the series. Do you see what I mean about this show being complicated? And that's just our protagonist.

What I like about this story is Bob, himself. I'm not sure if I'm into the identity struggle and I can definitely do without the "con-man-with-a-heart-of-gold" persona which seems to be contrived exclusively because the writers aren't brave enough to have a protagonist be a true anti-hero or a villain. This is a very weak decision on the writers part in my opinion (well, it may have been a producer's decision) because it tells me that they don't have enough faith in the character or the actor, and I don't understand why.

I like stories about con-men and so does everyone, whether they admit it or not. Con-men are fun. They're clever and they have a swagger and a bravado they keeps audiences coming back. They're like spies who are crooks. If I want to see a transformation from a swine to a knight, I sure as heck don't want to see it in the pilot. If the producers need advice on how to develop the growth of a con-man, I would simply refer them to Sawyer from Lost.From what I've seen so far, the producers are unnecessarily playing it safe with Bob. The character is well-written enough and James Wolk is talented enough to pull-off the "villain-who-we-hate-to-love" without really breaking much of a sweat. Also, if anyone thinks that writing a villain as protagonist doesn't work I will simply refer you to this Vic Mackey from The Shield or Dexter Morgan from DexterThe point is that the right actor playing the right character can pull off the villain-protagonist and it's often quite refreshing when they do, and in this case, ours doesn't even kill anyone.

The other problem with this "heart-of-gold" scenario as that it doesn't make any sense. In the opening scene of the pilot we are immediately made aware that Bob's father, John (played brilliantly by David Keith) has been a con-man his whole life and has been teaching Bob how to do it since he was at least 10 years-old, if not younger. That being said, all Bob has ever known is "The Con" and all of a sudden, when he's on the verge of the biggest score of his life he suddenly finds religion and wants to not only play it straight with his father-in-law's oil company but also wants to find a way to get all of those people in Midland their money back that he took from them in a Ponzi Scheme? Sure. It's very hard to swallow to say the least.

The biggest complaint I have about Lone Star is that the plot outside of Bob's con is very contrived and very clichÃ©d and to be quite honest, so are some of the characters and a lot of it is lazy and does hearken back to Dallas. You've got your surly patriarch Jock Ewing-type, Clint Thatcher (even the names are clichÃ©d, for God's sake) played by Jon Voight (who you can never go wrong with) and Trammell Thatcher (Mark Delkin) the ambitious, scheming son who's mad that Dad gave the outsider (Bob) the task of turning the family business around and is looking to undermine the new guy and finally, Drew Thatcher (Bryce Johnson), the under-achieving younger brother that no one takes seriously except for the outsider (Bob) and who is desperately seeking approval from both his father and his older, more accomplished brother. Any of this sound familiar? Of course it does because we've seen this clichÃ©d family trifecta in 100's of other films and TV shows over the last 50 years.

Still, although you're tempted to roll your eyes, the performances carry what is really a simplistic, although compelling subplot. Sp… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MarcDoyle

Sep 21, 2010

It looks promising, but the lead actors don't seem to be heavyweight enough to get it done. I like the casting of Tyra from Friday Night Lights. John Voight and David Keith are excellent. A pilot needs to seal the deal, and though I'll watch another episode, I thought this would be the slamIt looks promising, but the lead actors don't seem to be heavyweight enough to get it done. I like the casting of Tyra from Friday Night Lights. John Voight and David Keith are excellent. A pilot needs to seal the deal, and though I'll watch another episode, I thought this would be the slam dunk new show of the season for me. It's not. Here's hoping it gets better.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

kristen58

Sep 30, 2010

Boring. I watch the pilot because I thought it was an interesting premise based on the promos, but I was bored. There's just not enough to is. It's like they thought of the premise and then has no idea where to go from there. Thanks for cancelling it!

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

SEE ALL 10 REVIEWS

Seasons & Episodes

73

Series Overview
Season 1

73
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: September 20, 2010
- tbd
  S1:E4. Small Time
  Air Date: unknown
- tbd
  S1:E3. Unveiled
  Air Date: unknown
- tbd
  S1:E2. One in Every Family
  Air Date: September 27, 2010
- tbd
  S1:E1. Pilot
  Air Date: September 20, 2010