Elkhorn

First off I love Teddy Roosevelt's story and most people wouldn't believe he did what he actually did. From tracking down outlaws to storming San Juan Hill to exploring the Amazon but this production was just bad. Poor set design poor acting and cheesy dialog. My first peeve is the choice of Mason Beal (who?) for the lead role. In real life Teddy was a sickly child who overcame that through "living the vigorous life." This included vigorous exercise, boxing, rowing and hunting trips to name a few. He was a husky man of 5'10" 190-200 pounds not the 5'7" 145 pip squeak Mason Beal. I feel his acting occasionally hits the mark in speech type and high reedy pitch but he wasn't the weak fragile little man shown here. He radically reformed the New York police department while commissioner during a time of extreme corruption. He was a very capable man who never backed down

The acting here is categorically bad and often painful to listen to. Very stereotypical portrayals of the characters and at times very cheap backlot sets make this feel like an after school special. The antagonist Marquis de Morès is portrayed by an American actor with a horrendous French accent that borders on comical. In reality the 2 did clash occasionally, once over land rights and once over cattle sale, the Marquis did kill a cowboy in a gunfight but not over land purchases.

Elkhorn was made for the INSP cable Network which I've never heard of and it shows in production value. If you like Hallmark Channel quality production you may like this Series because his story truly is incredible. I just hope one day that story can be told by more capable hands.

I am a huge fan of westerns and for me the jury is still out on this one. Mr. Roosevelt rides off to a destination with the only directions being, "ride 40 miles due north" and miraculously rides right to it. All the provisions for this 3 day trip are in one small bag hanging from his saddle. The firewood he uses is perfectly cut with a saw. After riding for some time, he dismounts from his horse and walks away, (not tying the horse up) apparently trusting the horse not to run off and leave him stranded in middle of nowhere.

Three other riders make the same trip, and they too carry nothing with them. When the cattle arrive, the actors close to the camera are dressed to look the part, but the riders in the distance, working the cattle clearly are wearing modern clothing and hats. At the beginning of the show, guns are fired, and no one even flinches at the sound. In one episode, a single cowboy has a red-hot branding iron and is interrupted as he's about to brand a cow, who is standing up! That wouldn't end well! Roosevelt enters two fist fights without even taking off his glasses. Really?

It's the director's job to pay attention to details like these that can make a show believable. (or unbelievable.) I would think there must be someone on the set who would point these things out and try and make it a little more authentic.

Hard to understand how some reviewers rate is show a 10 !

Elkhorn gets 4 stars for the scenery. As for the actors, none of whom I'll admit I ever heard of, they all seem more suited to community theater than television series or movies. I've watched four episodes and the more I see, the less I like it. The actor playing Paddock, I think his first name is Nate, may be the most annoying of the bunch. I refuse to believe he actually sounds like that! It feels like he made a conscious decision to sound and look like some new version of Sam Elliott! Every time he smirks and starts speaking in that Sam Elliott drawl, I have to laugh. Not sure I can finish watching the entire series. Honestly, I'd rather watch reruns of the old T. V. westerns from the 1960's. If you want to see a new Western series with great acting and writing, you should watch 'Billy the Kid' on MGM+ It's a hundred times better than Elkhorn.

My wife, my son, and I watched this show pretty much every week. I consider myself a history buff, so I wanted to check this one out. We got pulled into the story. The actor playing Teddy (Mason Beals) was tough when he needed to be, but also pulled off some of Teddy's quirky and nerdy traits. He looks a lot like Teddy as a young man, who was often described as "rail thin" in his younger years. The Frenchman Marquis de Morès (Jeff DuJardin) was exceptionally magnetic, sinister, and charming. The guy you love to hate. I lived in France for 2 years after college, and I enjoyed the touch of French culture and accent. I had heard of the real Marquis before, and he really was a larger than life character, and DuJardin nails it. The show as a whole felt pretty accurate. My wife was a big fan of the females on the show - the actress playing the Marquis' wife Medora (Ashton Solecki) was elegantly powerful and evil, the actress playing Rosie (Tori Griffith) was very organic, and Rosie's aunt Maddox (Stephanie Shulz) often stole the show with some biting humor. Overall, we will miss all of the great characters of Elkhorn and are really hoping for a Season 2!

A riveting storyline with a charismatic villain. I love the Western genre and lore, as well. Not sure how historically accurate it all is, but that's mostly on me and the American public school system for getting a D in American history. Despite any artistic liberties, I'm at least being made aware of numerous historical figures, places and events that I otherwise might have never been made aware of. And on a pure entertainment level, there's plenty of conflict and great acting to keep me coming back for more. I hope this gets renewed for another season so I'm not left hanging. More like this, please!