User reviews

I just binge watched the first two seasons in a few days and absolutely loved this quirky way of storytelling, the completely unpredictable world and storylines, and it was clearly set up for a season 3. All the reviews on her seem to suggest that it's loved by almost everyone who watched it, so I cannot understand why it was cancelled. I think perhaps it wasn't advertised very well on Netflix? I only just discovered it and definitely would have watched it years ago if I knew about it. Please please stop wasting money on terrible Noah Centineo rom-coms and crap like more seasons of 13 reasons why and bring this back!

I will keep this short. You should watch this because is is sharp, funny, well written, well acted and engaging on many levels. Yes - I know it's nothing like the books. BBC UK tried that and it failed. Nobody has ever come close to doing Douglas Adams justice on screen because the insane intricacy and sheer scale of his stories make it impossible. BBC America has been very clever. They have taken the core concept and characters and done something utterly different with it. It is its own thing and stands on its own merits, which are many. If you are a person who gets terribly upset when a script is not faithful to the source material down to the last semi-colon, this show will make your brain implode. If, like me, you can let go of those expectations and enjoy what it is, rather than what you would like it to be, you might just enjoy it as much as I do. I love the books too and if I want the books, I read the books. This is a TV show and a pretty damn good one. If you can't separate the two, this is not for you. Try the UK version - but it ain't half as much fun.

The only bad part was when it ended all too soon. Apparently shows intended for idiots can go on forever, but anything remotely interesting is cancelled because the braindead masses have declared with one voice that it isn't X-Factor or whatever, so they're not interested.

I cannot even begin to explain just how upset I am that BBC America/Netflix has decided to cancel this unbelievably funny, witty, face-paced, intelligent, bonkers, funny, dark, twisty, crazy, show that I am here to do add my weight to #savedirkgently for what it's worth.

Full of astonishing loveable and beautifully written characters. So different from the normal, boring, straight, obvious, banal trash that seems to get renewed season after season. Edge of seat tension, laugh out loud funny, hugely high calibre of cast, based on ideas from Douglas Adams (who was always ahead of his time). I am a massive fan of DA and these books were respectful to his ideology, even if they weren't an exact replica of his books. In fact I would say they stand alone as being something quite different, refreshing and new. DA would have LOVED it! Everything IS connected.

Just utterly brilliant and when season 2 ended I was SOOO excited about the possibilities clearly set up and poised for the next season, that when I discovered BBC America had cancelled I was SO confused!

Only the weight of fans beating down the doors of BBC America might get them to re-think their utter lack of respect to their viewing public. THE BBC would never do this (and why I will always be happy to pay my BBC licence, as they are responsible for some of the best telly ever made) but clearly BBC America is just another knee jerk reactionary television maker who make short term decisions based on... What? With the way television is consumed these days you cannot base the success of a program on such a short term set of data. Some programs need time for people to find them. Not all of us can watch when we want to and that is the point of Netflix subscriptions surely? I have recommended to a load of people who are now thanking me for the recommendation, and yet now I feel bad because when Season 2 closes for them, they are going to be as frustrated and upset as I am.

HOW do television makers decide whether to make a sew season? Noone is asking for yet another LOST, where season after pointless season was made, never reaching a satisfying conclusion, and yet that was allowed to happen.

I have NO problem with a fantastic series coming to an end, with a clear drawing of a line, and a full stop - but to set up for a whole new story and then cancel? Nah - that's not on. MAKE THE DAMN SEASON 3 AND REACH AN ENDING!

Don't leave Bart in a dark room. I'll think about her forever and be sad.

During the last three days I've been speed-watching this gem on Netflix. Granted 2-3 episodes from the first season didn't make much sense, but after that, I couldn't stop watching. This is one of the ,most fulfilling and interesting shows ever. Granted, the characters in the show are highly overpowered, As the whole show is about universe giving them incredible abilities such as create realities in the sleep, a godlike ability, or an ability to kill everything without getting hurt or effectively objected. As a whole it felt like a positive "Final Destination" movie. I really hope some one will pick it up for more seasons.

Update from 04/2022 I decided to rewatch it, and once again couldn't stop watching for two days straight. Please bring it back! It so much better and smarter than most of the shows that are being released nowadays. Netflix, that is your chance to step up and get ahead. Everything in this show works!

I can't recall the last time I was this fulfilled by a television show. I watched the first season this past February, and I was amazed that I hadn't heard of it until then. I quickly fell in love with it due to its refreshing originality, compelling storytelling, and fascinating bunch of characters. This is no ordinary show; it's intentionally wacky and confusing, it subverts tropes and cliches all over the place, and nothing is as it seems at first. Underneath it all, however, everything is connected in the most satisfying and entertaining ways imaginable. The second season just finished airing this past Saturday, and it was somehow even better than the first.

It was revealed yesterday that Dirk Gently would not be brought back for a third season on BBCA, and I can only hope Netflix picks it up, because it would be absolutely devastating if this incredible show didn't get the run it so mightily deserves.

To try and list all the things that make this show special, will take several weeks, so I'll try to cut it short. It is insanely well written, to the extent that something in s1 e1 that seems random is actually a thought-out part of the story that may become crucial in s2. Despite being a show about a possibly psychic detective, that starts with an insane amount of different stories about characters that doesn't seem to have any impact on each other, everything is actually connected and brought together in a brilliant unexpected way in the end. Apart from all this, Max Landis has managed to write every single character interesting, and capable of being the star of their own show. Above all they are relatable, despite or maybe because of them being a bit crazy and a loser in their own way. None of these characters are unflawed and it makes you care about them in a way that I've never been able to care about fictional characters before. Every single actor is hugely talented, and the creative team behind the show must have put such a huge amount of love and effort into bringing Landis's vision to life. The portrayals of women, lgbt+ people, people of color and mentally ill people are so respectful in a unique way that I think is mostly due to the fact that Landis knows how to write them as any other human being. As a woman I experienced a great relief in watching a show where no woman is sexualized in any way, but still considered worthy of love and acceptance. The dialogue is never random, it changes dynamically between hilarious and thoughtful. No clichés ever show up, which is incredibly refreshing. I could go on and on about this show, the beautiful music and cinematography, the powerful messages that are often underlying and sometimes outspoken, the relationships between the characters and the absence of toxic masculinity in the male heroes, but I'm already ranting, so I'm just going to end with this:

Give this show a chance. I can say that it changed the way I look at life for the better, it made me care at a time when I didn't. Let yourself be swept away. Everything is connected.

I read the book many years ago, but went into this show with 0 expectations and open to where it would take me. And I kinda love it! It's a madcap, comedy/adventure that I think captures Douglass Adams' narrative style (at least as it applies to the Hitchhiker's Guide - my fav book of all time). It's a little bit out there, sure, but that's how the source material is. After watching the first two episodes back to back, I'm in. 100%. I can't wait to see where they go with this show. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a lot of fun and I'm excited to continue with it.

Don't pay too much mind to the negative reviews. This show is going to find a sweet spot with an audience, and if it looks interesting to you, give it a try. You may like it or dislike it, but you certainly wont be bored by it!

If this only had one season it would be a 10 all the way but man someone really screwed up on season 2. Tons of unnecessarily stupid dialogue, dumb costumes and bad actors. Did I skip the part where Black got brain damage? 'cause I lost count of how many stupid decisions she made, not to mention the personality change from kinda cool to ARE YOU FLIPPING SERIOUS? Easy example, they group is about to be let out of jail and she goes 'Wait don't do it, isn't that against the rules?' wtf is that supposed to mean? DO YOU WANT TO BE IN JAIL?! Todd's sister. Just a lame mary sue. Nothing special about her. Just a device for the visions since having the protagonist have them would be cool and it seems you can't have a cool protagonist when douglas adams is involved. And bart, poor poor bart , turned from cool murder hobo to comic relief.

Anyway, season 1 is a must watch but you really shouldn't watch the second one, they basically take everything cool from the first season and shhhhit on it.

This is one of those series that is going to be divisive in several respects.

There are going to be those who've read the books, and those who haven't. Those who care whether it follows the books, and those who don't. And on top of that, this is not a show that is trying to appeal in one way or another to all audiences either. This is likely going to be one of those shows that you will either give a very high or a very low rating.

The story is fast paced, and presented like a jigsaw puzzle. Avoid if you like your stories linear, with an optional twist at the end. This one is all twist. (Maybe it'll be linear at the end.)

I didn't expect anything going in, and came out happy for having seen it.

Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency is an intriguing comedic detective story set in a magical real world with larger and smaller than life characters tied by a chain of fate that looks like an incredible number of crazy coincidences. It is a very enjoyable series with good storytelling, good actors and a nice budget to go along. It is something different and defined that requires a bit of work on your part as it's not another dumbed down cop show, alas you will be repaid in full. Photography and music are great and effects are decent. Direction is good as well and actions are presented in an interesting editing with good framing.

For the readers: This series is good, it's not the source material.

You can either accept it and have a good show with unusually good acting or hate it for what it is not and ruin this for yourself. BBC took a risk and invested heavily on an Americanised show for a wider public. I love Adams' original work but let's face it: what works on paper might not work on the screen and most of the times faithful representations happen when the source is easy to be broken down into a fast paced storyboard, that is very rarely true. I personally hate the Guide movie, while I think this product captures more the spirit of Adams' writing if not the whole substance.

Even with with the worldwide success enjoyed by the source author, it is amazingly difficult to find investors ready to put money on such a perceived niche product, they would rather invest in CSI Somewhere. Please be kind and enjoy, one day... one day we might even have a truly faithful art piece, after US country wide legalisation that might even go to commercial success. For now welcome this and hope for more.

Possibly the most original, interesting, off-beat, well-written, well-acted, well-directed, unusual, fascinating, funniest show of the last few years, so of course it got cancelled. Seems like the better the show is, the more likely it is for some idiot network executive to dislike it.

I did not expect much from this show, considering the fact that it is a BBC America production, not BBC UK, and because of tons of negative reviews on the web.

When I start a show, I usually watch one or sometimes two episodes a day. The first season of this one I watched in one breath. I didn't even pause it for the bathroom or making coffee. Eight episodes of 40 minutes each felt like one bit longer movie.

The second season, of ten episodes, is done differently and is not as original and hypnotically addictive as the first, but its witty fairytale style quickly won me over.

Ignore fans of Douglas Adams who bash this show for not being faithful to original novels. It is not faithful, that's a fact, but it does not make it a bad show. On the contrary. Adams is tricky for screen adaptation. I don't think anyone has succeeded yet. He's too impossible and abstract. "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is just roughly Adams, but it's great in every way.

Any attempt of concise retelling is pointless, because this show is one big puzzle, a labyrinth that perplexes more and more and twists happen every few minutes. "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is much more specific and linear, but I dare you to explain what it is about briefly and that it makes any sense.

If you liked "Misfits," "Happy," "Preacher," "Good Omens," or the new "Doctor Who", and if you like Douglas Adams, but you're not an obsessed fanatic, this is a perfect show for you. But if you expect a verbatim adaptation of the books or if you like linear stories, better skip it.

9/10.

I've read lots of negative comments but I'm thoroughly enjoying this after 3 episodes. Completely faithful adaptations of Douglas Adams seem kinda pointless as so much of his greatness was dependent on the ideas and the bizarre and impossible views he would conjure with words. The wit in his books was never heavily concentrated into the dialog and I think much would make visually dull jokes which required constant and tedious exposition (a permanently stuck sofa just looks too everyday and common to ever be funny).

The cast are younger and more attractive than they would have been in a completely British adaptation and everything happens at great pace but I think that was needed because visually you could never present jokes and ideas as densely as Adams did in his books. I really love one character from the trailers and every scene she has been in; she reminds me of a signature I once read along the lines of "Karma is wonderful, I can treat people bad all day confident in the knowledge that they deserved it."

I think this hugely entertaining even if it only borrows ideas and style from the books fairly lightly . I think most people are likely to enjoy both as quite different things however if you can't appreciate both just consider that books get to tell jokes in much the same way as video don't.

So, this show is... a absurd thriller about a holistic detective name Dirk Gently followed by the CIA, a group of vampire punk and a holistic assassin. He's gonna meet Todd, a loser who's gonna become is assitant without wanted to be and they have to find a missing girl who is also search by a weird cult who have a cat and a shark... this is as confusing that it sounds but in the end, everything is connected. This show is good, absurd and weird yes, but good. This is a sand box and as no limit in weirdness, but also have very human characters and that just the right balance. This show will maybe have a 3 season on Netflix and all be damned if this is not the case because this show means everything to me, and everything is connected !

I watched Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency not having read any reviews, or knowing anything about it (asides from reading the books and watching the original BBC show), drawn in by the title alone and being a Douglas Adams fan.

Having watched only the first episode, I was captivated. Okay perhaps it's not true to the original, but it's so much better than the previous BBC production.

Reading some reviews before writing this I can't help but think some people just don't quite "get it". The plot seems all over the place, but surely that's the whole point - everything is connected - and I assume the stories will come together later in the series.

I don't rate things 10 stars very often, I'll be honest. No matter what it is you watch, there is bound to be something you don't like. It's a fact of life! However, it's safe to say that there is absolutely nothing I have disliked about Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

While being inspired by and rooted in the world of Douglas Adams' books, this show still manages to be unique and original. The stories are complicated, border lining on insane at times, but the plot holds up under scrutiny and is true to its slogan: everything is connected. Max Landis has done what nobody else really could; he's adapted a Douglas Adams novel in a way I think the fans and the author himself would truely appreciate.

The characters are complex, compelling, and incredibly flawed. Every last one of them has at least some tendency to be even just a little bit of an asshole. And that's what makes them so likable! This show has given diverse and engaging characters that are shockingly relatable. Not to mention Landis and company have already tackled topics that other shows have shied away from, mental illness being one in particular.

I've recommended this show to practically everybody I know, whether they're fans of gritty crime thrillers, action-packed sci-fi adventures, or even afternoon sitcoms. I guarantee, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is like nothing you've ever seen before.

6.7/10 (Season 2). Man was I dissapointed. After such a brilliant first season which was filled with laughs, mystery, action and complete randomness amidst a solid and very thrilling plot line - S2 fell so fricken flat. The script was far from funny. They mystery wasnt nearly as enthralling. And the characters became so stale it was a real hard slog to get through this season in comparison to S1. Elijah Wood was just simply boring in S2. And as for Samuel Barnett who plays Dirk, he was so infuriating and annoying I could not deal with him this time around. He did have one hilarious moment though . Netflix .

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I am so sad that it was cancelled and I will never understand why ? 8.3 rating and still cancelled... Crap such as kardashians, réal housewifes, and other worthless series continues forever... What does this say about the viewers...? Everything.

I'm not going to discuss how the show is very different from the books, this annoyed me at first, but then I decided it didn't really matter. Douglas Adams's prose is all about hilarious descriptions and explanations so it is not very well suited for film. Once I got over the fact the series is nothing like the books, I found the show to be watchable and, at times, intriguing.

The acting, however, in my opinion, was nauseating. Everyone's acting apart from Elijah Wood (who just acts like he does in all his roles) can be described as silly. All the actors were asked to do strange voices and constantly make very silly faces. Dirk Gently (played by Samuel Barnett) seems to be an attractive and likable man in the split seconds when his face doesn't have a childish expression that made him seem terribly irritating. Other actors all act like they are 4-year-olds trapped in adults' bodies. I found this grotesque and almost impossible to watch; the characters seemed like they were all straight out of Alice in Wonderland, but without any of the witty lines.

The plot of the series was rather imaginative, although the first few episodes were just a sequence of seemingly random deaths that I found a little tiring to watch, everything began to come together and make some sense in the later parts of the show. I can't say I was gripped and couldn't wait to find out what everything was about, but it was fun to figure out who all the characters were and how they were connected. I thought there was a little too much death, and characters dying quickly became repetitive rather than shocking. The series ends on one of the least original or gripping cliffhangers I've seen − at the end everyone simply gets attacked, and we are expected to be worried what will come out of this. Apart from Todd (Elijah Wood) we don't really get much information about any of the characters. Everything we do find out is a little overly-sentimental: every character is terribly lonely, feels left out, thinks he is a useless disappointment, and has no friends. I guess this is fine, it's just that with all the unceasing kookiness of everything, it would be nice to have a something a little more cynical or down-to-earth, but maybe that's just my own silly preferences.

Overall, the series constantly and frenetically jumps from being quite dark to being sentimental and childish, there is really no in- between. None of the characters ever really stop to think about anything: half of them simply possess some kind of 'sense' that tells them where they need to be and what they need to do, the other half just keeps saying that nothing makes any sense. The comedy is based on craziness rather than smart lines, which would probably have saddened Douglas Adams. I'm sure that many will find the show more enjoyable than I did, perhaps I have become a bit too snobbish for this kind of thing.

I remember the first time I started watching this show. I thought it was a bit confusing, but it had Elijah Wood in it, so I gave it a go. After maybe one or two episodes, I lost interest, as one sometimes does. It wasn't a bad show, I just didn't get into it at that time. I wish I had, because this was when the show was fresh out of the oven, and maybe if I had continued watching, maybe if I had told my friends how awesome and unique this show was, the ratings would have gone up just enough to justify a third season.

Instead, I got back into it a while later, after season two had ended. I watched the entire show in a few weeks, maybe just one and a half. That's how much I ended up loving it. It's a funny, weird, and as I said, unique (with a capital U) show. I struggle to find the words to describe it in a way that does the show justice, and not just because it ended a few years back and my memory is hazy.

Elijah Wood plays a young man by the name of Todd Brotzman who, without spoiling too much, encounters the titular character, Dirk Gently. Dirk is somehow both a charming imbecile and a genius detective at the same time, at least that was my initial impression (and part of what confused me). As the show goes on, you learn more about both characters, and new ones are introduced, like Amanda, who is Todd's troubled sister, and Bart, a sort of antithesis to Dirk, who shares several of his traits and abilities, but in a slightly different way. (Don't want to spoil the fun for you, just trust me, the character is awesome).

Each season has a different main storyline, with subplots and characters carrying over between the two seasons. The character growth is actually pretty impressive for a comedy show, which does cement the fact that this is more than your average, laugh-track filled sitcom. This is truly an adventure, and one I recommend to anyone with a pulse. And most people without one, if they can still watch it.

I'm not used to writing reviews, and I'm not by any means a trained or professional writer. But I had to at least give writing a review for this show a go. It deserves my attention, and maybe, just maybe, if people keep voicing their love for it, we'll get a season three eventually.

It has been a long time since I read Douglas Adams' DGHDA so I cannot say if the character is faithful to the books, but my memory says not... That being said, it is a fine good romp, full of time travel mind twisters, silly puns, and off-beat plot lines that will keep you wondering -"What the heck is going on???" Thankfully, the "Previously on Dirk Gently..." at the beginning of each episode will clarify last week's episode for you.

Samuel Barnett's "Dirk" plays somewhere between Colombo and Mork from Ork, his frenetic antics land him the proverbial pile of excrement where he emerges "smelling like roses", most of the time, to his own surprise.

Elijah Wood's Todd Brotzman is the perfect Hardy to Dirk's Laurel, with a depth of character Ollie Hardy never reached...he has secrets.

Amanda Brotzman, played by Hannah Marks, is a likable character, who too plumbs depths she didn't know she had and comes up with a few surprises.

Jade Eshete is just stunningly beautiful as the hot, ninja-like, body guard who plays with one foot in Dirk's world and the other in Todd's reality, she plays a foil against both side, or a bridge, whatever. She is the strong female character to Amanda's softer more emotional feminine nature.

The unlikely duo of Bart and Ken, who's story arc vectors to cross paths with Dirk, are played admirably by Fiona Dourif and Mpho Koaho respectively. We don't know what will happen when the trio meet, but we know something will.

The story resembles Douglas Adams' in that there are multiple concurrent plots, seemingly unrelated, but with hints of synchronicity that eventually converge to a raucous denouement where all becomes clear, sort of.

Entertaining, full of fun, with some good acting make this the best adaptation of any of Douglas Adams' works to date.