You Were Expecting John Watson?

One of the best movies of the 90s is getting the small screen treatment Tuesday night, and wouldn't cha know, it looks incredible. And if you haven't seen the source material for FX's new Fargo TV series (the Coen brothers movie version), you should do that. Immediately. The classic Minnesota accents alone are worth it. When it was released in 1996, the movie was a critical darling that received two Academy Awards and a million other honors. Now, it's a TV show starring lovable Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman.

We've already given you a glimpse of the Fargo series which stars Freeman, Billy Bob Thorton, Bob Odenkirk, and many, many others. And to be fair, the adaptation is not a carbon copy of the film. The characters are different and the story is different. But it's hard to avoid comparisons when you put the two side by side. Take for example, Freeman's character in the TV version.

He plays Lester Nygaard, a down-on-his-luck insurance salesman. Nygaard is stuck in a terrible job, he's being bullied by some local jerk, and he constantly compares himself to his more successful brother. While at the hospital waiting room after a recent bullying episode, he meets a drifter that sees him at his lowest point and leads him down a dark, violent path. Sounds a hell of a lot like William H. Macy's character Jerry Lundegaard from the film.

Now I'm not complaining, Macy's character is just the best, and Freeman will do a bang up job with a role about a regular man with a crappy life who is just about ready to go crazy. The real question is what the TV version does with the story in ten episodes. I don't know about you, but I've never been more ready to watch television in my life. And that's saying something.

Images: Chris Large/FX; Tumblr/Amygloriouspond; Tumblr/Epic Reads