Televised Fairy Tales
Posted on | December 9, 2008 at 11:08 pm | 3 Comments
No time for a longer blog entry lately. But I did want to mention about how ABC is going to do a pilot based on the DC/Vertigo comic book series Fables, which I wrote about while back. Seems like a pretty good fit for TV, as it wouldn’t require a lot of special effects. (Well, that kind of depends on the storylines they adapt, if any.) After all, the characters live in New York and dress and act like normal people, more or less. My big worry is that they’d water it down or make it too fanciful or twee or campy. I would most fear them making it look something like Pushing Daisies, although since ABC has canceled that show, it seems unlikely they’d want to go back to that well. Going that route would make it look too much like a fairy tale, which totally misses the point of the comic series.
(FYI, Pushing Daisies is one of those shows that I keep watching even though I kind of hate it. I like how the look of it is different than anything else on TV, and I really like Anna Friel, yet it all still somehow manages to bug the hell out of me. So I’m probably not going to be too sorry to see it go.)
Anyway, don’t screw this up, ABC!
In other weird TV news, NBC is not only giving up on showing dramas during the third hour of prime time on weekday nights, they’ve also given up on giving Jay Leno the boot (these two things are connected). I can’t help thinking this is an extraordinarily bad idea. The networks are just going all out to hasten their own demise, aren’t they? It’s like they’ve given up trying to compete with cable.
Latre.
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Walking To Lunch The Other Day:
- “Definite Maybe” (Ecotour)
- “Who Do You Think You Are?” (Duran Duran)
- “Bridges Burning” (Mission UK)
- “Where Are They Now?” (The Caulfields)
- “Object” (The Cure)
- “Nosebleed” (Maxïmo Park)
- “See-Saw” (Popinjays)
Pet Peeve of the Day: Damn winter weather! Damn laziness! I’ve been really remiss in my jogging lately and am turning into a total lardbutt.
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “cockroach in crispix”.
Videogame(s) Played Recently: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)
Comments
3 Responses to “Televised Fairy Tales”
December 10th, 2008 @ 3:25 pm
> I can’t help thinking this is an extraordinarily bad idea. The networks
> are just going all out to hasten their own demise, aren’t they?
It’s actually a good idea for everyone, except possibly the viewers. NBC gets to keep hold of one of its big earners, even giving him a face-saving ‘promotion’, while keeping its contractual promise to Conan – and all while,
saving heaps of money. That’s a win-win, even counting the loss of prime-demographic appeal (which is going downhill fast anyway)
What keeps it from being a win-win-win, adding a 3rd “win” for us yokels, is that they’re just rubber-stamping cheap late-night programming into an expensive primetime slot, hanging onto a tired has-been because nobody will take a risk on anyone more interesting, and they’re not even pretending it’s going to change anything.
But business-wise, it’s an idea that’s gonna earn some empty suit a fat bonus, because it makes sense for the time being. The TV industry is still
a lot better off – with far more robust income – than, say, newspapers, or the music industry.
December 10th, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
The TV industry is still a lot better off – with far more robust income – than, say, newspapers, or the music industry.
Still, how long until the networks request a bailout from congress?
December 10th, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
How long until Congress, through sheer force of habit, grants them an unsolicited wad of dough?
I’ve long been surprised nobody’s aired a show about wise, heroic, noble congresspeople who fight crime at night using cool uniforms and gadgets. Also they’re in a hit (Christian) rock band. And one of them has a pet chinchilla for some reason.