CW Looking For "The Right Hero"?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Jetfire, Aug 8, 2011.

  1. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    CW already has a vampire show though, one with a somewhat popular following, along of course with "Supernatural" in it's final season and the upcoming "The Secret Circle".

    They're already remaking a "Buffy" film which has caused the ire and wrath of many Buffy and Joss Whedon fans. Creating a rip off (that is essentially what you're talking about Temis you've just worded it carefully) would incite even more fans. LOL. One of the reasons why Buffy was a successful show was because of her creator and the people that he put in place to write her adventures. It wasn't just executing a "formula".
     
  2. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Buffy remake is a movie, and what I'm describing wouldn't be recognizable as belonging to the Buffy universe, because I was thinking of The Vampire Diaries when I wrote that. I just took TVD and added a superhero character to it, while being careful to keep to the CW style.

    If Buffy fans think of TVD as a Buffy ripoff, I haven't heard about it, but apparently it's just "Buffy minus superhero element." It even has a vampire hunter in it, but he's a grownup guy and he kinda sucks at his job, at least thru S1 which is all I've seen. :rommie:

    If describing the formula of one show accidentally maps to the formula of an entirely different show, that just goes to show that it's a solid formula that could be used successfully in any range of shows without any fan uprising due to new shows being a copycat.

    It might have not been the reason for the show's success, but there's no denying that there's a formula there. Otherwise, how could I describe the formula at the heart of one show and have you recognize that formula a different show that I've never seen and therefore couldn't describe?
     
  3. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    While I'm hesitant to make any sweeping statements that will probably be disproven by example immediately, my general impression is that Buffy did a lot to create and define that particular formula.
     
  4. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Yup, it was a WB show, and CW spun off from a WB merger.

    Circle closed ;)
     
  5. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Which explains why CW has latched onto the Buffy formula (probably not original to that show, but certainly popularized by it) and will no doubt continue to exploit it profitably. Next up: The Secret Circle, with witches being closer to superheroes than vampires are. There's certainly room for a costumed-superhero take on the formula, too.
     
  6. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Witches = Charmed; also a Teen-angst formula WB show before/during the merger
     
  7. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I never said that "The Vampire Diaries" was a "Buffy" rip off I was saying that your proposed idea could be construed as a "Buffy" rip off. Besides which I think Jetfire and the original article are talking about traditional comic book superheroes. They've been looking to replace "Smallville" with something. This talk of supernatural heroes is not the same thing...a curious notion though...would fans jump on board a John Constantine series? Or would that be too similar to the shows I mentioned.
     
  8. Jetfire

    Jetfire Guest

    Here is a full article on what Mark Pedowitz has planned for The CW as a whole; http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sho...pedowitz-open-to-comedies-on-the-network.html

    [edit] Another with more of the same; http://www.aoltv.com/2011/08/04/tca-report-cw-executive-session/

    About 'Ringer'
    Re-makes & superheroes
    Bringing back comedies
    You should read the whole thing. ;)
     
  9. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yep. From what I got out of that article it seems the new head of CW wants to get away from the "Smallville" formula which was created to serve Miles and Gough's "No Flights, No Tights" mantra and was never meant for any kind of other show. This has just been fans incorrect speculation that another series involving a superhero would follow that same follow. We'll see though. Have heard zero buzz about the proposed "Raven" series (I wouldn't have been surprised if that was pitched under Dawn's last few months) and "Blue Beetle" seems dead. Besides which DC has more things to worry about right now than any other TV projects.
     
  10. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    Well, that's Veronica Mars.
     
  11. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Since I was describing TVD, then QED...

    That's what I was describing. You take a traditional comic book superhero - costume, secret identity, angst over secret identity - and shoehorn it into the CW formula. Voila, a comic book superhero show made to order in the time-honored CW mold!

    CW definitely isn't going to make a straight-up superhero show in the more mainstream style because those stories are for males and CW wants a show for females, and that's just for starters. They tend to churn out shows with a very narrowly defined brand identity. Even shows that veer off brand as little as Supernatural are treated as red-headed stepchildren. Just ask Dorian. ;)

    VM isn't supernatural, is it? I think they'll go for the supernatural/sci fi element. That's definitely been successful for them.

    I could see John Constantine, geared towards young females. Some hot, angsty guy who can't die - yeah, that works! They wouldn't use the Constantine name, unless they want Alan Moore to blow a gasket, because I'm sure the CW version would be the polar opposite of any adaptation he'd approve of. :rommie:
     
  12. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You keep bringing up the "CW Formula" and I suppose that you didn't see the article that Jet posted where they're trying to change that formula. Again this isn't about formulas at all but about a network looking for the right type of superhero series to develop and air. CW is under a totally new CEO who is looking to change things.
     
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Err, no; the youngest of the three sisters was 23 and a college dropout when the series began. It wasn't a show about teens, but a show about adult women in their twenties dealing with adult concerns like careers and dating and marriage and parenthood.
     
  14. Kelthaz

    Kelthaz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Describes Sailor Moon perfectly too. It is a successful formula.
     
  15. JaxsBrokenHeart

    JaxsBrokenHeart Commander Red Shirt

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    I'm actually stunned that CW isn't doing everything to get a Teen Titans show on the air. Superhero show with teen angst, good looking young people in troubled relationships, and all the various DC villains and stories they could get years of episodes out of?

    Seems tailored made for them.
     
  16. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^ I would love a live action "Teen Titans" show on the CW with the founding members. That would be a large enough ensemble cast and if they wanted to they could add a couple more characters later.
     
  17. OsmiumJohnnycake

    OsmiumJohnnycake Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Speaking of Charmed (a show I watched from start to finish and enjoyed but can't defend), I went to watch the pilot episode on Netflix today and discovered they changed the theme music to something really bland. I did at one point have the first two seasons on DVD, but I don't recall if I ever watched them before I sold them, so I'm not sure if this was done back when those were released or is something more recent. Either way, how bad is it if you can't afford the rights to your theme song? Does the fact that it was a cover song make it more expensive? Have any other shows changed their theme song for DVD or streaming?

    In any case, it irritated me enough that I stopped watching right after the opening credits.
     
  18. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^Did you only check the pilot? Sometimes shows' pilots have different theme music than the rest of the series. Especially if a show's title sequence contains images from the show that could be spoilers for the events of the pilot, as Charmed's did. In that case, the pilot would tend to have a simpler title sequence, quite possibly with different music.
     
  19. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Regardless wether they were teens or not, the show was built around a "Teen Angst" formula. Tom Welling was 24 at the beginning of Smallville, 90210 gang were in their 30s, etc.
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    No, no, no... the actors on those shows were in their 20s or so, but the characters were in their teens, attending high school and whatnot. What I'm saying is that in Charmed, the characters were twenty-something women. In-universe, when the show began in 1998, Prue Halliwell was 28 (her birth year was established onscreen as 1970) and Phoebe, the youngest sister, was 23 (based on her stated-onscreen birth year of 1975). Paige was introduced 3 years later and given a birthdate of 1977, so she was 24 when she first showed up. Again, these are the characters' canonical ages.

    And in the first three seasons, remember, it wasn't an equal ensemble; Prue was overwhelmingly the central character, the other sisters less so. So the focus of the show was primarily on a woman who was nearly 30, an adult who worked as a photographer in an art gallery. It was not a "teen" show by any definition.