the spy/assassin genre resurgence

[jefferiestubes8]

Wow it would appear that the police procedural/courtroom drama series are still happening but the spy & assassin type shows are really picking up as the next wave of popuarity.

Covert Affairs (Piper Perabo, new USA series
James Cameron 'True Lies' TV series in development
ABC making "Charlie's Angels" reboot
Chaos for Fox.
CW is making a pilot for remake of "La Femme Nikita"
ABC Family channels' "Shadows"
Legends
also just today it was mentioned a new CBS spy drama from Anthony Zuicker
Treadstone -

Treadstone, which centers on the workings of the Robert Ludlum-created fictional division of the CIA and chronicles how real spies live and operate in today’s world. "We are fascinated by the concept of the citizen spy who lives among us every day," Zuiker said.

Why has this genre come back?
Sure Alias was a good show the first 2 or 3 seasons ending in 2006 which was only 4 years ago.

Was there one show that started it off again in the last year or so, the spy more than the assassin element?

[Kirkman1987]

I don't think any one show or program was responsible, We've just had several successful genre efforts this decade that make these type of series attractive for Television.

The Craig Bonds, Bourne films, 24, and others have been trucking along for most of the decade to great success. It's just a trend. The golden age didn't produce a million westerns because of one big hit, it was just a popular and reliable genre at the time.

[Temis the Vorta]

The spy genre isn't very interesting to me (I'll check out Chaos anyway) but Homeland from Showtime sounds like they might be onto something. They're lining up a great cast anyway:

Homeland, from 24 executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, centers on American POW Scott Brody, who returns home 10 years after going missing in Iraq, and Carrie Anderson (Claire Danes), a driven CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America.

[Star Wolf]

jefferiestubes8 wrote:

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Wow it would appear that the police procedural/courtroom drama series are still happening but the spy & assassin type shows are really picking up as the next wave of popuarity.
ABC making "Charlie's Angels" reboot
Why has this genre come back?
Sure Alias was a good show the first 2 or 3 seasons ending in 2006 which was only 4 years ago.

Was there one show that started it off again in the last year or so, the spy more than the assassin element?

So they are rebooting the movie Angels as "spies" and not the TV Angels as private eye/cops not allowed to patrol because women did not police the public back then

[Scout101]

Missed "Burn Notice", which has been doing pretty well for a few years...

[FormerLurker]

Has anyone else noticed how movies about corrupt government officials, especially the President, only seem to get made during Democratic administrations? Reagan, Bush and Bush, Bupkis. Carter, Clinton, Obama, too many to name, but the one with Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington comes to mind.

[Scout101]

maybe it takes a while to go from idea conception to production to release, so they're made during Republican administrations, and just come out during Democratic ones?

[DarKush]

Not sure about movies but as for TV shows to be fair, 24 had its share of corrupt government officials all throughout the Bush II years, with perhaps the biggest and certainly the best IMO being President Logan, a Republican president, and when that storyline went down I think Jack was speaking vicariously for a lot of anti-Bush people when he told Logan, 'you're going to see justice today Mr. President!" Man, that was an awesome scene. Conversely, the first President Palmer was the show's best President and most noble, and he was a Democrat.

Two more shows that didn't get mentioned were Undercovers and Rubicon. I know Undercovers has been canceled and I think Rubicon was canceled too.

[Temis the Vorta]

Corrupt government conspiracies are a staple that never seem to die (even though it's become a hokey old cliche by now). Jericho and Prison Break even used the same actor to personify the corruption! I certainly haven't noticed any variation by Administration.

[jefferiestubes8]

I guess Starz is sore that they didn't jump on the bandwagon in 2010 and missed the boat that season. They have just decided to

greenlighted to series Noir, a live-action adaptation of the 2001 Japanese anime series

in development at the imdb.com link
Noir (TV Series 2012)
no info but the deadline article mentions:

Steven Lightfoot (Criminal Justice) wrote the adaptation and will executive produce the series with [Sam] Raimi, Tapert, fellow Spartacus exec producer Joshua Donen as well as Bill Hamm.

and if you are interested in the anime series origins:
Noir (TV Series 2001) "Nowâru" (original title)

The series follows the story of two young female assassins who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries from their past. While at first they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, there are clues and hints given throughout the series that there are more than meets their eyes. During the course of the series, they are lured into more and more traps by a secret organization named Les Soldats ("The Soldiers" in French).

according to Wikipedia

This sounds okay. I've watched the Covert Affairs show and that is very CIA-mission-driven and similar to Alias episodically. I guess Noir would be more like Nikita.
Hey chicks with guns and female assassins are great. get the men demographic for sure. I'd watch Alias again.

[Temis the Vorta]

Is there anything sf/f about Noir?

[jefferiestubes8]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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Is there anything sf/f about Noir?

It would appear not based on the wikipedia. Only realism-based.

Unlike its spiritual successor Madlax, Noir is mainly about reality's criminal underworld while Madlax is about supernatural events.

Noir was followed by two spiritual successors, Madlax [2002 anime] and El Cazador de la Bruja [anime starting 2007. Together, these series constitute a trilogy exploring the "girls-with-guns" genre.

[jefferiestubes8]

for 2012-13 TV season,

Fox has ordered an untitled drama script from Warner Bros. Television and McG shingle Wonderland Sound and Vision, the network confirmed. Jeff Wadlow ("Never Back Down") is executive producer and writer of the "Spy vs. Spy"-style thriller that pits a CIA agent against an operative from a private security firm a la Blackwater,

who happen to be best friends.
Sony makes big comedy push
Development season leaps to full speed
Aug. 9, 2011,

I'm glad to see Fox trying to get one show up in this genre.

[23skidoo]

How could anyone forget Nikita?

I don't think the genre has faded at all. It's been going pretty strong - 24 only ended recently, after all. And we've got another Bond film in the pipeline. It's a pretty healthy genre, I think.

Alex

[Yevetha]

You know what i would love.

A sci fi spy series.