Thomas Edison crime fighter? NBC pilot in development

[Kirby]

This is one of the dumbest things I've heard of. Of course, I'm going to go out and write my own spec script where Samuel Clemons works with the first female (and sexy!) police detective to solve crimes in New York. It'll be called Twain.

[Harvey]

The idea of Edison fighting crime rather than perpetrating it is rather amusing, considering the man made a living taking credit (and payment) for the inventions of others and did his very best to establish a plainly illegal monopoly on the early film industry before government intervention. Of course, a show that featured his flaws as well as his achievements might be interesting, but this looks rather below that level of ambition. Pass.

[foxhot]

Since the big four broadcast networks no longer make miniseries or even TV-movies to my knowledge, a serious Edison film would only be an HBO possibility. But even then, with no violence, drug use, uninhibited sexuality or profanity, I doubt even they would go for it.

[Samurai8472]

JarodRussell wrote:

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Ghandi, war hero.

Ghandi........In the 25th century!


Fighting space aliens and getting the girl in every episode.

[scotpens]

I suppose after this, anything is fair game.

[Greg Cox]

JarodRussell wrote:

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Is it really possible that I myself have no rights after my death? Lincoln gets turned into a vampire killer, Edison gets turned into a crime fighter... I kinda dislike stuff like that. It skews the facts and over time, the masses will not know the guys for what they really were, but from what they've seen on TV.

I don't know. I would kill to be remembered by posterity as a crime-fighting wendigo . . . .

[the G-man]

foxhot wrote:

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Since the big four broadcast networks no longer make miniseries or even TV-movies to my knowledge, a serious Edison film would only be an HBO possibility...

I was going to suggest the History Channel but, if they made the movie, Edison would construct all his inventions in the back of pawn shop.

[Greg Cox]

the G-man wrote:

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I was going to suggest the History Channel but, if they made the movie, Edison would construct all his inventions in the back of pawn shop.

Actually, History had a huge success with "Hatfieds and McCoys" so they're probably open to more historical miniseries. Whether they'll go for a gripping drama about a famous inventor is another story!

Wanna bet they're thinking about the Shoot-Out at the OK Corral? Or maybe Little Big Horn?

[TemporalFlux]

I do find it interesting that General Electric has a 49% stake in NBC, and General Electric was the company that Thomas Edison started. It's the set up for the ultimate product placement as Edison will probably spend time talking about how great his company is.

[scotpens]

TemporalFlux wrote:

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I do find it interesting that General Electric has a 49% stake in NBC, and General Electric was the company that Thomas Edison started. It's the set up for the ultimate product placement as Edison will probably spend time talking about how great his company is.

And they'll probably gloss over the fact that Edison's rival, George Westinghouse, was right in promoting AC (alternating current), while Edison's direct current was a technological dead end.

[Mr. Adventure]

What's next? HG Wells as a time travelling female adventurer? Winston Churchill and Daleks? Mark Twain on the Enterprise? Amelia Earhart in the Delta Quadrant? Madness!

I agree probably a missed opportunity to use the cooler Tesla. After all, no show has ever featured him prominently.

[JarodRussell]

Mark Twain, the time traveler. Err...

[foxhot]

Here's an idea for a show: WHEN NBC WASN'T CRAP, Starring Grant Tinker as himself, now a time traveller who travels AHEAD three decades in time to find out what the hell happened to his once-proud network...and eliminate all imbecilic reality shows from the face of the Earth. Co-starring the old, younger, funny version of Jay Leno.

[JarodRussell]

This just in: NBC casts Idris Elba as Thomas Edison.

[Gaith]

Kirby wrote:

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This is one of the dumbest things I've heard of. Of course, I'm going to go out and write my own spec script where Samuel Clemons works with the first female (and sexy!) police detective to solve crimes in New York. It'll be called Twain.

Love it! But maybe he was pursuing master criminal Edgar Allen Poe, and gets sucked into the present by the end of the pilot? That'd really help with the whole budget thing.

And this is before he grew the bushy mustache, right? We can't have that in there, but maybe his criticising other peoples' mustaches can be a running gag. It shows our intelligence and respect for history. That, and his all-white wardrobe. Hey, how about this: because of a terrorist attack by JD Salinger, the police precint has to commandeer and relocate to... a creaky old steam-wheel riverboat. Fantastic. It's always nice to give a highbrow product such as this an extra sheen of class from time to time.