sf/f TV development news - 2013

[Greg Cox]

Temis the Friendly Ghost wrote:

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Anyone familiar with Koontz' novels?

I read the first one a few years back. It was a fun beach read.

[stj]

Koontz' Frankenstein has already been done for TV. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397430/
Judging from the amnesia, it's a terrible idea to go to series.

[Harvey]

"Concept" seems like a pretty weak writing credit; how much of Koontz's ideas actually made it to the screen with that version?

[Temis the Vorta]

What "amnesia"? The Deadline story mentions the 2004 version, which was a pilot that never went to series.

[stj]

No amnesia? I must be in the wrong thread.

Ah, here it is:

Hey, the pilot that didn't go to series was really pretty good. It'd be great if Thomas Kretschmann came back as "Frankenstein." They could recast Parker Posey with Summer Glau and this would really rock.

Obviously tastes differ but I couldn't watch the pilot all the way through. I don't get why people are all enthused about the new effort when the first pilot was dreck. Seriously, what's going to be different.

[Greg Cox]

stj wrote:

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No amnesia? I must be in the wrong thread.

Ah, here it is:

Obviously tastes differ but I couldn't watch the pilot all the way through. I don't get why people are all enthused about the new effort when the first pilot was dreck. Seriously, what's going to be different.

The execution? A completely different creative team behind the scenes?

I mean, seriously, look at Old Battlestar Galactica versus New Battlestar Galactica. Same premise. Totally different shows.

[xortex]

He's right. It could be much worse.

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeah, I don't see why a failed pilot from a different creative team with different actors for a different network should have any bearing on this new show at all. It certainly has no bearing on whether the concept is worth adapting to TV. The original novels determine that, assuming that the adaptation is a faithful one.

[Temis the Vorta]

Another show set in Nawlins!

CBS has put in development The Big Easy, a supernatural mystery series set in New Orleans and centered on the complex life and cases of Jack Lyons, a hard-living trumpet player and paranormal investigator with a dark personal tie to his work.

The vampire population alone should keep him busy.

[Christopher]

I wonder if it's a good idea to call it The Big Easy, since that title has already been used for a New Orleans-based TV crime drama that ran for two years on USA in the late '90s, based on the '86 film of the same name.

[RJDiogenes]

It wouldn't be the first time a title has been re-used (as far as cities go, we've already had Vega$, Las Vegas and Vegas, for example). And it's not like The Big Easy is a unique trademark, like Star Trek or The Munsters-- it's a well-known nickname for New Orleans, like The Big Apple for New York or The Hub for Boston. A bigger problem may be that it gives no indication that it's a genre show.

[Temis the Vorta]

Christopher wrote:

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I wonder if it's a good idea to call it The Big Easy, since that title has already been used for a New Orleans-based TV crime drama that ran for two years on USA in the late '90s, based on the '86 film of the same name.

Even if it hadn't been used before, the name is too generic, and doesn't communicate supernatural elements. But some play on The Big Easy would work...The Big Eerie?..nah, too much confusion with Erie as a place name...The Big Queasy? not quite the right connotation there. Boo Orleans would work if it were on Nickelodeon...

[RJDiogenes]

Hmm. The Big Easy Into Darkness?

[Temis the Vorta]

Argh! *shakes fist at JJ Abrams for inflicting another meme from hell upon us*

I got it - New Gore-leans.

[Sindatur]

Temis the Friendly Ghost wrote:

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Argh! *shakes fist at JJ Abrams for inflicting another meme from hell upon us*

I got it - New Gore-leans.

That would infuriate The Locals, as you've already pointed out, they pronounce it Narlins or Nawlins, and have no patience for anyone who pronounces it otherwise