Teen Wolf-- surprisingly pretty good

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by davejames, Jun 14, 2011.

  1. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Anyone else check this out yet? Saw the first two episodes and I have to say it's actually not that bad, and a pretty fun guilty pleasure.

    It's certainly no Buffy, and it doesn't do anything terribly groundbreaking with the idea... but it's still MUCH more competent and better-executed than anything I've seen on the networks or Syfy in a long while (I'll take this over V or SGU any day).

    And thankfully the romance doesn't come across nearly as sappy or cringeworthy as that in Twilight or that Vampire Diaries show either, and is actually kind of sweet. In fact the main kid and his goofy reactions reminds me a lot of David Naughton's in Werewolf in London for some reason.
     
  2. Jetfire

    Jetfire Guest

    I was wondering about this...I like The Vampire Diaries. :angryrazz:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 14, 2011
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I've seen three eps so far and I'm enjoying it more than I expected. I think they're still trying to strike the right balance between high school stuff (the big game! double dating!) and the more serious horror stuff (dismembered corpses! secret werewolf hunters!), but it's basically working so far.

    And I'm pleasantly surprised at how retro the werewolf makeup is. He's an old fashioned wolfman, not the obligatory CGI monster.
     
  4. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Teen line! This is Nitro!
     
  5. timothy

    timothy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    what is the regular viewing night for it. I plan to watch all three episode later today on there web site.
     
  6. Jetfire

    Jetfire Guest

  7. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah as much as I love a scary, Rick Baker-style werewolf, keeping the makeup more subtle definitely works better for a show like this. It still allows for some recognizable emotion when he's in his werewolf form, and it avoids having to deal with the torn clothes and him waking up naked in the woods all the time. lol

    It'll be interesting to see if they can develop the mythology beyond just the werewolf hunters though. Unlike with vampires, it seems like there has never really been anything very rich or complex done for werewolves (unless it actually involved vampires as their enemies, which I HOPE doesn't happen here).
     
  8. Vendikarr

    Vendikarr Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It airs on Monday nights, at 10:00/9:00 central.
     
  9. Checkmate

    Checkmate Commodore

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    I don't get why they wasted the resources securing the rights for Teen Wolf when it bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever with the movies outside of the names of two characters, neither of whom are anything like their namesakes.
     
  10. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Chances are, the studio already owned the rights, so why let them go fallow?

    "So, about Teen Wolf. Maybe we ought do something new with those rights?"

    "Like a more serious version?"

    "Sure. That might work. Beats letting the property gather dust . . . ."
     
  11. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don't think there was a whole lot from the original worth keeping, personally. And the name fits, so why NOT use it?
     
  12. Checkmate

    Checkmate Commodore

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    Because it was a stupid title to begin with? And the only purpose in using it is to draw in people familiar with the movie, only to deny them anything resembling it whatsoever? Which just makes it a huge, obnoxious deception not even remotely worthy of praise?

    God fucking forbid someone come up with their own title.
     
  13. Timelord Victorious

    Timelord Victorious Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I know a good one: The young adult who was a wolf, too!
    Totally works. ;)
     
  14. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Some of the best genre shows have had really dumb or goofy titles (Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly). I don't pay much attention to it myself.
     
  15. Spaceman Spiff

    Spaceman Spiff Intrepid Explorer Administrator

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    I watched the first episode and liked it well enough. Maybe I'll watch the others this weekend.
     
  16. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I don't know. You could argue that Teen Wolf was always just a variant on I Was a Teenage Werewolf from the fifties. So it's not like they're trampling on pristine ground.

    Teen Wolf has a certain nostalgic cachet , but the advertising and promotion makes it clear that this a very different approach to the time-honored teenage werewolf tradition. Heck, you could even argue that this show is just taking the teen werewolf concept back to its Michael Landon roots! :)

    In the meantime, I've yet to run into anyone who was outraged because this show isn't a goofy comedy like the movie. Maybe there aren't actually that many Teen Wolf purists out there?
     
  17. O'Dib

    O'Dib Commodore Commodore

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    I've laughed more with this show than with some "comedies". That kid Styles brings the lulz. :lol:
     
  18. Checkmate

    Checkmate Commodore

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    I didn't say there was.

    I said it's pretty damn lame to use the title and main character names of a goofy comedy for the sole purposes of suckering people into watching the show. Personally, that's something to be spat upon rather than celebrated and heralded.
     
  19. O'Dib

    O'Dib Commodore Commodore

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    Lacrosse looks like a cool sport. I've heard the name, but never had any idea what it was actually about.
     
  20. Pingfah

    Pingfah Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Wow, you really take this too seriously.