Spoilers Lord of the Rings TV series

[FPAlpha]

Blocked and reported. This kind of post will not be tolerated here.

Way to go rogue modding ( or what's the expression?) when called out for a certain behaviour.

That Amazon didn't realise that they were going to piss off the Tolkien purists is a sign that they don't understand the almost religious zealotry of that fandom. Even I, who has some rusty knowledge of the ledendarium and likes to believe I can distinguish between an entertainment TV series and what is really important, was annoyed by some of the adaptation choices. In the end I decided, screw it, it's just disposable fantasy fluff escapism and not worth sweating about. We know the end point so all Amazon can do is to try to make the path to it worth taking anyone's time to pay attention.

I am 100% sure that the producers/writers knew that Purists would hate the show and that they told Amazon. It all comes down to numbers - the show is one of the most expensive shows ever to be produced ( or is it the most expensive?) so it needs to have wide appeal and needs to be understandable for the casual viewer to have any appeal. So the decision must have been to go for more general appeal than satisfying a very small number of hardcore fans who, let's face it, would have never been completely satisfied no matter what ( some of them brought out their torches way back when Peter Jackson decided to cut Tom Bombadil from his movies for example).

The show never even had a chance to satisfy everybody since they didn't have the rights for the complete works of Tolkien, so Amazon went with mass appeal more or less while trying to remain faithful to the original material. So what if the Balrog is not supposed to wake up yet or that Elendil and Isildur apear way too early in the timeline - it still makes for a good story and exciting visuals. Screw the few thousand Purists when millions enjoy the show - the Internet has given those people far too much voice in relation to their number and companies have learned to deal with that, which only drives these people more mad because they are ignored ( but then again they just love to bitch no matter what).

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I believe Amazon made a rod for its own back with this series. It was a ridiculous large investment, which was never going to get the numbers to sign up that were forecast, and it created an opportunity for Bezos haters to pile in. For the same investment, it could have produced many more hours of original and more diverse content that might have garnered it many more subscribers. If Amazon wanted a fantasy series to compete with GoT or HotD, it could adapt Jack Vance's Dying Earth, Mike Moorcock's Elric or Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. Or just improve The Wheel of Time adaptation.

 

[saddestmoon]

Interesting article / interview with Payne and McKay about what’s in store for season 2 - with potential spoilers for those who haven’t read any Tolkien, and are only following the show:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a41529474/rings-of-power-season-2

Note: it may answer a few of the questions posed here earlier about what’s in store, so you’ve been warned!

 

[wayoung]

I believe Amazon made a rod for its own back with this series. It was a ridiculous large investment, which was never going to get the numbers to sign up that were forecast, and it created an opportunity for Bezos haters to pile in. For the same investment, it could have produced many more hours of original and more diverse content that might have garnered it many more subscribers. If Amazon wanted a fantasy series to compete with GoT or HotD, it could adapt Jack Vance's Dying Earth, Mike Moorcock's Elric or Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. Or just improve The Wheel of Time adaptation.

Keep in mind, Prime Video isn't a normal business. It's Bezos' pet. No matter how much money it loses, he's tied his own personal status to it. I think it was the NYT where anonymous execs were asked about Prime Video hemorrhaging money, and the reply was that it doesn't matter how much money Prime loses, Prime exists to feed Bezos' ego, and to get him into the LA and NY film scene as a producer. Its costs are written off as a necessary expense to fund this sex life.

Plus, his kids is obsessed with LOTR and Bezos personally oversaw production, so I don't see it going anywhere.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Well, if it's a vanity project, at least Bezos is using his money creatively. TRoP is not the best thing I've ever watched on TV but it's also far from being the worst. Now, if only he'd give us three more seasons of The Expanse...

 

[wayoung]

Well, if it's a vanity project, at least Bezos is using his money creatively. TRoP is not the best thing I've ever watched on TV but it's also far from being the worst. Now, if only he'd give us three more seasons of The Expanse...

The Expanse ended due to rights issues with the Sci-Fi channel, who retained partial ownership and only allowed Acorn and Amazon to make a couple seasons. Full rights revert to Acorn in another year or two and Acorn has been vocal about wanting to continue the franchise with a "spin off" when full rights revert to them.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Gah, these companies and their interminable wrangling over rights. I'm not getting any younger. Still, I'll always have the novels to read, even if they diverged from the series.

 

[Disposable_Ensign]

Huh? Do people who write this kind of shit, or post 1 star reviews for ROP just not watch much TV? The show's quality is levels above almost anything we'd see on network television.

This isn't just any old schmuck--this is a TV critic whose job is to watch TV and evaluate it.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

My criterion for good TV is to want to watch it a second or third time to enjoy every last nuance. I just don't get that urge with TRoP. YMMV.

 

[fireproof78]

My criteria is did I enjoy the characters and did I want to watch until the end.

 

[eschaton]

Your shortening of Robert Baratheon's name make him sound like a member of the Irish Mafia.

Bobby B is an internet meme.

 

[StarMan]

Mystery box plotting over strong, character-driven writing is usually a one-off for me.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Mystery box plotting over strong, character-driven writing is usually a one-off for me.

The showrunners are from the JJA stable I believe.

The Mystery Box Is Broken, and Here’s How to Fix It

 

[Noname Given]

"House of the Dragon has sucked up the spotlight. It has attracted tweets, theories, memes, discussions, all on a rolling boil since the first episode. Meanwhile, if The Rings of Power has been seen anywhere, it was only in places paid for by Amazon. There are billboards and adverts and special Amazon packing tape adorned with the show’s logo. But, in terms of spontaneous, organic excitement, it has been a wilderness.
Why? Well, now that the first season is finally over, there is one clear answer. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power isn’t very good. It quite often isn’t anywhere near good. There are moments in almost every episode where I have found myself sniggering into my sleeve at how inept it is."​

The Guardian - Now It's Over Let's Come Out and Say It: The Rings of Power was a Stinker

Meh - I stopped watching HoD after episode 3. (and I really enjoyed the first 5 seasons of GoT.) To each their own

 

[Turtletrekker]

Meh - I stopped watching HoD after episode 3. (and I really enjoyed the first 5 seasons of GoT.) To each their own

Yeah, I only watched one episode. I just didn't find it engaging at all. The next day, I had trouble remembering what it was about. As opposed to Game of Thrones, where I was totally hooked and absolutely invested after one episode.

 

[fireproof78]

Meh - I stopped watching HoD after episode 3. (and I really enjoyed the first 5 seasons of GoT.) To each their own

Further than I got, in either series related to GoT.

Though, I largely push back against that article because it assumes popularity indicates quality.

However, I am quite biased seeing as how my wife and I frequent LOTR and Middle Earth FB pages, boards, YT videos and the like. So, I see more discussion, and memes and whatnot that are apparently valuable metrics for a show's quality.

 

[wayoung]

I thought both shows kinda sucked.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The TV adaptation of GoT started going wrong as soon as they decided not to include Lady Stoneheart. I might watch HoD if it's still going strong after two or three seasons.

 

[FPAlpha]

The TV adaptation of GoT started going wrong as soon as they decided not to include Lady Stoneheart. I might watch HoD if it's still going strong after two or three seasons.

Yeah - the cast got so large they were bound to have to cut some things from the books and Stoneheart was one of them It's a difficult thing for any writer/producer to do so but TV shows and movies simply don't have the time to follow the books to the letter, especially when they're bible sized like the GoT books. I don't have the feeling it broke the show, it started to fall apart as soon as they passed the books and had to work based on incomplete notes and comments by Martin.

 

[Colonel Midnight]

The TV adaptation of GoT started going wrong as soon as they decided not to include Lady Stoneheart. I might watch HoD if it's still going strong after two or three seasons.

IMO, instead of Lady Stoneheart, I think GOT ran off the rails when TPTB decided to not have Aegon (number-whatever, IV?) show up.

But, YMMV, of course.

Cheers,
-CM-