NBC and Bryan Fuller remaking The Munsters

[startrekwatcher]

Good god--what is up with the poor lazy remakes of shows whose characters and appeal can't be recaptured. I mean really! We've had Melrose place, 90210, Bionic Woman, Karate Kid, Knight Rider, Hawaii 5-0, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Rockford Files rumored, ALIAS rumored etc etc.

If I want to watch these shows or films I'll rewatch the original and not some half-baked mess where idiot writers didn't understand what made the original endearing so how could they ever hope to resurrect it. I know Hollywood desperately wants to stir the nostalgia for when entertainment was actually entertaining even if it was silly and shallow so we can forget the ton of crap it has produced over the last decade but I don't think resurrecting shows helps their cause when so many of them just are piss poor and have you pining away for the original.

And I know internet fans gush over Fuller but honestly I find him overrated. His work on VOY was middling with episodes like "Spirit Folk", "Fury", Gravity" etc. He wrote one great episode in S1 of Heroes and a few good ones but nothing earth-shattering. His return in S3 of Heroes heralded by many as the savior turned out to be more of the same. I thought Pushing Daisies was embarrassingly bad.

Stop with the remakes already!!! And while you are at it enough with the spinoffs of CSI and L&O and Stargate.

 

[Starbreaker]

I doubt we'll ever see any of this. Don't freak out.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Robert Llewellyn's portrayal of Kryten was very Herman Munster-like at times.

I think he even referenced Herman once.

He does a lot of the same mannerisms- the big open-mouthed silent laugh, etc.

Exactly. And the way he clomps around is reminiscent of Herman Munster too. Though it could be a result of the costume.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Robert Llewellyn's portrayal of Kryten was very Herman Munster-like at times.

I think he even referenced Herman once.

I was just about to say that. I'd smile at that casting choice. But then, I smile at seeing the Red Dwarf people in anything.

What about Juliet Landau as the mother?

The only reason I'm not totally ignoring this news is because Fuller's responsible for Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies and many of Heroes' good episodes.

Not to mention Wonderfalls, the greatest, most underrated comedy series of the last decade!

But I agree, anyone but Fuller (or possibly Joss Whedon) and I'd completely ignore this project.

 

[borgomatic]

Um... Martin Landau is dead

 

[Greg Cox]

Um... Martin Landau is dead

Er, since when? As far as I know, he's still alive--and a quick search on the internet seems to confirm that.

Maybe you're thinking of someone else?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

“Modern Family meets True Blood”

True Blood? ok....

 

[Saga]

Um... Martin Landau is dead

he's very much alive.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Um... Martin Landau is dead

Yeah, I thought so, but scanning his imdb page I couldn't find a death date! So I figured I must be confusing him with someone else...I mean sure imdb isn't all that reliable, but not to know that someone's died? Yeesh!

So what actor are we confusing the guy with? Because I also had the strong impression that he had died.

I thought Pushing Daisies was embarrassingly bad.

Aw cmon, it was charming and sometimes brilliant. It's biggest problem was it that it lacked anything at stake that was important enough that the audience would be hooked. Middling stakes just don't do it.

“Modern Family meets True Blood”

True Blood? ok....

If it's on a broadcast network, it'll be 95% the former and 5% the latter.

 

[KB24]

I was just saying to my husband that The Munsters is do for a new treatment. How is it the Addams Family movies did so well but some of the Munsters sequels kind of limped out on a wimper?

If done right, this could be something! Who would you cast and what tone would you take, the two biggest issues, eh? I think something like the Addams movies or Brady Bunch spoofs has to be the route- they are creepy and trapped in their ways oblivious to outside perceptions still.

Normally I appall remakes, but I believe this is a great fun story that deserves a fun new proper portrayal. Although I agree that NBC might not be the right place for it. Will they make a half hour political satire of it and have them appear on 30 Rock or make it a brooding super scary 1 hour drama? Perhaps a series of television movies twice a year?

 

[melancholymecha]

“Modern Family meets True Blood”

True Blood? ok....

everybody wants to have the next True Blood...

what the networks dont realize is that being on pay cable channel & not being limited by the sex & language censorship thing is what makes True Blood stand out. Look at ABC's The Gates, its like a lame Disney Channel version of TB.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Look at ABC's The Gates, its like a lame Disney Channel version of TB.

After the initial lame first four episodes, the writing shaped up nicely and it ended up as a good (but no doubt still cancelled) series. So there's no reason that sex and violence is mandatory for a show to be good.

I think it's more that broadcast TV is narrowing into only certain acceptable formulas that can attract large audiences, and anything that deviates much is going to have a rough time. A show that wants to have its own unique identity should be on cable, where it can survive on the smaller audience that appreciates that identity. Pushing Daisies is a great example of exactly that.

Right now, the successful examples of Supernatural fare on broadcast are "teen angst" and even then, that's CW's turf. The Munsters certainly can't be teen angst and it won't be on CW anyway. Maybe the genre that ABC is pioneering with No Ordinary Family - family dramedy combined with sf/f - will provide the successful template, but that depends on whether it is a successful template.

 

[Dream]

Look at ABC's The Gates, its like a lame Disney Channel version of TB.

After the initial lame first four episodes, the writing shaped up nicely and it ended up as a good (but no doubt still cancelled) series. So there's no reason that sex and violence is mandatory for a show to be good.

True Blood season two was a big mess for me. Half of it was great, but half it dragged very badly. I heard season three was worse.

If we are only talking about vampire shows, I actually thought the first season of the Vampire Diaries was way better than True Blood's second. Too bad you gave up on the Vampire Diaries after the first episode. The show really improved after the first few episodes and was great at creating interesting characters and its own mythology.

 

[startrekwatcher]

If we are only talking about vampire shows, I actually thought the first season of the Vampire Diaries was way better than True Blood's second. Too bad you gave up on the Vampire Diaries after the first episode. The show really improved after the first few episodes and was great at creating interesting characters and its own mythology.

Agreed. The Vampire Diaries is an overlooked solid series with a nice cast and an interesting mythology. It also is one of the few consistent shows to come out in the last decade. Week-in and week out you can feel good that you are going to walk away satisfied. Most shows these days are uneven.

True Blood is an absolute mess--a poorly plotted camp tv show with stupid characters. The only thing it has going for it are all the hot naked people. Based on that write-up I make it sound like porn.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Never mind

 

[Greg Cox]

“Modern Family meets True Blood”

True Blood? ok....

everybody wants to have the next True Blood...

what the networks dont realize is that being on pay cable channel & not being limited by the sex & language censorship thing is what makes True Blood stand out. Look at ABC's The Gates, its like a lame Disney Channel version of TB.

Yeah, The Gates ended up being pretty good, with a great season cliffhanger that will probably never be resolved. It got much better once the Sheriff figured out the "secret" of the Gates and had to get more directly involved in the affairs of the various werewolves, vampires, etc.

And I'm enjoying Vampire Diaries, too.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Look at ABC's The Gates, its like a lame Disney Channel version of TB.

After the initial lame first four episodes, the writing shaped up nicely and it ended up as a good (but no doubt still cancelled) series. So there's no reason that sex and violence is mandatory for a show to be good.

True Blood season two was a big mess for me. Half of it was great, but half it dragged very badly. I heard season three was worse.

If we are only talking about vampire shows, I actually thought the first season of the Vampire Diaries was way better than True Blood's second. Too bad you gave up on the Vampire Diaries after the first episode. The show really improved after the first few episodes and was great at creating interesting characters and its own mythology.

I've still got to catch up on True Blood on DVD. Maybe someday I'll do the same with Vampire Diaries. I did like Ian Sommerhalder in the premiere.

True Blood is an absolute mess--a poorly plotted camp tv show with stupid characters. The only thing it has going for it are all the hot naked people. Based on that write-up I make it sound like porn.

Wow, I've only heard praise for True Blood. Well I'll still give it a shot but I guess if I don't like it, I shouldn't keep slogging thru the DVDs in the hopes it ever gets better?

 

[startrekwatcher]

I've still got to catch up on True Blood on DVD. Maybe someday I'll do the same with Vampire Diaries. I did like Ian Sommerhalder in the premiere.

He is one of the best things about the show. He gets to show his acting skills in a way he never was able to as Boone on LOST.

True Blood is an absolute mess--a poorly plotted camp tv show with stupid characters. The only thing it has going for it are all the hot naked people. Based on that write-up I make it sound like porn.

Wow, I've only heard praise for True Blood. Well I'll still give it a shot but I guess if I don't like it, I shouldn't keep slogging thru the DVDs in the hopes it ever gets better?

Well all the praise it was receiving was why I decided to check it out. In my opinion, the first season is its best based on what I've seen--it isn't anything earth-shattering or great. I gave up on it early in the third season. I thought the second season sucked--aimless, padded and stupid to put it mildly.

I honestly don't see what is so great about after having seen it myself. Clearly television critics and I have totally different opinions of what is great tv--I also gave Mad Men(another critical darling) a try and thought it was a pretentious bore--so take that for what it is worth.

In my opinion TB doesn't do anything groundbreaking, the plots are stale and the characters are the worst possible hick stereotypes I've ever seen. It offers nothing new in the way of vampire mythology and it seems to not be able to make up its mind whether it wants to be a drama with gravitas or a parody.

But see for yourself and decide.

 

[Captain Pike]

I'm disappointed. I thought someone would have suggested Brad Garrett for Herman Munster by now..

 

[MetalPants]

Sarah Michelle Gellar for Marilyn