DC's "Naomi" coming to CW from Ava Duvernay

[Commander Troi]

https://deadline.com/2022/05/ava-duvernay-naomi-cancelled-cw-kaci-walfall-1235013349/

Anybody surprised? Anyone? Bewler? Bewler?

(Also cancelled: Charmed, The 4400 and Roswell.)

Not surprised, as it was slooooooooower than it should've been, but a bit disappointed. (I'm also sad to hear about Charmed, as I've mostly enjoyed this new version.)

https://tvline.com/2022/05/12/supernatural-the-winchesters-prequel-spinoff-series-order-cw/

Those all sound terrible.

It looks like next season's lineup will include:
The Flash
Superman & Lois
Stargirl
Riverdale
Nancy Drew
Tom Swift
Kung Fu

Riverdale went so far off the rails last year that we stopped watching and I'm boggled it hasn't been cancelled. Kung Fu is enjoyable. Nancy Drew is great and has been so much better than it had any right to be, so I'm hoping Tom Swift is good. Stargirl and Superman & Lois are awesome. This half of The Flash's season has made up for a lot, but I still hope next season is their last.

 

[Christopher]

Not surprised, as it was slooooooooower than it should've been, but a bit disappointed.

I keep thinking maybe I should watch the rest of Naomi from the point where I gave up, since it's not that many episodes and I'm a completist. I almost started this afternoon, but then I decided I just didn't want to.

(I'm also sad to hear about Charmed, as I've mostly enjoyed this new version.)

It's gotten really good lately, so it's a shame it's only got two episodes left.

Riverdale went so far off the rails last year that we stopped watching and I'm boggled it hasn't been cancelled.

I gave up on it partway through season 3. I liked season 1, the way it maintained the teen leads' basic decency despite all the sleazy, soapy, murdery stuff the grown-ups were doing. But then in season 2, it compromised the teens as well. It lost the balance between fun and darkness and just doubled and tripled down on the nastiness, so I just walked away. I've heard that it's gone to some crazy places since then, but I'm just not interested anymore.

Kung Fu is enjoyable.

Another very good one. Although as a fan of martial arts movies/TV, I wish the show had more of the thing it's named for. It has some decent action scenes, but not as extensively as I'd expect, not on the level of something like Arrow or Daredevil.

Nancy Drew is great and has been so much better than it had any right to be, so I'm hoping Tom Swift is good.

Never really got into that one. I watched the Tom Swift backdoor pilot episode, but it didn't do much for me. I find it odd that it's become an overtly supernatural series, since the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were straight mysteries; they did occasionally have seemingly supernatural cases, but they always had Scooby-Doo-style mundane explanations.

Stargirl and Superman & Lois are awesome.

I didn't really care for Stargirl's second season, and I'm not enjoying S&L's current season much either. But then, I didn't like Charmed's second season much, yet seasons 3 & 4 were terrific.

This half of The Flash's season has made up for a lot, but I still hope next season is their last.

I kinda wish they'd waited years longer to introduce Wally West, then had him take over as the Flash and soft-reboot the series around him and a new cast. Sort of like Doctor Who, breathing new life into the show with a new lead.

 

[Commander Troi]

I find it odd that it's become an overtly supernatural series, since the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were straight mysteries; they did occasionally have seemingly supernatural cases, but they always had Scooby-Doo-style mundane explanations.

That threw me at first (I read a lot of the books as a kid), but they lampshaded it somewhere along the line. The show is helped by having a terrific lead actor as Nancy.

 

[theenglish]

I like the Nancy Drew series as well, and been surprised we've never really had a thread for it.

I have found the scenes with teenage girls sleeping with much older men disturbing to the point where I'm really surprised the show hasn't been more controversial.

 

[Commander Troi]

I have found the scenes with teenage girls sleeping with much older men disturbing to the point where I'm really surprised the show hasn't been more controversial.

Other than George with Ryan in the beginning (which ended pretty quickly), who else? My brain is blank right now.

 

[theenglish]

I am actually thinking about Nancy with Agent Park. That is totally unprofessional. I think there was somebody else at some point but my memory is drawing a blank right now.

 

[Commander Troi]

I am actually thinking about Nancy with Agent Park. That is totally unprofessional. I think there was somebody else at some point but my memory is drawing a blank right now.

She was with Ned originally, who seems the same age. I don't think Agent Park is much older than Nancy.

 

[Christopher]

I keep thinking maybe I should watch the rest of Naomi from the point where I gave up, since it's not that many episodes and I'm a completist. I almost started this afternoon, but then I decided I just didn't want to.

Since I have HBO Max now and have caught up with all the other DC shows I was behind on, I finally decided to go ahead and binge the last eight episodes of Naomi like I said I might before. Having just finished it, I kind of wish I hadn't bothered. It didn't really hold my interest that much and I mostly watched while doing the dishes or the like, not paying that close attention.

This really was a mediocre show, whose makers didn't seem to understand their subject matter very well. The show's take on the multiverse was bizarre, mistaking parallel Earths for alien planets with different moons in the sky and red leaves and purple flames and such, rather than alternate histories of Earth and humanity. And for a show that rode so much on the main character's admiration of Superman, it didn't seem to understand Superman that well either. Naomi's opening monologue in the finale was about wondering whether Superman ever doubted himself or questioned who he was, and I had to wonder if this alleged #1 Superman fan had ever actually read a Superman comic. (Not to mention, why does the town's comic book shop exclusively sell DC titles? Even in the Arrowverse, they're constantly referencing Marvel.)

And the storytelling didn't hold together well. There was a bit in the finale where Naomi insisted on leaving her friends behind to fight the bad guys alone, and then when she was cornered she called her friends on a walkie-talkie and it turned out they were already disabling the bad guys' power-dampening field, so the argument before must've been some kind of fakeout, but the episode never explained how they arranged it or why they needed to do it. Just a huge, gaping plot hole there. (And I was paying attention throughout this time, so I couldn't have missed a scene.)

I wonder if we'll ever see another screen adaptation of Naomi McDuffie/Powerhouse that works better than this one. I see that the comics character has been associated with Young Justice, which makes me wonder if a version of her might show up in the animated series of that name. I'm a little surprised she hasn't already, but maybe she was off limits to the Young Justice producers because of this show. But that won't be an issue anymore, assuming YJ gets another season. With all the chaos at Warner Bros., it's hard to be sure.

 

[theenglish]

I just re-read the original mini series and the Season 2 story, and I have to say that CW did a real disservice to the character. The Naomi of the comics is nothing like her comic book counterpart and neither is her supporting cast. Naomi is edgier and more assertive in Bendis' version and the story holds together well. Granted there is not enough story there for a television series, but that could have been easily fixed.

In the comics, although she was originally with YJ, Naomi became a member of the Justice League and her YJ stint has been largely erased from continuity.

 

[Christopher]

I just re-read the original mini series and the Season 2 story, and I have to say that CW did a real disservice to the character. The Naomi of the comics is nothing like her comic book counterpart and neither is her supporting cast. Naomi is edgier and more assertive in Bendis' version and the story holds together well. Granted there is not enough story there for a television series, but that could have been easily fixed.

I felt the TV Naomi was given way too many advantages. She started out as this ultra-popular, perfect overachiever, and then she just kept getting more and more superpowers and ended up being basically unbeatable. Her main vulnerability was her disappointment that her life wasn't as cozy and simple as she thought and her identity wasn't as clear-cut as she thought, and that's not something I found relatable.

In the comics, although she was originally with YJ, Naomi became a member of the Justice League and her YJ stint has been largely erased from continuity.

Still, the Young Justice animated series has incorporated characters from all over the DC Universe. It's never actually had a team called "Young Justice" in-story, but is just generally about the teenage heroes of the DC Universe -- and the adults they grow up to become, because the series has covered a decade of story time in four seasons. It's also a show that focuses heavily on heroes of color. So Naomi is right in their wheelhouse.