Anyone else surprised it took so many decades to get this DC Comics character on the small screen?
The Human Target
- Thread starter A beaker full of death
- Start date
Not just a pilot, but a series that ran for 7 episodes in 1992. It was from Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, who'd recently done the Flash TV series (and The Rocketeer on the big screen). I quite liked it. It was a thoughtful examination of the psyche of its main character: why he'd constantly put his life on the line for other strangers, how he was affected by subsuming his identity behind those of other people, etc. Plus it had nifty technology like a flying wing Chance's team used as their base of operations and a mask-generating technology that anticipated what was done in Mission: Impossible III.
The upcoming Human Target series on FOX looks dreadfully stupid from what I've seen of it. First off, they're compromising the whole core concept, in that Mark Valley's Christopher Chance doesn't actually disguise himself as the target, but just takes on the role of someone near them. Which renders the very title of the series meaningless. Sure, I get that they did it so they could focus on their star and not have his role played by a different actor every week, but it really takes away the uniqueness of the concept and makes it just another action show. And the extended preview clips that were released online a few months ago were filled with stupid writing and mindless violence.
Which is a shame, because it's a total waste of Chi McBride. I miss Emerson Cod!
^ They're doing it without the disguises? That's just weird.
I didn't know (I think) about the Springfield series. Didn't the Chance of the comics always work alone? (It's been a loooong time).
I've always thought Mark Valley would make a great Captain America. Too bad they have him doing this.
I didn't know (I think) about the Springfield series. Didn't the Chance of the comics always work alone? (It's been a loooong time).
I've always thought Mark Valley would make a great Captain America. Too bad they have him doing this.
I don't know. I think so. But the only Human Target comic I've ever read was a special DC put out as a tie-in to the TV show, nominally in its continuity but not really -- probably an awkward hybrid of the comic character and the show premise. The show's Christopher Chance was a man who'd been part of atrocities in Vietnam and had thus sworn to devote himself to protecting life and never taking it. That was a core element of his characterization in the show. But in the comic, Chance gunned people down quite casually.
Anyway, there's no way a lone hero would've worked for series TV, especially if he was constantly in disguise and being played by different actors for much of each episode. It was necessary to have other familiar faces around. They needed people he could play off of, have relationships with, rely on for technical expertise, provide exposition to the audience, etc.
I really enjoyed Peter Milligan's re-invention of the Human Target early this decade. That series was excellent and really played around with the concept, and very effectively showed how it could affect a man's identity. Some of these stories could have very well translated onto screen, so needless to say I'm very disappointed that the new TV Christopher Chance doesn't even disguise himself as different people.
I think I'll skip this one.
I think I'll skip this one.
They deleted the one aspect of the show that makes it interesting. Pass.
The really sad thing is that this new series hasn't spawned any action on putting out a DVD release of the original series.
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Human-Target/2315
The same situation as with that horrible remake of Cupid — absolutely no movement on getting the original Jeremy Piven version out there.
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Human-Target/2315
The same situation as with that horrible remake of Cupid — absolutely no movement on getting the original Jeremy Piven version out there.
Perhaps, but to be fair if there's one viewer in 10,000 who has ever heard of the comic character, I'll be amazed. It's not as if we're talking Batman here. I'm as big a comic buff (and a DC Comic buff, at that) as they come, but I think the last time I read a Human Target story was as a back-up feature in one of those $1 "blockbuster" comics they used to put out (Batman Family, etc) back around 1980.
From what I've seen the show looks interesting, and Tricia Helfer is in the first episode, it seems, so that's enough alone for me to give it a look. We haven't had a proper "spy"-type show on network TV for awhile (and by proper I mean Bond-like), so at least it's not another CSI clone or cop show. I'll give it a chance. And fortunately it's airing on Friday in my neck of the woods - I'll actually be able to watch the thing.
Alex
Whether the viewer is familiar with the concept or not, it's still strange to call a show Human Target while not having the protagonist actually make himself the target. They should've just called it Bodyguard or something. Although from the clips I've seen, the guy in this show is more like a mercenary, an assassin for hire, than a bodyguard. He places a disturbing amount of emphasis on "eliminating" the threat as opposed to protecting the innocent. Whereas the Christopher Chance of the '90s TV adaptation dedicated himself to protecting life even at the cost of his own, this Christopher Chance seems to be in it for the kill, and that repels me.
You know, why don't you actually watch something before you call it dreadfully stupid? If I judged every TV show by a trailer I probably wouldn't watch anything.
^The promos that were made available several months ago were more than just trailers, but contained several minutes of actual scenes from the episode. So I'm not judging this sight unseen. I wanted this to be worth watching. But those scenes were very, very stupid and violent, and that's enough for me to decide I don't want to see it.
Perhaps he's explaining why he won't be watching, because it looks dreadfully stupid and doesn't stick with the concept that's right there in the title.
Similar threads
