Television programmes [2]

Give him hell, Figg

Forest Shepherd wrote:Well he said, "THE Sherlock and Watson of our current time." (Emphasis is mine).
Current being the operative word here, I think the only other "current" Sherlock Holmes is the film series starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.
I suppose Moffat's statement is fair then, considering how far from the original writing the film versions tend to stray.

Can we get over it you squabbling munchkins?  

I kinda feel obliged to mention Elementary here, which I had completely written off as a rip-off before it aired, but that convinced by the first season finale that it had strong merits of its own. I haven't seen the subsequent seasons, though.

I would like to see another Downey/Law film, even though A Game of Shadows was pretty ass. I loved their chemistry. But I dunno that the money or studio will is really there anymore.

The Last Panthers. This has been a great series highly recommend it.

For me this was the best thing I watched all over the Christmas. It was sensible, no histrionics, yet it was gripping.

I was watching Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell again over Christmas, which is really stunning, by the way, and i suddenly realized why I felt it ended so abruptly. I never got around to watching the final episode. I thought there were 6, but in reality there were 7.

But still, I've got that to look forward to now.

Would you recommend the TV version of Jonathan Strange then? It was partially the buzz around the series that inspired me to read the book but I decided I wanted to finish it before watching, which ended up being a much more time-intensive endeavor than I had initially anticipated.

Forsook, it is a chunky book,
Id rather watch the TV program
And take a quick look

MTV put the first four episodes of their new adaptation of the Shannara books online for free (the first two for anyone, the second two if you have a US cable subscription).  I never read the Shannara books because I didn't hear very many good things about them.  They actually skipped the first one entirely because it was too much of a LOTR ripoff, though apparently (going by Wikipedia) most of the books seem to start over with a new cast of characters, so I'm not really sure what they're gonna do if this show gets renewed for additional seasons.  But it is an epic fantasy show and there aren't that many of those that get made, so I figured I'd at least give it a shot.

The first four episodes are pretty decent, but I definitely had some reservations.  I got Legend of the Seeker vibes a number of times, which isn't a good thing, it has some promise.  Manu Bennett has a large role, and after hearing so much about him before he got cut from The Hobbit (and dumped by Game of Thrones very early on)*, it's nice to finally see what the fuss is about.  His character is a little stiff and awkward by design, existing largely for exposition and to set the plot in motion, but Bennett (and the writers) infused some humor and humanity into him as well.  Not sure how I feel about the main (young) cast so far.  Two of the main trio are mainly TV actors and I'm not familiar with them.  The third is Ivana Baquero, who a lot of us know as Ofelia from Pan's Labyrinth.  Given that she was 11 then and 21 now I wouldn't have recognized her without having read about it, but she does a good job here.

The show on the whole is kinda corny at times and I don't really find the demon villains to be compelling.  It is trying to do worldbuilding stuff which is rare enough that even the attempt is exciting to me.  I'm trying to role with the mix of post-apocalyptic and generic high fantasy, but some of the characters are clearly wearing jeans, and skin-tight leather has never been convincing to me.  I was really surprised at the number of vocal pop tracks on the soundtrack.  Some of them, like the opening theme, are actually pretty effective.  The songs able to match the mood of most scenes, but they're sometimes a little jarring in how contemporary they are.

The show did a good enough job so far that I'll keep watching for now, but it's possible I'll get bored of it soon.  For now, episodes are at the link below if anyone else is curious:

http://www.mtv.com/shows/shannara/episode-guide

*Er, this disregard this, I got him mixed up with Conan Stevens.

Ah, that's cool. I was looking forward to this. Although not having any big expectations.

I think I read Shannara around when I was 13, although I don't think I can remember too much about it.

Epic fantasy on television is definitely a "must check out" though, although perhaps not necessarily an automatic "keep watching". And I was just finishing Moribito, which has been kind of interesting, so I'm a bit in an epic fantasy mood to boot.

I am going to watch it too. it starts here on the 15th. I must say I did enjoy Legend of the Seeker, corny though it was I never found it boring.
The buggers have cancelled Da Vinci's Demons after 3 seasons. I loved that show.

Well, I've watched the first two episodes, and I hav to say I kind of agree with Eldo. At least to me the demonic evil bad guys seem such a throwback after A Song of Ice and Fire. I do get it in Tolkien, because with him the good /evil dichotomy is almost at the level of high myth. This isn't of that quality though.

Still, there's a lot of things to like about it. So, I'm going to keep watching for now.

Anyone seen the BBC's production of Agatha Christies 'And then there were none'? Its on the iplayer just now, about to watch the first episode. I read the book a long time ago and enjoyed it. One of her better novels I always thought. Looks promising, suitably BBC Drama certainly in that it all looks very nice and has an impressive cast-



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Eldorion wrote:Would you recommend the TV version of Jonathan Strange then?  It was partially the buzz around the series that inspired me to read the book but I decided I wanted to finish it before watching, which ended up being a much more time-intensive endeavor than I had initially anticipated.

Wait.. I completely miss this. The answer is yes. I'd recommend it.. oh.. a ton.

Not that I'd say it's perfect, and I'm not sure how well it adapts the book, but it's really something special. Easily the best fantasy adaptation for television I've seen in a long time. And so out of the ordinary from what you normally get in fantasy.

I do wonder though, having seen all but the final episode, whether it's a bit short, because it really feels like it could easily go on for another series or two at this point.

I think I'd like to check out the book at some point too.

I enjoyed it a lot. I liked the pacing of it too. But I have never read the book so cant rate it all as an adaptation.

Have you considered watching Shannara, Petty? I'd be interested in hearing your thought on it.

I am in two minds to committing the time to it Blue, mainly because I read the first three books, sword, elfstones and whatever the third one was as a teenager- and thought they were varying degrees of hackneyed Tolkien rip-off.

However thats not to say I think Terry Brooks is a bad writer as such- I enjoyed 'Kingdom for sale-sold!' Apparently its the first of a series of books, but as I read it on publication and there was no indication I dont recall it was the first of anything I read it as a stand alone and enjoyed it as such and Ive never read the rest.
But the Shannara series felt second rate to me, pale imitations of better things.

The series I would like to see someone adapt, as I think the characters, stories and humour are eminently suited to tv adaptation- are the Myth series from Robert Asprin. Great fun, some great invention- a bit clumsy in places, and the later ones I didn't feel were as good as the first few- but still like to see them on the screen.

I think i read them too.. Although, I can't remember anything that happened..

Just re-imagine LotR's as written by an overly enthusiastic teenager and you've about got it.

Actually on second thoughts that might be a description of PJ- and Shannara arent that bad.

Well, the first two episodes are freely available here in any case.

http://www.mtv.com/shows/shannara/episode-guide

Cheers RE: Jonathan Strange.  Thanks guys.

Bluebottle wrote:Well, I've watched the first two episodes, and I hav to say I kind of agree with Eldo. At least to me the demonic evil bad guys seem such a throwback after A Song of Ice and Fire. I do get it in Tolkien, because with him the good /evil dichotomy is almost at the level of high myth. This isn't of that quality though.

Still, there's a lot of things to like about it. So, I'm going to keep watching for now.

Yeah, I'm gonna give it at least another episode.  I was pretty underwhelmed by the villains, but I don't agree with the sentiment from some quarters (not necessarily you) that a grey-and-grey morality is automatically preferable to a black-and-white one.  I mean, I don't want absolute black-and-white with no variance at all.  And people who criticize Tolkien on this point pretty much always ignore the existence of grey characters in his work.  But there's always been a place for stories with clear heroes and villains and a place for stories without them.  My problem with Shannara's bad guys is not that they're unambiguous baddies but that they're generic and derivative and, most importantly, don't do anything interesting with this established formula.

The first book ended with a battle with 5 army's. Sound familiar. Liked the books though, had just got into Tolkien so anything similar was great.

Still have the books.

Think the series starts at book 3 doesn't it ?