Bob:
It seems like a huge trend in television lately has been adapting novels for the small screen. It seems like a new fad to me; certainly there are some older examples, like Spenser For Hire, and a ton of old TV movies and miniseries, but for the most part, books have found their way to the big screen, not the small. With True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, and the most recent entry Game of Thrones, it seems like libraries are becoming great places to find source material.
I know there are definitely some books that I would love to see on television. Philip Pulman’s His Dark Materials trilogy was adapted as an unsuccessful movie in The Golden Compass. The source material was so good, though, I would love to see it on the small screen where the big, incredibly interesting world could be given time to thrive and develop. I never even would have thought this was a possibility if not for the success of the epic Game of Thrones.
The Walking Dead showed that comic books are a good place to find TV shows too. With both Grimm and Once Upon a Time hitting the air in the fall, I would like to throw my support behind Bill Willingham’s Fables comic series. Both shows seem to owe a bit of inspiration to his story of fairytale characters trying to live in New York City, having been exiled from their own land in a centuries old war with a mysterious “adversary.” I certainly wish it were Fables coming to TV instead of these posers. At the very least, I hope one of them ends up being good.
Finally, just about anything by Neil Gaiman would excite me. There has been a lot of rumors for a few years now about his comic series Sandman coming to TV, but I almost love it too much to see it dallied with. Instead, I would love to see something like American Gods translated into a long series. Heck, Gaiman’s own Neverwhere started as a miniseries in the UK before he translated it into a book.
What would you like to see go from the library to the small screen?
Debbie:
Yes, it’s quite a hot trend … but I’m not a fan if I’ve read the books. I actually have had a post in draft about this (for about a year…) which I won’t finish now … instead I’ll air my thoughts here.
True Blood made a travesty of the Sookie Stackhouse books which I hold near and dear to my heart. It may be a good show; I don’t know because I never made it past the first few episodes, which were poorly executed renditions of the book. Rizzoli and Isles, same thing.
I’m not saying I don’t love TV shows made from books, because I love The Vampire Diaries and Blood Ties … but I’ll never read the books now because I’ve come to the conclusion that for me books and television need to remain separate but equal.
But if you were, say, holding a piece of flourless chocolate cake just out of my reach, and you told me I could have it if I gave you a thoughtful answer, then I would have to say the Stephanie Plum series of books by Janet Evanovich. They are fluffy enough that if well-cast there’s not much room for screwing them up. It would be a perfect fit for USA (characters welcome) — a comfortable formula that the viewers love with somewhat predictable characters that offer up the fun you crave.
Bob:
I don’t know. You made me read that first Sookie Stackhouse novel and I have to say that Alan Ball was the greatest thing to happen to it!
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Jun 02, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
I agree on the Neil Gaiman thing. Specifically I think that Sandman would make a great show. I also think that Lucifer by Mike Carey would be great, simply because the basic idea is good. Though some of the storylines are a tiny bit hard to imagine on a Television budget.
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When I was in high school, I never dreamed “Lord Of The Rings” could be made into a television or theatrical at work.
My new dream is Stephen R. Donaldson’s “Thomas Covenant” series. I haven’t thought about a director, who plays the characters or any other details … and it doesn’t matter to me. I would just like to see it done.
I could definitely see Thomas Covenant done as a movie or series, but I remember always wondering whether he was dreaming. Something about those books feels surreal/hallucinogenic compared to the very concrete worlds of other fantasy writers like Goodkind, Tolkien, Martin et al. I wonder whether that quality would be lost if you put Thomas Covenant on screen.
Speaking of LotR – don’t you think The Silmarillion would make a nice miniseries? :-) I do!
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There’s a monster amount of character angst in those books, specifically Thomas Covenant. I would love to see how someone works that out. Could that get lost in translation? You bet. But it would be a fun ride.
Silmarillion? Do it …
Are those the books with the main character who’s a grouchy leper?
Yes. Why on earth hasn’t someone hired you to write back-cover blurbs, Deb? ;)
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*weemains vewy, vewy qwiet … continues hunting wabbits*
I’ve read most of Y: The Last Man (there are about 60 issues total), and I think it would be a very good mini-series on one of the pay channels.
For those that don’t know, it’s somewhat of a post-apocalyptic story where all male species in the world die, with the exception of one man (and his monkey). It’s an interesting landscape to explore, with countries rebuilding themselves in different ways, and various religous and militant groups rising up. On a small scale, it can deal with how the individual woman comes to grip with her evolving societal role. The individual stuff is interesting, but I think the world they create is more fascinating.
I’m reading it right now and I definitely could see it as a mini-series. Plus, lots of roles for women :)
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is off the charts awesome. There have been seven books and I’m impatiently waiting for book eight. They are a yummy mixture of historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, love story. There are battles, secrets, adventures on the high seas, it spans continents and time!
I know the books have been optioned before, we’ll see what happens!
I just read the synopsis on Amazon, don’t go by that, it was an anti sales pitch at best. Just trust me, the Outlander series is wonderful.
Debbie – you probably aren’t going to be happy to hear this and I’m sorry to tell you, but … the Stephanie Plus series is coming to the big screen. And, the bad part, (I’m not sure I want to break your heart, but …) Stephanie Plum is being played by Katherine Heigl. I really hope she pulled off the role because Stephanie Plum is one of my favorite book characters.
Here’s the cast list: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598828/
Scheduled to come out Jan 2012.
NOT the dream casting I had in mind! Seriously, Izzie Stephens??? The rest of the cast looks pretty good, although I’ll have to see on Ranger … that’s a tough role for an actual human being to fill!
Definitely not how I envisioned an actor for Ranger. I would have preferred Dwayne Johnson “The Rock”. I think physically he is closer and he probably could have pulled off both the serious and charming sides of Ranger.
That’s funny, b/c I was thinking Coby Bell from BN (though a little too young) and he reminds me of The Rock.
Well now I have a heads up that this Christmas my mom and aunts will spend most of the holiday getting together to complain about them casting “that annoying blonde from The Greys Anatomy Show” to play the lead.
I really think that television would be the perfect place to relaunch the Dune franchise. It is such a big, big, story that film cannot capture the totality of the series. Each book could be the length of a season (10-12 episodes per book.)
Plus, there needs to be an expansive sci-fi product back on television now that we are absent serious sci-fi.
Television has showed that is the new venue for serious and well crafted pieces of drama. Movies today are just about being the next blockbuster. Quality and art are hard to find in the modern major cinema.
I think that’s a great idea. I enjoyed the miniseries that Sci Fi (before they were SyFy) did a while back, but I think they could definitely sustain 10-12 episodes with each book.
Bob, I’m surprised you didn’t note that smashing success that was the adaptation of the Sweet Valley High books to television. I really figured you for a fan…
Back to the question at hand, if I was picking one that I thought had actual possibilities, it would be Preacher. It was almost a movie. And then it was almost an HBO series. Third time’s the charm, maybe?
And if we’re just wishing wildly, Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle would make for an outstanding period adventure/drama series.
Wasn’t there supposedly a Diamond Age miniseries in the works? With George Clooney producing?
Wikipedia tells me it has been in the works since ’07… I won’t hold my breath.
There was. I actually asked Neal Stephenson about that when he was doing his book tour for Anathem. The explanation for the delay at that time was the writer’s strike. I haven’t heard anything more about it since then.
In other Stephenson news, Reamde will be out in September. :D
I would definitely like to see that as a series- although his harder scifi stuff would probably be harder to actually properly show within a reasonable budget. I’ve always had a soft spot for the old Riftwar saga by Raymond E Feist, but I wouldn’t say no to Gaiman or Stephenson adaptations, certainly.
I enjoyed Feist too.
The star trek: new frontier series.
I’ll go sit in the corner now…
I think the goddess girls books cause their awsome
Just announced that Tom Hanks is producing American Gods for HBO. Six seasons, 10-12 hours a season.
I would love to see all Tom Clancy books. Of course, I fully agree that all Gaimain work, should be turned in to movies, or series.
Specialy Sandman that is a long time waited love.