I think part of the problem is that media seems to have decided people don't want over-the-top ridiculous and/or campy anymore. Everything needs to be super real and gritty and to me, superheroes just don't work in that world. Being over-the-top and embracing how ridiculous most superheroes are what make movies like The Phantom, Darkman, and dare I say it, Green Lantern incredibly entertaining (to me at least). Superheroes are all about being more than human, being more fantastic than reality. Although, I haven't seen Mutant X or Birds of Prey, every other series on that list did a great job of embracing the ridiculous and taking the audience on an adventure.
After making the list, it did seem strange to me that these shows seem to come in waves. 1966, 1975, 1977, 1990, 1990, 1993, 2001, 2001, 2001, 2002, and 2011. This means if the trend continues, we will get another superhero show next year and then we won't get any until the early 2020's. I'm not sure why there seems to be a roughly 10 year gap between these waves. Maybe a new decade gives executives hopes in a clean slate on previous attempts at things?
Thanks to IHC's Ultimate Live-Action Comic Book Movie and TV Database for helping me verify my list.
Thanks to IHC's Ultimate Live-Action Comic Book Movie and TV Database for helping me verify my list.
Fads come in waves. Look at the super-hero style of the 50's and 40's with shows like "The Lone Ranger" and the black and white Batman series (I know someone who has them, if you'd like to see them they're so campy they make wonder woman look like the dark knight rises.)
ReplyDeleteBut it's also about what makes money. That's probably the most gritty aspect of the superhero franchise. Firefly was an amazing show, and we browncoats are loyal to it now, even though it couldn't achieve the ratings it needed to last. Battlestar Galactica was also fantastic and gave a good four year run with some feature length movies and a spin-off. But it was designed that way. Just like Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. I think that is the new fad - Produce a show everyone loves and end it at the height of its popularity so it doesn't become tired. Which is what a lot of TV shows can become. And the fact that many of those campy shows have successively reduced production runs (Batman was like 4 seasons; The Tick may have lasted for one) shows that the market wants gritty surreal shows.
However, I know a bunch of guys with cameras, scripting, and film experience who might be interested in adding such a credit to their portfolios, if you ever wanted to be a part of something that manifested this vision. I'd be down.
I'm a great comic sidekick.
Well to be fair, The Tick live action show was pretty much just a bad show. Especially compared to his cartoon counterpart.
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