Pratchett/Gaiman's GOOD OMENS adapted for tv

[Professor Bear]

If we're lucky, it'll be a bit more amusing than the okay-ish but laugh-free Pratchett adaptations that Sky 1 did years back, though it'll probably be most compared to the unintentionally hilarious Damien that recently ran on US telly, covering as it does similar grounds in telling the tale of the Antichrist, who unbeknownst to his angelic and demonic stalkers and overseers has accidentally been switched at birth with the child of a middle class English family.
Hilarity hopefully ensues.

[von Boom]

I just finished rereading Good Omens yesterday. I love the idea of an adaptation, but I wonder that without the involvement of Pratchett, will Gaiman's dark tendencies overshadow the humour of the book somewhat.

[The Legendary Shark]

Some books just aren't suitable for filming, as the Discworld attempts prove. I don't think this will work, either. In my opinion, the best medium for adapting works like these is audio - because the images are better. I would hold up The Hitch Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy as Exhibit A in my argument.

[JOE SOAP]

the best medium for adapting works like these is audio - because the images are better. I would hold up The Hitch Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy as Exhibit A in my argument.

I hold up the Beeb's TV adaptation of THHGTTG as an example of when it works - the film doesn't support this hypothesis, though.

[The Legendary Shark]

I'd still say the radio series was superior to the tv adaptation - as good as it was.

[Professor Bear]

Pratchett was, as I recall, quite happy with the Sky 1 adaptations, and while they looked nice and were ably performed, they just weren't terribly funny.  At the least, they didn't seem to have any dick jokes or topless women, so God knows why they were on Sky 1.

This is half Neil Gaiman's baby, though - Pratchett even said that a lot of things ascribed to him (in the original novel) were actually the work of Gaiman - so it can go either way.  If I were gambling my own money, I'd sooner invest in hiring sitcom writers to produce an all-ages thing about the Lancre witches, especially after - for many people such as myself - The Shepherd's Crown became the "last" of Pterry's books and the nature of legacy in the narrative took on a meaning outside the work.

[Mardroid]

Yes, I think Gaiman can manage humour just fine.

Interesting idea about a series based on the witches. I think they might be my favourite characters in the Discworld books.

[The Legendary Shark]

To undermine my own argument, I did quite enjoy the Dirk Gently t.v. adaptations. Also, as c.g.i. gets better and cheaper, this kind of adaptation will improve so, never say never.

[Dark Jimbo]

Interesting idea about a series based on the witches. I think they might be my favourite characters in the Discworld books.

Maybe nothing will ever come of it, but a Tiffany Aching series in co-prouction with Jim Henson studios is in the early stages of development...

[Mardroid]

Maybe nothing will ever come of it, but a Tiffany Aching series in co-prouction with Jim Henson studios is in the early stages of development...

I particularly like those books,  so great!

[Professor Bear]

Rise, necro thread - RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

Pics from the BBC America adaptation of Pratchett's Night Watch novels have been released escaped.
The indefatigable capitalist entrepreneur - and story-engine for many of the novels - "Cut Me Own Throat" Dibbler is played by a young lady, so has been re-imagined as a sex worker called "Throat".  So that bodes well.

[rogue69]

there were 2 good animated version of Soul Music and Weird Sisters on Channel 4 in the early 2000's by Cosgrove Hall, and CITV did a series based on Truckers as well

[Tjm86]

"Cut Me Own Throat" Dibbler is played by a young lady, so has been re-imagined as a sex worker called "Throat".  So that bodes well.

leaving aside the fact that the reimagining of Starbuck in BSG worked quite well, looking at the article about the overall tenor of the Night Watch series is not only putting me off for life but filling me with the urge to tear out my eyes in case I even see a trailer for it.  It looks like the same bunch of cretins responsible for the last Star Wars film, the War of the Worlds and Dracula series were all brought in as consultants. 

FFS, Pratchett managed to do a massively better job on half the issues those pillocks are trying to promote, that was one of the core themes of the books.  His writing was light years better than anything they are ever likely to produce.  <.... and breathe ....>

[von Boom]

Given how BBC America handled Dirk Gently I'm not holding out for much with Night Watch.

[Professor Bear]

"Cut Me Own Throat" Dibbler is played by a young lady, so has been re-imagined as a sex worker called "Throat".  So that bodes well.

leaving aside the fact that the reimagining of Starbuck in BSG worked quite well,

Uhhhhh... it's not the gender-swapping in and of itself that I see being the problem with Throat.


And I will, of course, point out that changing Starbuck's gender did not actually make the character any different - not least because it doesn't matter what version of Battlestar Galactica you're watching, Starbuck and Apollo are always, always acting like they are a hair's breadth away from fucking.