AncalagonTheBlack Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Wow,i'm surprised this is going ahead in light of this Quote Elizabeth Sarnoff (Lost) and Patrick Macmanus (Marco Polo) have come on board to write and executive produce Darkover, a TV adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s book series, which is in the works at Amazon Studios from IM Global Television. Details of the TV series adaptation are sketchy, but it is described as an ambitious tale tracing the development of a civilization from its inadvertent founding on a distant planet by a group of human colonists through war-torn feudal ages to recontact 2,000 years later with their Earthly descendants. Sarnoff and Macmanus will executive produce the project with Ilene Kahn Power (Traffic) and Elizabeth Stanley. http://deadline.com/2016/05/darkover-amazon-series-elizabeth-sarnoff-patrick-macmanus-writers-1201750134/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 especially given the link was from 2 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Well, if Bradley was still alive and going to benefit from this, yes, I can see where there would have been a problem. Instead it's her estate and therefore her daughter who was abused who will be benefitting from it, so that's actually a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Werthead said: Well, if Bradley was still alive and going to benefit from this, yes, I can see where there would have been a problem. Instead it's her estate and therefore her daughter who was abused who will be benefitting from it, so that's actually a good thing. That's actually a very good point. The daughter may be the one directly benefitting from this now. Still, it's dubious PR to have attached to the project stemming from the imagination of a child abuser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterOJ Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 I'm only passingly familiar with the allegations against Bradley. Are they substantiated other than in the claims that her daughter made in the blog post? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 54 minutes ago, MisterOJ said: I'm only passingly familiar with the allegations against Bradley. Are they substantiated other than in the claims that her daughter made in the blog post? Also a fair point maybe someone more familiar knows about it? It could be like a Bryan Singer allegation that never goes anywhere. Wikipedia has this on the subject. I guess it would help if other victims had come forward. Irrespective of whether she was abuser herself it's still pretty poor she knew about her husband's activities and did nothing. Although it's a different league from committing the crimes herself. Still, with the number of options for adaptations out there it seems an odd one to even risk pursuing. Some of the other victims maywell come out if the show gets attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 I have never read any of her books, so this puts a damper on me trying out this Darkover series, if Amazon does go through with it. But I do like the premise of the story. Also does this mean that we can consider Amazon out for the possible candidates to do the Wheel of Time adaptation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Quote Also does this mean that we can consider Amazon out for the possible candidates to do the Wheel of Time adaptation? No. Darkover is basically a science fiction story, the fantasy-esque bit of it isn't the main focus, as far as I understand it. There's no reason why they wouldn't push forwards with Wheel of Time as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Apparently Bradley's literary rights were passed onto her former assistant and her partner, both of whom were allegedly aware of Bradley's activities whilst alive. They'll be the ones benefitting from this, not her children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Werthead said: No. Darkover is basically a science fiction story, the fantasy-esque bit of it isn't the main focus, as far as I understand it. There's no reason why they wouldn't push forwards with Wheel of Time as well. I was thinking more about budgets. I have no idea how big of an undertaking Darkover would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Oh, I really wouldn't worry about that at all. Amazon's TV division has ludicrous amounts of money to throw around, at least comparable to Netflix if not more (and far fewer shows on at the moment). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 That's interesting, because so far they have had only tepid attempts to make a splash in the TV world. The Man in the High Castle is probably their most expensive show, and so far I think they have only one really critically acclaimed show, Transparent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Marco Polo has writers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 9 minutes ago, Veltigar said: Marco Polo has writers? Oh, that's harsh. I thought the story improved as things moved along. And while I've seen no previews yet of season 2, I would not be surprised if we got something better than say... Vikings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 6 minutes ago, Corvinus said: Oh, that's harsh. I thought the story improved as things moved along. And while I've seen no previews yet of season 2, I would not be surprised if we got something better than say... Vikings. Lol, if Vikings ever dropped to the level of Marco Polo, I'd cut it from my schedule without giving it a second thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pliskin Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Vikings dropped waaaaayyy under the level of Marco Polo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 39 minutes ago, Pliskin said: Vikings dropped waaaaayyy under the level of Marco Polo. I haven't seen the last few episodes (I stopped after the Ragnar gets high episode) but at this moment I'm as willing to give Marco Polo another shot as Vikings. Vikings has seriously lost its way to the point I'm wondering whether season 2 was a spectacular fluke or a key writer left after it. That aside it's not like knowing a writer from Marco Polo was involved exactly has me feeling optimisitic. I've no idea if Sarnoff was responsible in any way for the final season or mystery elements of "lost" but it's also not a pedigree that excites me. I'd probably give Sarnoff more time of day in a grounded drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 22 hours ago, Pliskin said: Vikings dropped waaaaayyy under the level of Marco Polo. At least Vikings' lead actors are able to act. Heck, Fimmel is superb even, despite all the shit Hirst has him say at times. Something that sadly can't be said for Marco Polo's two leads (the kids on Vikings are better actors than those two). Vikings has less offensive orientalism (stupid Yidu, I used to be able to say that Vikings had none). And despite all the flack we give Vikings for dragging us on pointless detours to Wessex and Paris, at least the series is aware that the Vikings are still the main focus. In contrast with Marco Polo, which forces us to endure hours with weird ninja courtesans, insectobsessed chancellors and - worst of all - the guy who plays Marco Polo (I imagine they hired him George Lazenby style) instead of focusing on Benedict Wong, who's like the only interesting element of Marco Polo. Spoiler On top of that, Vikings - even stuck at its current lowpoint - still has better music, fight scenes (the wuxia shit in Marco Polo is downright embarrasing at times), no needless tits and gore to pander to the lowest common denominator looking for the next GoT and some deeply intriguing takes on medieval life and Viking culture (e.g. The Yule fest this year, pilgrimmage to Rome). Vikings also has better directing and is much more committed in getting us interesting visuals. Marco Polo plays it depressingly safe on those fronts. A shame, since the wuxia genre can really make a fertile background for a great director (e.g. The Assassin by Hsiao-Hsien Hou). Most important of all though, is that during the few moments that Vikings was good this season, it could still deliver pure poetry on the screen. The moments where the show focusses on Ragnar and Hirst limits the dialogue to a minimum, this show was a masterclass on wordless storytelling. The standouts on that front being Ragnar's vision of his family in season one and the scene at the end of the season where Lagertha has her miscarriage and Bjorn and Ragnar comfort her. Those moments were incredible and I wish that more shows had moments like that (e.g. GoT would be much improved with a couple of those thoughtful moments). Marco Polo, I'm sad to say, peaked during the first showing of its opening credits (which I have to admit are great). It never regained those lofty heights. Despite having so much more money behind it, it can't even beat Vikings at its lowpoint. The shows share some big weaknesses, but Marco Polo has none of Vikings strengths and it's a much poorer show for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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