Hope you all had a splendid New Year’s celebration, reveling with friends or spending a quiet evening at home (maybe watching an annual Twilight Zone or Marx Brothers marathon on television). I thought (as Twilight Zone plays in the background) I’d share with you my own rather idiosyncratic and stream of consciousness thoughts for the new year in television while wishing you all a happy, successful and healthy 2013.
These are in no particular order:
Rumbelle’s Tale as Old as Time…
My wish for Once Upon a Time is to see more “Rumbelle” (the relationship between Belle and Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold). I freely admit it; I’m a Rumbelle shipper. In fact, any time we can get more of Rumple (Robert Carlyle) on screen, the better. I love the way Belle (Emilie de Ravin) brings out Gold’s (and Rumple’s) vulnerability. I also love the interactions between Rumple and Regina (Lana Parrilla) and Emma (Jennifer Morrison). So, I suppose I’m advocating for more Rumple in general.
I’m also looking forward to Hook’s (Colin O’Donoghue and Cora’s (Barbara Hershey) entry into the Storybrooke fray and the chaos they’ll cause. Might Regina and Rumple with their manipulative magic turn out to be this year’s heroes in confederation with Charming (Josh Dallas) and Emma to defeat them the even eviler bad guys?
Novel Adaptations for Television…
A television series surrounding Charles Todds’ post-WWI police inspector Ian Rutledge would be high on my list. Rutledge is a great entry in the long history of brooding British detectives. I would love to see a Masterpiece Theater series based on this mystery series. Ian suffered greatly during WWI, coming out of the war suffering from PTSD and plagued by an ever-present hallucination, one of the men under his command, the Scottish Hamish, whom Rutledge had to execute while in the trenches. The novels are very visual and Rutledge is one of the most interesting characters to grace an English mystery series. He deserves a series (or a movie, at least).
There have been rumblings for months about a forthcoming HBO adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower. An adaptation of Dark Tower has been in the works forever in various forms for a few years, and it looks like HBO will be the likely venue. Javier Bardem and Russell Crowe’s names both have been mentioned for the lead of Roland, King’s Byronic gunslinger. I would vote for Crowe by a slight edge, especially given his starring turn this year as Javert in Les Miserables. Crowe brings the toughness, presence, and vulnerability needed to pull off the lead. Either actor would be a good choice, but I always pictured Crowe when I first read The Gunslinger.
I would also like to see the much-discussed adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series see the light of day. Her time-travel-ish historical novel series is very visual (albeit very complex), and it would make a great long-form cable television venture.
The State of Genre Television…
One of the problems with trying to analyze the popularity of science fiction series is inherent in the ratings system itself. Sci-fi fans are much more likely (I believe) to watch series on the Internet or other new media platform, and not watch live. It makes evaluating the true reach of a series nearly impossible using the conventional ratings system. So, I suppose my biggest wish is for the ratings powers that be devise a more relevant ratings system for the 21st Century.
I’d also like to see Syfy to really get back to its roots as a safe destination for scripted genre television. Too many of its well done science fiction series have bitten the dust long before the NBC-owned network should have given up on them. It’s distressing when Syfy has become more about reality TV than about serious sci-fi. I’m hoping that Syfy’s innovative series/game hybrid Defiance, which premieres this spring, will get a chance to find itself and an audience and not fall victim to too much focus on Nielsen numbers.
And speaking of Syfy series that were pulled before their time…
I would love to see a conclusion (via movie, graphic novel or written novel) to Stargate Universe. Cancelled by Syfy, Stargate Universe ends with the crew of Destiny in stasis as the ship crosses the void between galaxies (which will take three years, give or take a thousand or so).