Shannara TV series commissioned by MTV

Morrus · Jul 12, 2014

MTV is really taking the plunge into fantasy, as it has greenlit a ten-episode first season order for Shannara. The show will be based on the series of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks, reworked a lot of J.R.R. Tolkein’s ideas, setting the fantasy world as the post-nuclear future of Earth. The novels take place thousands of years after apocalyptic wars mutated mankind into elves and dwarves, and changed the geographic layout of our planet.

Umbran · Jul 12, 2014

MTV? What, they want to make a reality series out of it?

This will work if MTV hands someone competent money, and says, "Go do this for us." Nobody at MTV itself has shown any idea how to do a real series, as far as I can see, and it will flop, hard, if they try to do it themselves.

Edit: Going out and reading some news.. that's what they seem to be doing. They found some folks with solid genre credits and are giving them money.

Morrus · Jul 12, 2014

I don't really know much of what MTV does other than they used to do music videos. They could do what Fox did with Cosmos though - hands off approach.

Umbran · Jul 12, 2014

Morrus said:
I don't really know much of what MTV does other than they used to do music videos.

Today, the joke is that "MTV" stands for Miscellaneous TeleVision. While they may or may not have had the first show, they are pretty much responsible for reality TV as we know it today. You can look at their schedule for a given day here (http://www.mtv.com/ontv/schedule/) and see what kind of nonsense they do. Nothing in it says, "I know how to do legitimate drama or fantasy," at least to me

They could do what Fox did with Cosmos though - hands off approach.

I hope so. Originally, they had Jon Favreau set to direct the first couple of episodes, and Al Gough and Miles Millar (who created Smallville) to write. Favreau has had to leave the director's chair for scheduling conflicts, but he's still an Executive Producer.

Apparently, the current President of Programming at MTV is Suzanne Daniels. She's been there a couple of years, but in the past at the WB and LIfetime, she oversaw development of the Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, and Smallville. Not all shows I care for, but maybe she knows somethign about what she's doing, and is trying to drag MTV up?

gamerprinter · Jul 12, 2014

Allanon, Shea and Flick... sadly, I read The Sword of Shannara before I read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in my youth, and actually liked the storyline and elements, until I read the Lord of the Rings and realized how much Terry Brooks stole from Tolkien. There are distinct differences of course, but so much has been borrowed I see the Shannara books through tainted glasses in the aftermath. And didn't read further into the series because of that fact. Of course I was also introduced to the Brothers Hildebrandt and their artwork during that period as well.

I cannot see MTV successfully doing a job creating a fantasy drama, and definitely don't expect a budget like Game of Thrones, so am quite apprehensive to what could become of such a series (or 'not become' based on those limitations.)

Umbran · Jul 13, 2014

gamerprinter said:
I cannot see MTV successfully doing a job creating a fantasy drama, and definitely don't expect a budget like Game of Thrones, so am quite apprehensive to what could become of such a series (or 'not become' based on those limitations.)

Well, they had Jon Favreau set to direct. You know, Jon Favreau... director of two Iron Man movies, exec producer of all three? You think he comes cheap? I'm not sure budget limitation is going to be the issue here.

SkidAce · Jul 13, 2014

gamerprinter said:
Allanon, Shea and Flick... sadly, I read The Sword of Shannara before I read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in my youth, and actually liked the storyline and elements, until I read the Lord of the Rings and realized how much Terry Brooks stole from Tolkien. There are distinct differences of course, but so much has been borrowed I see the Shannara books through tainted glasses in the aftermath. And didn't read further into the series because of that fact. Of course I was also introduced to the Brothers Hildebrandt and their artwork during that period as well.

Can't argue about the first book...its a well known fact.

However, much like Dennis McKiernan and the Iron Tower trilogy, Brooks' novels evolved beyond the origin and took a life of their own.

The later books are worth reading, I especially enjoyed A Knight of the Word by Brooks.

gamerprinter · Jul 13, 2014

SkidAce said:
Can't argue about the first book...its a well known fact.

However, much like Dennis McKiernan and the Iron Tower trilogy, Brooks' novels evolved beyond the origin and took a life of their own.

The later books are worth reading, I especially enjoyed A Knight of the Word by Brooks.

I've got friends who read the others - Elfstones of Shannara (he even tried to include an elfstone as a magic items in a D&D game he ran).

Its not that I can disagree with what you're saying, however, since right after I read The Sword of Shannara, I then read Tolkien - about 8th grade I read all this. So once I saw the stolen aspects to the Sword of Shannara, I never read the rest, and never had the opportunity to have a different opinion. So I have no opinion of any of the series after the first book.

Nellisir · Jul 14, 2014

gamerprinter said:
I've got friends who read the others - Elfstones of Shannara (he even tried to include an elfstone as a magic items in a D&D game he ran).

Its not that I can disagree with what you're saying, however, since right after I read The Sword of Shannara, I then read Tolkien - about 8th grade I read all this. So once I saw the stolen aspects to the Sword of Shannara, I never read the rest, and never had the opportunity to have a different opinion. So I have no opinion of any of the series after the first book.

There's so much Tolkien threaded through so many fantasy stories it's pretty rare for it to have any effect on me any more. That said, my wife is a big Terry Brooks fan but I haven't been able to read anything of his for twenty+ years now. Just doesn't flow for me.

Hand of Evil · Jul 14, 2014

just don't see this as anything more that a teen drama.

Shannara TV series commissioned by MTV

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