Tom Swift on CW

[practicalm]

I did not see any posts on this previously and was curious if anyone was watching it. I haven't seen it either but I was a fan of the original books.
I'm not sure how it spun off of Nancy Drew but there were a lot of books with wiz kids in the 50's and 60's. I particularly liked the Rick Brant series. Rick Brant Science-Adventures Series by John Blaine

 

[Jer]

I really need to start that "Guess the least likely franchise to get resurrected this year" betting pool that I keep joking with my friends about. We all would have lost this one I suspect. I haven't thought about Tom Swift in almost 40 years (and even when I read the books as a kid they were extremely dated and I only read them because the town "library" such as it was hadn't had the funding to buy any new books since 1975).

I'm not sure how it spun off of Nancy Drew but there were a lot of books with wiz kids in the 50's and 60's.

The TV show is a spin-off of Nancy Drew because they added him as a tech billionaire character in the second season. I haven't watched the second season, but you can expect any CW adaptation to have only the barest resemblance to the original novels. The Nancy Drew tv show is to her novels as the Riverdale TV show is to Archie comics - melodrama is turned up to 11 and character flaws are turned up to 20. Fun to watch if you're into over-the-top TV IMO (though I still haven't watched any of the second season, so I guess it wasn't that much fun...)

 

[Dire Bare]

I watched the first episode and it was . . . okay. I wasn't immediately drawn to watch the second episode, but I might get around to it.

I love the twist on the character, making Tom a gay black man. But . . . I had a hard time liking and rooting for Tom in episode one. One of the characters in the show describes Tom as a black Tony Stark, and Tom is arrogant, but without Richard Downey Jr's charisma to make that arrogance likeable.

The inventions so far . . . kind of plot magic. You don't really get the feeling Swift is a genius inventor, more of an arrogant wizard who can just put in an evening and make magical soap (yes, that's a plot point in episode one, making super-soap).

We'll see if the show grows on me, but . . . I don't predict this one lasting. It's very CW, if you know what that means.

 

[Willie the Duck]

I did not see any posts on this previously and was curious if anyone was watching it. I haven't seen it either but I was a fan of the original books.
I'm not sure how it spun off of Nancy Drew but there were a lot of books with wiz kids in the 50's and 60's. I particularly liked the Rick Brant series. Rick Brant Science-Adventures Series by John Blaine

Which books were you a fan of, Nancy Drew or Tom Swift?
Swift started in the 1910s, and Drew in the 30s. They would have been well-established by the 50s-60s (kinda the elder statespersons of the genre, alongside the Hardy Boys). Of those that started in the 50s-60s, I rather liked the Great Brain series, and Encyclopedia Brown. Mind you, I haven't revisited any, so I have no idea if they are actually good children's literature, or just what I had available.

 

[practicalm]

Which books were you a fan of, Nancy Drew or Tom Swift?
Swift started in the 1910s, and Drew in the 30s. They would have been well-established by the 50s-60s (kinda the elder statespersons of the genre, alongside the Hardy Boys). Of those that started in the 50s-60s, I rather liked the Great Brain series, and Encyclopedia Brown. Mind you, I haven't revisited any, so I have no idea if they are actually good children's literature, or just what I had available.

Turns out it was the Tom Swift Jr. series and the Rick Brant series. And the Encyclopedia Brown series as well. Later the Henry Reed series. Oh and the Mad Scientist Club The Mad Scientists' Club - Wikipedia and Danny Dunn Danny Dunn - Wikipedia

 

[Nutation]

Which books were you a fan of, Nancy Drew or Tom Swift?
Swift started in the 1910s, and Drew in the 30s. They would have been well-established by the 50s-60s (kinda the elder statespersons of the genre, alongside the Hardy Boys). Of those that started in the 50s-60s, I rather liked the Great Brain series, and Encyclopedia Brown. Mind you, I haven't revisited any, so I have no idea if they are actually good children's literature, or just what I had available.

I have read some of all of those. The two CW shows are only loosely related to the source material, a common phenomenon in Hollywood. (Why do producers license a popular property and then violate its basic principals?)

WRT Nancy Drew, the characters in the show are young adults, not teens. We see that a lot on TV, although it's not much harder to cast 20-year olds and pass them off as high school students. See Glee and many other examples. The bigger problem is that they made it a ghost story. Nancy Drew, the character, is hyper-rational and exists in a world of known causes producing known effects. Unless you come down hard on defining exactly what your ghosts can and can't do, a deductive investigator is out of place.

Tom Swift, again a young adult because it's a spin-off show. I find his braggadocio and reckless optimism harder to like than I would if he were younger. Also, because the entertainment industry has a quota to maintain, this character is gay. That means that we have to be shown this in an explicit sex scene. I don't need sex scenes in my boy adventure novels.

The actual framework and season plot of Tom Swift look ok. Undisciplined inventor son with a father who tries to keep him on track. Evil corporate-government bad guys. Treasure hunt that will occupy the season. I don't like the character, though, and I don't like how he strays from the source material.

 

[practicalm]

Tom Swift, again a young adult because it's a spin-off show. I find his braggadocio and reckless optimism harder to like than I would if he were younger. Also, because the entertainment industry has a quota to maintain, this character is gay. That means that we have to be shown this in an explicit sex scene. I don't need sex scenes in my boy adventure novels.

What's your rationale for saying there is some kind of quota for gay men in shows? There have been a lot of gay women in CW shows but this might be the first gay man in the title role on the network. I did some searching and didn't see others but I might have missed something. Heck I'm not sure there have been any gay men in a title role on any network (streaming there might be some).

And the original source needs updating. The tech is different, the times are different and the target audience has changed. Women had subservient roles and were not scientists and most characters were white.
Much of the fiction written in the 50's and 60's isn't appropriate for the times.

I haven't watched the Nancy Drew CW show but there have been a couple of good movies that showed a more deduction approach. Well maybe just this one. Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019) - IMDb
Though the 2007 movie wasn't that bad.

It's kind of a shame that there are not more science focused young adult books, they are more magical focused than science based. If anyone has suggestions, that would be helpful.

 

[Willie the Duck]

I have read some of all of those. The two CW shows are only loosely related to the source material, a common phenomenon in Hollywood. (Why do producers license a popular property and then violate its basic principals?)

Because they want the name recognition, know most of the audience probably hasn't read most of the material, and most aren't attached to any given specific component of the original material. What basic principles do you think were violated (as opposed to just changing things)?

WRT Nancy Drew, the characters in the show are young adults, not teens. We see that a lot on TV, although it's not much harder to cast 20-year olds and pass them off as high school students. See Glee and many other examples. The bigger problem is that they made it a ghost story. Nancy Drew, the character, is hyper-rational and exists in a world of known causes producing known effects. Unless you come down hard on defining exactly what your ghosts can and can't do, a deductive investigator is out of place.

The age change might have something to do with our current view towards teenagers wandering around dangerous situations unsupervised. As for a hyper-rational deductive investigator, it depends. Agent Scully worked very well on X-files (for 3-4 seasons, until it because nonsensical that she didn't believe in the supernatural when she saw it every other Friday).

Tom Swift, again a young adult because it's a spin-off show. I find his braggadocio and reckless optimism harder to like than I would if he were younger. Also, because the entertainment industry has a quota to maintain, this character is gay. That means that we have to be shown this in an explicit sex scene. I don't need sex scenes in my boy adventure novels.

The actual framework and season plot of Tom Swift look ok. Undisciplined inventor son with a father who tries to keep him on track. Evil corporate-government bad guys. Treasure hunt that will occupy the season. I don't like the character, though, and I don't like how he strays from the source material.

For Tom Swift, I think sticking to the source material would have been a problem because several copycats have already been popularized over the years which follow that formula. Moving up the age makes it a little different deal. As does black (also perhaps heads off any articles which look up the series and notice Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle). As does gay I guess (and agree with Practicalm, tv execs are a lot more ready to have a gay romance onscreen if it is secondary characters and especially if it means they can show two women kissing).

I don't watch a lot of CW young adult fare. Too much of it that I have seen has been of the 'hey young adult, you should feel bad if your life isn't showing off 6 pack abs while getting out of your Maserati's pulled up to a trendy nightclub' variety. That said, I don't really think a Nancy Drew or Tom Swift, as initially written, really could make it as a TV show. Heck, mainstays like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot have a hard time making a go of it without serious star power or a hook or change or something. Stuff like this might be the only way to keep these properties relevant.

 

[Nutation]

I don't watch a lot of CW young adult fare. Too much of it that I have seen has been of the 'hey young adult, you should feel bad if your life isn't showing off 6 pack abs while getting out of your Maserati's pulled up to a trendy nightclub' variety. That said, I don't really think a Nancy Drew or Tom Swift, as initially written, really could make it as a TV show. Heck, mainstays like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot have a hard time making a go of it without serious star power or a hook or change or something. Stuff like this might be the only way to keep these properties relevant.

You might be right with respect to both properties; they may not translate well to TV. But, don't make unnecessary changes. They should be teens, not young adults. Look at Riverdale on CW - still high school students. I don't like the dark and cynical approach, but at least they are young.
Puzzling that detective shows aren't that popular, where police procedurals are all over the place. The logic and deduction are why I like the books, but so be it. Take a light hand with the plot and instead emphasize Nancy's teen angst. At least the CW does that well. Does it have to include ghosts? Well, that's possible. Randall Garrett in his Lord Darcy stories shows that magic and deduction can mix, if the writer is disciplined. Isaac Asimov wrote an essay about this as well.
Tom Swift should work. We could have undisciplined teens, crazy gadgets, teen angst. Maybe like the early years of Buffy? I think the tension between TS Junior and Senior may work better if dad has real legal authority over his kid. Using a black character is fine, the books have evolved over 100 years. It depends greatly on who you cast as the lead, just don't pick someone who is age 27.

 

[Mallus]

On general principle I am obligated to be interested in a show that turns Tom Swift, Jr into a cross between Tony Stark and Little Nas X. But I kinda forgot this was real. I've tuned out of the CW over the past few years. Maybe I'll watch the premiere?

"Magic soap" doesn't sound like it's really taking advantage of the premise, or approaching it with the required panache (Eau de Panache??). Dude needs inventions like an 'ultra-fabulous cycloplane'.

Full disclose: I've read at least a dozen Tom Swift, Jr. books as a kid.