What TV series related to the "Matter of Middle-earth" would you prefer to see?

[trappedslider]

A show in which the estate points out what can and can't be used in various media with fan reaction.

 

[Parmandur]

Why not?

I don't have a copy of the LotR at hand, but I'd imagine not more than a few sentences from the appendices actually made it into this show, and they were made into an entire season of television. Why is Tolkien's writing in the Silmarillion stories less worthy of embellishment?

It's precisely because so much of this is original that it can be spread out more easily: to follow those more detailed stories makes that more difficult. Rings of Power only needs to keep a few bullet points in place, whereas Beren and Luthien has a complex story to tell, bit big enough that a movie might be too small, but specific enough thst five seasons would be too much.

See also, The Hobbit. A story that has been adapted comfortably in 90 minutes stretched to nearly ten hours.

Put another way, Rings of Power is working largely because it is essentially an original story that goes into what happens off-screen in Tolkien, an adaptation of a detailed short story stretched out causes problems.

 

[Parmandur]

One alternative take: the big headliner stories in the Silmirillion take place in about a 60 year timespan: a little timeline compression, have Beren, Luthien, Turin, Tuor and company all running parallel and intersecting.

 

[Parmandur]

OK, looking st the timeline again, starting a show with The Dagor Bragollach in 455 First Age, and ending with Earendil's journey to Valinor in 542 First Age and time compressing all the events in between and eluding a bit to create more interconnections between the threads over the seasons would work well.

 

[Lidgar]

Angband, all done in ASCII characters.

More seriously, a series around the first age and the eventual defeat of Morgoth would be my pick.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

In fact, for Bombadil I was thinking either Saturday morning cartoon or family sitcom: "Goldberry, I'm home!"

Children's cartoon would seem appropriate, since he was inspired by a toy.

 

[billd91]

Yeah, the problem with TV and Hollywood adaptations of popular fiction is the writers and producers think they can do a better job of telling the author's story than was originally done. It always seems like a cynical attempt to cash in on the popularity of the original work. Otherwise, if the original work is seen as having value other than popularity, why not adapt it faithfully?

Mostly because a lot of TV and Hollywood screenwriters actually CAN do a better job of adapting a print author's story for the screen. Not everyone can, but I seriously doubt Tolkien would have done a particularly good job of writing a screenplay or teleplay.

 

[reelo]

Mostly because a lot of TV and Hollywood screenwriters actually CAN do a better job of adapting a print author's story for the screen. Not everyone can, but I seriously doubt Tolkien would have done a particularly good job of writing a screenplay or teleplay.

That might be true. But a story like "The Children of Húrin" is, in its written form, sublime. But it is an epic tragedy in the Greek sense. The story of a family —father, mother, son, and daughters— that are utterly crushed by Morgoth.
And while the relatively small focus and limited cast of characters (Childhood of Túrin, Túrin in Doriath, Túrin among the outlaws, Túrin in Nargothrond, Túrin in Brethil, Death of Túrin) would lend itself perfectly for a trilogy of movies or a series, I can't help but think that whatever screenwriter —or worse: producer— would feel compelled to contrieve a happy ending for one or more of the characters, not understanding that it would negate the entire premise of the tale.
Maybe a graphic novel would be better...

 

[Parmandur]

That might be true. But a story like "The Children of Húrin" is, in its written form, sublime. But it is an epic tragedy in the Greek sense. The story of a family —father, mother, son, and daughters— that are utterly crushed by Morgoth.
And while the relatively small focus and limited cast of characters (Childhood of Túrin, Túrin in Doriath, Túrin among the outlaws, Túrin in Nargothrond, Túrin in Brethil, Death of Túrin) would lend itself perfectly for a trilogy of movies or a series, I can't help but think that whatever screenwriter —or worse: producer— would feel compelled to contrieve a happy ending for one or more of the characters, not understanding that it would negate the entire premise of the tale.
Maybe a graphic novel would be better...

I mean, we are currently watching a show that features 6 different cultures all headed for absolute catastrophe, 2 of whom already experienced it (the Southlanders and the Harfoots). Amazon, at least seems ready to set up absolute tragedy already.

 

[reelo]

I mean, we are currently watching a show that features 6 different cultures all headed for absolute catastrophe, 2 of whom already experienced it (the Southlanders and the Harfoots). Amazon, at least seems ready to set up absolute tragedy already.

Have you read the Children of Húrin?