Rumor? D&D movie issues resolved and a TV series in the works?

[Umbran]

It worked with shows like "The Twilight Zone" and "Tales from the Darkside".

Note how we now do not have "The Twilight Zone" or "Tales from the Darkside"?

Anthology shows don't give any particular actor enough work, so they have to mix anthology work with other work, and then the scheduling (and occasional exclusivity clauses) become hairy.

There might be more luck using the (now more common) 12-episode season.

 

[The Black Ranger]

Note how we now do not have "The Twilight Zone" or "Tales from the Darkside"?

Anthology shows don't give any particular actor enough work, so they have to mix anthology work with other work, and then the scheduling (and occasional exclusivity clauses) become hairy.

There might be more luck using the (now more common) 12-episode season.

Yes but what would essentially be the difference between shows who have a different cast every episode and one that has a few return every episode while everyone else is different?

 

[Zaran]

Here is to hoping John Rogers will produce the show. He isn't doing anything since Leverage finished right?

 

[gweinel]

It could be done, but just because someone could be done, doesn't mean it will be.

Black Mirror is an experimental and risky show from a channel which is partially publicly funded and has a mandate (for that funding) to make experimental and risky shows.

US Network television does not like experiments or risk. Pay channels are a bit more open, but I've not seen anything quite that risky.

I'm interested to know what "good stories from the D&D tradition" you're thinking of, though, which are they? I think if you went for a "dungeon horror" kind of angle, that could be cool actually. Staying away from heroism, focusing on deadly traps, backstabs, horrifying undead/monsters (Aboleth could be great and done cheaply), and so on.

On the first part i agree. Even if the rumor is true i don't find it likely to follow this path.

As for stories, I can see an episode regarding Strahd, the story of Lord Soth - two episodes: the first at Dragonlance and the 2nd at Ravenloft. A nice story is an adaptation of Nameless One story at Planescape setting and again regarding Planescape, the Pages of Pain is great for adaptation. It would be a hell of story the "Homeland" of Drizzt. A more detective - fantasy-noir would be a story at Sharn-Eberron. A glatiator-like episode with desert and psionic feeling would take place at Dark Sun. In general if the episodes are based on the story of the characters and the atmosphere maybe the budget would not be too high.

Dungeon horror can be too tedious if many episodes have this as a main feature as another poster said, but I could see a dungeon crawl underdark-Night Below episode (or two).

 

[Hussar]

True, a "Tales of DnD" might work.

How about a True Dungeon style reality show?

 

[variant]

Note how we now do not have "The Twilight Zone" or "Tales from the Darkside"?

Anthology shows don't give any particular actor enough work, so they have to mix anthology work with other work, and then the scheduling (and occasional exclusivity clauses) become hairy.

There might be more luck using the (now more common) 12-episode season.

They also don't fit with what is considered good television nowadays. Within the last few years television has set a bar for storytelling much higher than it has ever been with shows like Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Walking Dead, etc

On the first part i agree. Even if the rumor is true i don't find it likely to follow this path.

As for stories, I can see an episode regarding Strahd, the story of Lord Soth - two episodes: the first at Dragonlance and the 2nd at Ravenloft. A nice story is an adaptation of Nameless One story at Planescape setting and again regarding Planescape, the Pages of Pain is great for adaptation. It would be a hell of story the "Homeland" of Drizzt. A more detective - fantasy-noir would be a story at Sharn-Eberron. A glatiator-like episode with desert and psionic feeling would take place at Dark Sun. In general if the episodes are based on the story of the characters and the atmosphere maybe the budget would not be too high.

Dungeon horror can be too tedious if many episodes have this as a main feature as another poster said, but I could see a dungeon crawl underdark-Night Below episode (or two).

Absolutely nothing from Planescape could be adapted, the amount of CG work would be impossible on a TV budget. Anything from the Underdark would also be impossible for the fact they couldn't find the filming locations needed.

Also, why would anyone outside of people who play D&D want to watch that?

 

[gweinel]

They also don't fit with what is considered good television nowadays. Within the last few years television has set a bar for storytelling much higher than it has ever been with shows like Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Walking Dead, etc



Absolutely nothing from Planescape could be adapted, the amount of CG work would be impossible on a TV budget. Anything from the Underdark would also be impossible for the fact they couldn't find the filming locations needed.

Also, why would anyone outside of people who play D&D want to watch that?

Pages of Pain that I mentioned take place in the labyrinths of Lady of Pain. I think it could be the most cheap episode. As for the Underdark there are couple of films (Descent) that were filmed underground which are not considered expensive.

I think that with a proper adaptation dnd has pretty good stories (in comparison with other semi-fantasy tv series), have rich variety regarding the visual part (underground, deserts, gothic etc) and many of them have a kind of twist. In ravenloft for example, you can make a story in which the bad guys win, also the Planescape stories are not so straightforward and can be more than the good vs evil theme.

The dnd tradition and themes are so vast that can be eclectic in which story/setting/feature adapt into film. On the other hand I think if they choose the path of "Legend of the Seeker" they will fail. Even I I could not see the series. It was boring to see the same "good heroes vs bad evil empire". The modern tv series offer a more darker thematology that is full in the plot twists. I think fantasy and dnd have the qualification for such adaptation.

 

[GX.Sigma]

The D&D show doesn't need to be the next Game of Thrones. It needs to be the next Adventure Time.

 

[The Black Ranger]

What could you do with a D&D television series that another show hasn't done?

Really, the only thing I could see them doing would be to start at the beginning and create a base from scratch. Don't use anything that is already established. I would start by creating a brand new realm and allow the audience to grow along side it instead of it being a place that already exists from one of the books.

 

[Greg K]

Except for people who play D&D, that would be very boring and repetitive.

It would be boring to a lot of people that play D&D as well.