Ok, so I just watched the first episode of a new series. Guess which?

[oneiriad]

It features a woman cop, who during her most recent murder case finds evidence tying in with her mother's murder a decade earlier and a mysterious inhuman figure who saved her life at the same time. Following the evidence, she meets a man, a doctor who joined the military and was part of a form of super soldier program, which turned out to have a minor side-effect: when his adrenaline starts pumping, he changes physically, turning into a raging monster. Now, he is pretending to be dead, while working on an antidote for himself and doing good, oh, and hiding from the secret government conspiracy looking for him.

So yeah, I'm still pretty much convinced the scriptwriters were developing a series based on the Hulk and did little more than change the names to suit the show they were supposed to be remaking...

Comments

[calvinahobbes]

My thought at the first paragraph: You watched Haven? *facepalm*

But oh you're totally right, it's really a Hulk story. Or, as I thought when I watched, a Jekyll/Hyde story.

I am just so so so disappointed in this Vincent in general? Like, I don't think he is attractive or a good actor? And then they go ahead and make him NOT cat!faced? IDK, like, what is the POINT of Beauty and the Beast if the Beast is not genuinely scary-looking at all times? (That is, I'm not sure I think Ron Perlman was ever scary-looking, but typically attractive Vincent was not.)

I haven't watched ep2 yet, I'm not sure I care.

[oneiriad]

As a matter of fact, I have watched Haven (well, the first season, anyway) and quite like it so far.

Well, the Hulk kinda is a Jekyll/Hyde story - or a werewolf story, really.

This show's approach to Vincent and his background seems to be basically trying to make itself as different from the original show as possible - no permanent Beast-form (I'll argue that Ron Perlman has the strange quality of looking better in monstrous make-up than without, but maybe that's just me), no mysterious origin, no World Below (I liked the World Below). Catherine's alright (apart from being played by Kristin Kreuk), tough woman cop (though why the need to make her a cop at all?) and plenty of interesting police extras. But Vincent... why? Change the names of Catherine and Vincent and nobody would even guess at this being a Beauty & the Beast remake, so why even bother?

Anyway, I think I'll watch ep2, as I've already downloaded it, but it'll have to be making some drastic improvements for me to go further than that...

[calvinahobbes]

I think Ron Perlman is dreamy no matter if they put him in wacky makeup or not :oP

The World Below was cool, why would you not want to include that?

Catherine IS alright, but it doesn't make any sense to make her a cop, especially when they then do such a poor job of writing anything resembling proper police procedure. They get a tiny pass for giving her a female partner, though.

But you're right, I don't understand the reboot impetus. Why market it as such? Because I don't think they're actually making this show for anyone who actually remembers the original! :oP

[oneiriad]

Considering it's being shown right after the Vampire Diaries, I think it's pretty clear what audience they are making it for. And as for the name, well, there is a fairytale craze currently (Once Upon A Time, Grimm, 15 versions of Snow White), so I suppose that explains that, though why CW would want to pay for the rights to remake something and then not, well, remake it, is beyond me. I mean, it's not like there isn't other fairytales about transformed princes with monstrous appearances and protective habits who wind up redeemed (Snehvid og Rosenrød, for instance?)

[calvinahobbes]

Welll, from a developer stand point there might be some merit to reusing as much as they want and not needing to worry about it? Versus inventing and branding an entirely new title? But yes, fairy tale craze is a good point.

[oneiriad]

But when you then turn the whole thing into science experiments and conspiracy theories instead of star-struck lovers and urban fantasy underground world, you just risk getting worse reviews than you'd otherwise get, since people will usually expect a touted remake to, well, be a remake, at least a little bit. Branding works both ways, after all.

Anyway, watched ep2 and I'm not bothering with any more - unless the internet suddenly explodes with rampant squee and I have to investigate, of course, but I kinda doubt it.

[katta]

(I'll argue that Ron Perlman has the strange quality of looking better in monstrous make-up than without, but maybe that's just me)

Definitely not just you.

[oneiriad]

Can we blame watching the original Beauty and the Beast at an impressionable age, do you think? :-)

[katta]

Absolutely. I have the hots for Hellboy, too. And I feel a bit guilty about that, because clearly Perlman is an awesome actor and I ought to have the hots for him as much as for his monster characters, but I just don't.

Btw, I was so surprised when I grew up and realized that Catherine/Vincent had been a chaste romance (well, until it wasn't), because I had been assuming that they were as coupley as any couple I saw on TV - you know, the Huxtables, Ma and Pa Ingalls... :-) I think C/V influenced my views of sff interspecies relationships for life.

[kabal42]

Is this the new Beauty and the Beast? Because yeah, that sounds like Hulk...

[oneiriad]

Yep, it's B&tB - though so far, the only similarities with the original show is in the names of the main couple. Vincent's nature and current surroundings, Catherine's career - all different. No World Below, no lion-man, no lots of things.

I'm actually quite serious about suspecting the scriptwriters of having wanted to make a Hulk series and adapted the script for that for this. Not that I think I'd have particularly liked a CW Hulk series, but, well...

And now I find myself in danger of getting nostalgic about the old series. Next thing you know, I'll be hunting down episodes...