Mockingbird Lane / Munsters remake.

This is the worst kind of blasphemy. Namely blasphemy against stuff I like.

On the other hand, Brian Fuller, Eddie Izzard and Portia de Rossi.

So conflicted...

Wiki sez

Yahoo news sez

It was going to be a tv series, but due to creative differences between Fuller and the network it's evidently been downgraded to a mft movie.

What say ye?

edited 11th Oct '12 8:59:03 PM by Eagal

I don’t see how it could possibly be worse than The New Munsters.

Okay, what have they done to the Munsters? It's like whoever did the makeup completely missed the point of the show. Now they look like everyone else!

I'm looking forward to this. Bryan Fuller grew up with the show, he came up with the idea to reboot it and approached NBC/Universal about doing it rather than vice-versa (source)—I feel like this reboot is coming from a very good place, has assembled a very strong cast, and as for the make-up—I feel like having them be normal-looking kinda grounds the show, so we're not sitting here wondering "Why isn't this a big deal to the government and stuff" and can focus on other things.

And I doubt it's gonna be too Darker and Edgier. Fuller's other macabre shows have a tendency towards sharp wit and emotional depth while still managing to be fairly lighthearted.

edited 24th Oct '12 10:11:24 PM by Wackd

But the whole joke was that the Munsters were the only people who didn't realize they were monsters. If they look like everyone else, what's the point of using the licence?

Because he wants to expand them beyond that one joke and add emotional depth, and because it'd be rather difficult to get people to take a dramady seriously where the characters look as they did in the original?

What got me was Fuller saying this: "And you have Herman, who is essentially a zombie, living in a constant state of decay, married to a woman who doesn't age." And put so bluntly—I mean, the show didn't explore that at all.

He also mentions at points that he feels like toning down the look and upping the emotional honesty is gonna make it much easier to accept some of the goofier things hes planning for the show.

That, and he wanted different takes on the characters so that it wouldn't feel like he was trying to replace or outdo the old guard.

So, far as I can tell, Munsters fans hate this.

Topless Robot led the charge in hating it, but has done a 180 in light of a chance to bash NBC some more.

Fans of Pushing Daisies are wondering why Fuller bothers writing for network TV (again).

And everyone else couldn't give one tenth of a crap.

I'm really looking forward to this, both as a Bryan Fuller fan and a Munsters fan.

Looks like it's not even going to reach the air. My local NBC affiliate at least is airing local Halloween stuff instead tomorrow.

That's pretty cold.

Oh god. Here's hoping I get it here.

Better check your programming guide for tomorrow.

Thank god! *wipes sweat from brow*

That was great. Drier than the original series but no less funny.

If I have one complaint Herman is all kinds of personalityless here.

edited 26th Oct '12 6:36:19 PM by Wackd

Pity it'll never go to series.

I think this is the fastest a Bryan Fuller series has ever died.

It's not a series. It was never a series, since it was never picked up. Many shows every year don't get past pilot stage. It's just very strange that we actually get to see a pilot that didn't go to series.

I have it on my PVR. I'll watch it later.

Apparently they sunk too much money into it not to air it.

Hopefully it got enough views tonight to get picked up.

I liked it too. I was dubious, being an Addams Family fan, and never having been much of a fan of the original Munsters (I really hate the Bumbling Dad and Lovable Idiot tropes). Changing Herman from a Lovable Idiot Bumbling Dad to a guy trying to reconcile his weird family with the outside world, and being an outsider himself, works very well. And the makeup is quite good. Herman has a large stitch encircling his neck. Grampa is a vampire, and thus should look fairly normal, his oddity primarily being a way of acting. Ditto Lily and Eddie.

There's still a (very slim) chance that it could go to series. NBC still has the option to do so until January. It will all depend on what kind of ratings and reception last night's broadcast end up with. Personally, as a Fuller fan with no real affection toward the original series, I rather enjoyed it. It certainly had its issues-Herman and Lily didn't really have much personality, while Marylin didn't really do a damn thing; also, way too much Mood Whiplash, trying to jump from dark and gory right to lighthearted comedy and back again-but these sort of things could definitely be fixed in the long run if given the opportunity. I know it's not very likely, but I'm still willing to hold out some hope.

It wasn't really that dark and gory. To me, it was very tongue-in-cheek about itself. I really enjoyed it a lot, from the set design, to the special effects, to the total weirdness factor it had. I really want this to be continued, be it in the form of a tv series, new Halloween specials per year or even a movie.

Grandpa is the best character.

edited 27th Oct '12 7:47:39 AM by primeyandereheika

So was Beth Grant's character (Marie) meant to be the same Marie she's played in those other two Bryan Fuller shows?

Muffin Buffalo, ride on!

Oh, and before I forget: I loved everything except for Portia de Rossi and maybe O'Connel. I thought it was iconic, twisted, spritely and very, very gay. Obviously it was brilliant.

edited 27th Oct '12 8:29:32 AM by Nicknacks

According to Fuller's Twitter—yes, yes it was.

Fuller's got plans to bring in the original Eddie Munster as MBL!Eddie's scoutmaster, depict the building of the Dragula, and bring in modern versions of other Universal monsters for visits. If this doesn't go to series and Community doesn't air in a reasonable amount of time, I just might have to do nasty things to NBC headquarters.

edited 27th Oct '12 10:53:23 AM by Wackd

They better not change the design of the Dragula, or they'll have the Rob Zombie fans against him, too.

It got a 1.5, 5 Million viewers.