This episode, THRILL as Nick and Tim discuss the reasons why writers find rebooting a series attractive! GASP as they enter into the realm of comicdom in hopes of answers! SHUDDER as they encounter just a few modern Reboot examples! SOAR with an extended Take on Tales!
It's not just a podcast, it's Podcast 2.0!
Download
Show Notes
Loading the player ...
Great episode as always guys. Normally, I’ve experienced the reboots of a series before the original. For example, I got into Doctor Who thanks to the David Tennant episodes of the new series. Once I caught up with all of the episodes, I went back and rented some of the old episodes of the classic series. I appreciate both, though my wife doesn’t like the classic series.
ReplyDeleteBack when I was a teenager, I started reading DC Comics post the Zero Hour series. It worked out nicely, because various comic series had their own reboots or new heroes jumping into classic roles. I especially loved The Legion of Super Heroes with its sci-fi setting. Ten years later, long after I fell out of the loop with comics, I found out they rebooted the series again for a third time! I thought that was a bit too soon.
I’d check out EVA, but my sister would kill me (she hates the series with the fire of 1,000 suns). So, I guess I’ll have to watch both FMA series to see an anime reboot.
Tim- I’m with you on the Spiderman films. The third movie had its issues, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t interested in a fourth film. There was a chance that it could’ve turned around.
Nick- I really want to try Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. I have the first game, but I didn’t finish it due to all of the math puzzles. Are there as many in Unwound Future as there are in Curious Village?
Oh man, we covered adaptations and reboots and I never got around to talking about the FMA animes! They're unique in that they're both great series, despite their story differences. I'll have to bring that up in a future episode.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Spider-Man, it's funny to me how Hollywood has a trilogy mindset when it comes to blockbuster series. I think I'm okay with fourth or fifth parts as long as they can keep it entertaining. Now, I don't think that's often been the case, but I think the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie looks fun and a lot of people would have written that off by now. And I really think a Spider-Man 4 could have tied up a lot of the issues between Peter and Mary Jane that were left hanging at the end of the third film. C'est la vie.
And I don't know if Nick has played Professor Layton and the Curious Village, but I would take anything he says about math puzzles with a grain of salt. I mean, the guy does bookkeeping for a living and *enjoys* it. ;-)
Oddly enough (or not so oddly), my wife doesn't like classic Who either. Alas!
ReplyDeleteAs for Professor Layton, I haven't played the earlier games, but there are still plenty of math puzzles. As Tim suggested, these are actually the ones I find easiest, most of the time. When in doubt, turn the 6 upside down to make a 9. ;-) I'm one of those strange hybrid writer/math-lover.
Nick
Nick- At least I know I’m not alone in the “Wife hates Classic Who” department. My guess is that there’s something off putting about Tom Baker’s face.
ReplyDeleteI think you’re also one of the first math loving writers I’ve ran into. I’m always afraid I’ll run into a situation like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS-0C8ink7M
I guess if the math questions get too frustrating I can call my wife for help.
Tim- Another anime reboot I’d love to check out would be Astro boy. I think it’s been rebooted a few times with a new series and a new movie. I’m just behind in my anime watching. Once the semester is over, I’m hoping that I can catch up on all I’ve missed.
Pirates 4 doesn’t bother me like I thought it would. With mostly new characters, they can bring a fresh storyline without having to introduce Jack to the audience
I have SO many comments to leave on this episode, and I haven't even finished it yet!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge, longtime Trekker. When I saw the new movie, I didn't like it because it didn't feel like a true reboot. By that I mean that it was a completely new story, but they also tried to tie it to the original continuity. That drove me nuts, although I loved everything else. I had to watch it again to appreciate it for what it was.
"One More Day" was the dumbest thing Marvel's ever done. I've been boycotting new Spider-Man comics ever since. If I ever get to write for Marvel, the first I'm going to do is ask if I can write for Spider-Man to fix that mistake. It was completely out of character for Peter Parker to, more or less, make a deal with the devil to keep Aunt Maye, who's 10,000 years old by now, alive. If they didn't want them married anymore, why couldn't they just have them get a divorce? Can't come up with good stories for a married Spider-Man? Sounds to me like they're just not creative enough.
FYI: I've heard some comic writers say they could have Clark Kent wake up one day and have his marriage to Lois to a dream.
(Yes, I did see "Nemesis"! It was all right. It could've been so much better if the director had included more of the plot they filmed).
I saw the original "V" miniseries. The first one is excellent, but the second one takes a nosedive in quality 2/3 through. I hear the short-lived series it spawned was bad. Anyway, while the new show keeps the same concept and situations and ideas, it moves many of them around and changes details. The aliens' motivations are different. The aliens don't wear lifelike masks to appear human, they actually graft human skin to themselves. The aliens were more like Nazis in the original, but in the new show they operate more like Islamic terrorists. Both work well, but I find myself liking the new one more. It has more depth, not that the original was shallow.
I haven't seen any of the new "Neon Genesis Evangelion," but after reading you guys talk about it, I want to see it more. I swear, our mutual friends, Joe and Keith, just showed it to me to watch my reactions.
Did you know that you can watch "Memento" in chronological order on the DVD? Just look for something on the menu that says, "Otnemom." I doubt it's as good as watching it normally.
ReplyDelete"Superman Returns" wasn't a reboot...not really. It was a sequel to the Christopher Reeve movies.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, Superman is a great character. I agree with you wholeheartedly, Tim.
I'm having a nerdgasm just thinking about Mark Hamil and Leonard Nimoy playing foes.
ReplyDeleteAh! Nate, I just discovered your latest profusion of comments. Sorry we hadn't responded before; I think we mention in our latest episode (premiering today!) that we tend to get rather behind in checking things here. Now that our schedules should hopefully be a bit more regular we'll also hopefully be able to respond more quickly. In the meantime, just a few quick responses here:
ReplyDeleteKnowing very little about V, that's interesting to hear how they updated it. Seems fitting that portrayals of villains in entertainment change to reflect the real-life villains of the day.
I've heard that you can watch Memento in chronological order, but I've never tried it. You're right, it's probably not as good, but it'd be an interesting experiment. Nick and I used to joke about seeing a version of Lost in chronological order, but that'd be way too confusing to be very enjoyable. ;-)
I would call Superman Returns a reboot in the sense that it picked up on a film series that had laid dormant for many, many years. Besides that, I believe the director treated the franchise as if Superman III and IV had never happened, which means it did rewrite some things. It was a noble effort, but I still maintain it was undercut by the implication of Superman as a dead-beat dad. But that's a discussion for a different thread. ;-)