The plot synopsis reads: Dracula arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier but falls hopelessly in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.
They've also cast Dracula: Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Source here:
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3155609/tv-nbc-orders-dracula-series-already-announces-new-count/ (http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3155609/tv-nbc-orders-dracula-series-already-announces-new-count/)
Last part makes it sound dodgy, but for the most part, not bad.
Cyber-bullying alert!!!
I already hate it. Especially since this probably means "Dracula: Year Zero" won't happen.
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 25, 2012, 05:54:38 AM
Cyber-bullying alert!!!
I already hate it. Especially since this probably means "Dracula: Year Zero" won't happen.
HOW DARE YOU DISAGREE WITH ME!
Though Year Zero probably would've been better...
From this synopsis, I have derived one thing: Someone decided that they should remake Dark Shadows. But since Dark Shadows has to be a comedy, they decided to change the plot a bit, set it in London, and replace Barnabas Collins with Dracula.
I will give it a shot. Sounds like it might be pretty cool. With as much monster related movies and tv shows that seem to be hits now, it is a shame they did not try to reboot the 90's version of Dark Shadows at this time.
Quote from: Type3Toys on July 25, 2012, 09:23:17 AMI will give it a shot. Sounds like it might be pretty cool. With as much monster related movies and tv shows that seem to be hits now, it is a shame they did not try to reboot the 90's version of Dark Shadows at this time.
They were going to reboot it for The CW in, what, 2004? A one-hour pilot was shot with Blair Brown as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard and a bunch of no-names as the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, it never aired and the series was axed.
That may be fortunate since it has also be called a bit of a disaster. But if it happened, it surely would have been more true to the intent of the original than the Burton feature.
Quote from: aura of foreboding on July 25, 2012, 06:37:37 PM
That may be fortunate since it has also be called a bit of a disaster. But if it happened, it surely would have been more true to the intent of the original than the Burton feature.
I've been told by those who've seen it that it's basically the Twilight version of Dark Shadows.
Quote from: Big Bad Wolf on July 25, 2012, 06:56:38 PM
I've been told by those who've seen it that it's basically the Twilight version of Dark Shadows.
"Dark Shadows" WAS "Twilight" before "Twilight" was "Twilight"! A reluctant, cursed vampire, trying to rekindle a romance with his reincarnated love? C'mon, it WAS a soap opera, after all. But, Dan Curtis and his writers were smart enough not to mess or change vampire lore in the series. And they made Barnabas an original character. They didn't take Dracula and try to shoehorn him into a format that is contrary to his nature, as NBC is doing.
Also, the unaired CW "Dark Shadows" pilot was made a full year before "Twilight" was first published.
Quote from: Big Bad Wolf on July 25, 2012, 12:45:46 AM
The plot synopsis reads: Dracula arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier but falls hopelessly in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.
They've also cast Dracula: Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Source here:
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3155609/tv-nbc-orders-dracula-series-already-announces-new-count/ (http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3155609/tv-nbc-orders-dracula-series-already-announces-new-count/)
The people who would have caused Vlad Dracul so much grief centuries earlier, would be the Turks. So why is he in England?
Quote from: Haunted hearse on July 25, 2012, 08:31:56 PM
The people who would have caused Vlad Dracul so much grief centuries earlier, would be the Turks. So why is he in England?
Pure speculation on my part, but, perhaps because the people behind this aren't very creative or terribly bright?
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 25, 2012, 07:54:04 PM
"Dark Shadows" WAS "Twilight" before "Twilight" was "Twilight"!
I hope you slam your manhood in a car door for saying that. ;D
Quote from: Scatter on July 25, 2012, 10:10:50 PM
I hope you slam your manhood in a car door for saying that. ;D
It was a daily occurance until the leg straps and braces arrived.
But, facts are facts. It was a soap opera. Barnabas was a sex symbol for bored housewives and teenaged girls. Just like Edward Cullen. Only, Barnabas didn't wear a purity ring, and his attempts to refrain from drinking human blood were usually futile (except when he was being "cured"). It was the "Twilight" of its time, the major difference being that it didn't seek to neuter its characters. And, it was good.
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 25, 2012, 07:54:04 PM
"Dark Shadows" WAS "Twilight" before "Twilight" was "Twilight"! A reluctant, cursed vampire, trying to rekindle a romance with his reincarnated love? C'mon, it WAS a soap opera, after all. But, Dan Curtis and his writers were smart enough not to mess or change vampire lore in the series. And they made Barnabas an original character. They didn't take Dracula and try to shoehorn him into a format that is contrary to his nature, as NBC is doing.
Also, the unaired CW "Dark Shadows" pilot was made a full year before "Twilight" was first published.
Well,
Dark Shadows kept the horror elements intact. There was much more of a balance there.
Twilight just shoved all that aside in favor of the soap operatic stuff. On top of that,
Twilight is extreme shallow and looks-oriented, and has zero respect for what came before. I dunno why I'm pointing that out, that should be obvious, but my point is the original
Dark Shadows didn't do that, but the CW pilot
did do that. Everyone there was a typical CW prettyboy or diva, the gothic elements were gone in favor of "hip" and "modern" stuff, and it was an overly shallow version of the
Dark Shadows story.
Yeah,
Twilight was published after the pilot was made, but the point of the comparison is not so much that
Twilight was an influence, but rather that the pilot was just generally similar to the lame wussified version of vampires and horror that
Twilight has become the main symbol of. And keep in mind, I'm not the one who made the comparison. I'm just saying, I've seen others call it that.
And of course, like you said,
Dark Shadows was actually good, so aside from maybe the popularity and the swooning over a vampire, I wouldn't call it the
Twilight of its time.
Twilight is...well,
Twilight.
But anyway, back on topic...As for NBC's Dracula, I'll give the first few episodes a shot depending on how good they are, but I'm just as concerned as you are. This tendency to make Dracula more like the Edwards and the Bills of today's vampire fiction is troubling (and there is a tendency, as seen in books like
Dracula: The Un-Dead and
Dracula In Love). Some romantic overtones don't always hurt, but when the horror is removed, there's a problem. I hope that this show doesn't forget his horror roots, or else we may have to deal with the possibility of a wussified Dracula going mainstream.
Quote from: Big Bad Wolf on July 25, 2012, 10:43:19 PMBut anyway, back on topic...As for NBC's Dracula, I'll give the first few episodes a shot depending on how good they are, but I'm just as concerned as you are. This tendency to make Dracula more like the Edwards and the Bills of today's vampire fiction is troubling (and there is a tendency, as seen in books like Dracula: The Un-Dead and Dracula In Love). Some romantic overtones don't always hurt, but when the horror is removed, there's a problem. I hope that this show doesn't forget his horror roots, or else we may have to deal with the possibility of a wussified Dracula going mainstream.
Elaine Bergstrom's "Mina: The Dracula Story Continues" and "Blood to Blood" were earlier attempts to castrate Dracula. Jeanne Kalogridis' "The Diaries of the Family Dracul" weren't nearly as bad, although I wasn't thrilled by the changes she made to Van Helsing. (Also, the family name would be Draculescu, not Dracul.) Dracula was pretty amped up in Kim Newman's first two "Anno Dracula" novels, but that's alternate-history stuff (which I quite enjoyed, though).
"Dracula: The Un-Dead" did more harm to Dracula than an ocean of holy water or a forest of wooden stakes! The fact it was embraced by Elizabeth Miller forever topples her as the self-proclaimed queen of all things Dracula!
I USUALLY give shows like this 3 episodes to win me over. Honestly, I will be watching this with such a critical eye, Episode I had better be "The Walking Dead"-calibre!
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 25, 2012, 11:11:47 PM
Elaine Bergstrom's "Mina: The Dracula Story Continues" and "Blood to Blood" were earlier attempts to castrate Dracula. Jeanne Kalogridis' "The Diaries of the Family Dracul" weren't nearly as bad, although I wasn't thrilled by the changes she made to Van Helsing. (Also, the family name would be Draculescu, not Dracul.) Dracula was pretty amped up in Kim Newman's first two "Anno Dracula" novels, but that's alternate-history stuff (which I quite enjoyed, though).
"Dracula: The Un-Dead" did more harm to Dracula than an ocean of holy water or a forest of wooden stakes! The fact it was embraced by Elizabeth Miller forever topples her as the self-proclaimed queen of all things Dracula!
I USUALLY give shows like this 3 episodes to win me over. Honestly, I will be watching this with such a critical eye, Episode I had better be "The Walking Dead"-calibre!
I just can't stand how many people go
out of their way to try and say "Stoker was totally wrong about everything" even though
he created Dracula in the first place. That's the thing that killed
Dracula: The Un-Dead the most for me. All the changes they made, the Dracula castration; all of it was made worse by the fact that they included Stoker as a character and went out of their way to say that
his take on the events was wrong. That killed the whole book for me.
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 25, 2012, 11:11:47 PM
Elaine Bergstrom's "Mina: The Dracula Story Continues" and "Blood to Blood" were earlier attempts to castrate Dracula. Jeanne Kalogridis' "The Diaries of the Family Dracul" weren't nearly as bad, although I wasn't thrilled by the changes she made to Van Helsing. (Also, the family name would be Draculescu, not Dracul.) Dracula was pretty amped up in Kim Newman's first two "Anno Dracula" novels, but that's alternate-history stuff (which I quite enjoyed, though).
"Dracula: The Un-Dead" did more harm to Dracula than an ocean of holy water or a forest of wooden stakes! The fact it was embraced by Elizabeth Miller forever topples her as the self-proclaimed queen of all things Dracula!
I USUALLY give shows like this 3 episodes to win me over. Honestly, I will be watching this with such a critical eye, Episode I had better be "The Walking Dead"-calibre!
I had heard of Dracula: The Un-Dead back when it was first announced, but forgot about it and have honestly never heard of it since. So I read the synopsis on Wiki. Wow. Talk about cliche overkill. There's nothing
official about that at all.
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 25, 2012, 10:37:32 PM
.................... it didn't seek to neuter its characters. And, it was good.
Then, by definition, it wasn't "Twilight". ;)
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 25, 2012, 10:37:32 PM
It was a daily occurance until the leg straps and braces arrived.
You strap your manhood to your leg? With metal braces? You're my hero.
Quote from: aura of foreboding on July 26, 2012, 12:56:50 AMThere's nothing official about that at all.
It was an official desecration of a classic.
I'll say I'll give it a chance, until I hear that Dracula is going to "sparkle" and drink tomato juice because the powers that be decide that killing people and drinking their blood might make the hero look bad.
Quote from: Zackuth on July 26, 2012, 11:49:11 PM
I'll say I'll give it a chance, until I hear that Dracula is going to "sparkle" and drink tomato juice because the powers that be decide that killing people and drinking their blood might make the hero look bad.
He won't sparkle, but he drinks Bosco Chocolate Flavored Syrup.
Regarding this show, this is what Jay Leno had to say on the "Tonight Show"; "Just what NBC needs, another show that sucks!"
Quote from: Haunted hearse on July 27, 2012, 04:10:40 AM
Regarding this show, this is what Jay Leno had to say on the "Tonight Show"; "Just what NBC needs, another show that sucks!"
Says the guy that ruined his network's 10pm lineup to stroke his own ego. Not that he probably isn't right, though.
Quote from: Count_Zirock on July 27, 2012, 06:29:40 AM
Says the guy that ruined his network's 10pm lineup to stroke his own ego. Not that he probably isn't right, though.
Yes, NBC bore no reponsibility there, because the Exec's were under Leno's incredible mind control powers. I understand it all began at a board meetinig when he told them to look deeply into his chin.
Why do you think Danny Roebuck didn't want to wear the fake chin? The chin is evil! EVIL, I tells ya!
I'm not sure how evil Leno is. When he was in "Big Bad Beetleborgs" he was actually what kept Frankenstein's Monster, Wolfman, and Dracula from being evil!
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss267/Baronscrypt666/Addams%20Family/jay-leno4.jpg)
Hope this show is Good!
I loved Big Bad Beetleborgs! :D I wrote all sorts of comics about it when I was in Kindergarten!
Must twilight be referenced every time a vampire movie or tv show gets released. We must stop this immediately.
Quote from: twilitezoner on August 02, 2012, 12:09:22 PM
Must twilight be referenced every time a vampire movie or tv show gets released. We must stop this immediately.
It is rather puzzling that Twilight is referenced so often with regards to Vampires, since I can't recall a single episode of "Twilight Zone", which included any vampire characters.
Quote from: Haunted hearse on August 02, 2012, 01:44:43 PM
It is rather puzzling that Twilight is referenced so often with regards to Vampires, since I can't recall a single episode of "Twilight Zone", which included any vampire characters.
It's silly people who can't tell the difference between TZ and Night Gallery. ;)
Quote from: aura of foreboding on August 03, 2012, 08:09:06 AM
It's silly people who can't tell the difference between TZ and Night Gallery. ;)
Because there were Vampires in Night Gallery! Of course they didn't sparkle, which when you consider that the show aired in the Disco era, shows the lack of artistic vision that Rod Serling had.
There hasn't been any news regarding this in awhile, so maybe they've axed it already?
Off with its head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's the only way to kill a vampire... tv show.
Quote from: aura of foreboding on January 03, 2013, 01:05:49 AM
Off with its head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's the only way to kill a vampire... tv show.
Another way is to call it a reboot of the Munsters TV show.
Quote from: Haunted hearse on January 03, 2013, 03:17:25 PM
Another way is to call it a reboot of the Munsters TV show.
Grandpa's Place. Except Grandpa Munster is now a neo-goth who looks 25 and sparkles.
Quote from: Scatter on January 04, 2013, 01:12:06 AM
Grandpa's Place. Except Grandpa Munster is now a neo-goth who looks 25 and sparkles.
Hahaha :D cl:) Zombie LOL
Well, they have cast their Mina Murray. Her name is Jessica de Gouw. Also, for anyone interested, the synopsis suggests some...interesting changes.
Basically Count Dracula is posing as an American entrepreneur named Allen Grayson, who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. What he's really after, however, is revenge against (presumably the descendants of?) the people who wronged him centuries earlier. This is complicated when he falls in love with Mina Murray, who seems to be the reincarnation of his long dead wife.
It's also been said that after the first season (if it lasts that long) it'll stray from the basic skeleton of the book and do its own thing.
Source: http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/jessica-de-gouw-lands-female-lead-on-nbc-drama-series-dracula/ (http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/jessica-de-gouw-lands-female-lead-on-nbc-drama-series-dracula/)
Honestly, I think the whole reincarnation thing is overdone. It wasn't part of the book, so why is it constantly included in new Dracula-related material? I mean, I know where it comes from (Dan Curtis recycling an old Dark Shadows subplot for his Dracula movie started it off) but still, why must it be shoehorned in every time? It got real old real fast IMO.