Let the pain wash over you: Classic Lit Edition

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**Ahtman**

Tom Sawyer to be turned into modern day Lawyer show.

CBS’s insatiable need for legal dramas and detective shows has driven it into the public domain, with the network giving a put pilot order to Sawyer & Huck, a modern-day adaptation of Mark Twain’s famous characters. The show will star Tom Sawyer as a down-on-his-luck attorney, Huck Finn as his childhood-friend-turned-private-investigator, and the collective will of a million fans of American literature, psychically screaming in pain.

Sawyer & Huck is being developed by Drop Dead Diva creator Josh Berman, and will see its title characters as “adults in modern day America at a time that harkens back to the racial and class divides that inspired Mark Twain’s books.” (Because only by turning Huckleberry Finn into a cool, bad-guy punching private gumshoe can the national healing begin.)

I'm sure one of you is responsible for this.

**Alpharius**

Who knows - it might actually be...OK?

**Frazzled**

Can an entire planet face palm?

**Alpharius**

Best to wait until you actually watch it before doing that.

**Ahtman**

Alpharius wrote:
Who knows - it might actually be...OK?

Maybe. I mean Elementary turned out ok, but that doesn't mean either weren't silly ideas prima facie.

**Sigvatr**

Oh, look, a series hopping on the PC bandwagon.

**Relapse**

Perhaps one too many viewings of "League of Extrordinary Gentlemen" icrossed with "Sherlock " is to blame?
One wonders who the series villains will be and how they will be updated for the series if they are from literature. The mind reels with the possibilities...

**generalgrog**

If they had it set in the 19th century, it could have potential..but putting it in the 21st century?

GG

**Alpharius**

ELEMENTARY and SHERLOCK do just fine, set in the 21st century...

**generalgrog**

Alpharius wrote:
ELEMENTARY and SHERLOCK do just fine, set in the 21st century...

But we don't need another do we?

**Gitzbitah**

I don't think Tom Sawyer was ever accused of being a Sherlock Holmes- and if he was, he probably put the accuser up to it. This isn't a tale of a genius, it's a tale of a charming grifter.

White Collar, or Suits would be a much closer analogue than any Sherlock Holmes derivative. I hope N-word Jim becomes N-word Pimp, and is one of Finn's primary street contacts. This has the potential to be like that slew of 90s teen Shakespeare adaptations, like 10 Things I Hate About You.

**Alpharius**

I don't think anyone's saying Tom's turning into Sherlock, are they?

I think they're just saying stories brought forward from 'then' into 'now' can work out OK.

**Ouze**

Never enjoyed those books. I'm a very fast reader and anything written in dialect slows me down so much that it's a very irritating experience for me - I generally avoid anything written in an accent. I'm sure I'm a poorer person for not having enjoyed this American classic.

**Hordini**

I'm not saying this is going to be good, but I much prefer this treatment of a Mark Twain book, that is, trying to make it into a television show, as opposed to trying to ban it.

**Breotan**

What city are they setting this in?

**Frazzled**

Ahtman wrote:
Alpharius wrote:
Who knows - it might actually be...OK?

Maybe. I mean Elementary turned out ok, but that doesn't mean either weren't silly ideas prima facie.

The difference is that this sounds like it has absolutely nothing in common with the actual Mark Twain characters

**Alpharius**

Not to be too short with you but...so what if it doesn't?

It might be worth watching, it might not.

I'll wait until actually....watching it before passing judgment!

**Frazzled**

Nah. I don't think I've watched a network show in years.

**Relapse**

Frazzled wrote:
Ahtman wrote:
Alpharius wrote:
Who knows - it might actually be...OK?

Maybe. I mean Elementary turned out ok, but that doesn't mean either weren't silly ideas prima facie.

The difference is that this sounds like it has absolutely nothing in common with the actual Mark Twain characters

Kind of like the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies raping the t.v. series for the name, but not being anywhere near what it was.

**sebster**

Ahtman wrote:
Alpharius wrote:
Who knows - it might actually be...OK?

Maybe. I mean Elementary turned out ok, but that doesn't mean either weren't silly ideas prima facie.

"Remember dearest, everyone thought Jesus Christ Superstar was a stupid idea."
"Jesus Christ Superstar WAS a stupid idea."
"True."

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Sigvatr wrote:
Oh, look, a series hopping on the PC bandwagon.

How in the actual feth did PC get dragged in to this? PC has as much relation to this as fething dragons.

"Oh look, another series that's ignored the important cultural heritage of dragons." There, I made your quote a lot more relevant.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Relapse wrote:
Kind of like the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies raping the t.v. series for the name, but not being anywhere near what it was.

The first 30 minutes of the first movie was fairly Mission Impossible. Then the rest of the team got whacked and we were left with Tom Cruise running a lot for like 4.5 more movies.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Frazzled wrote:
Can an entire planet face palm?

Not without knocking itself out of its own orbit, no.

**VorpalBunny74**

I hope Huck is a loose cannon (that gets results)

**Graphite**

I hope he tricks other people into shaking down a fence.

**Frazzled**

Relapse wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Ahtman wrote:
Alpharius wrote:
Who knows - it might actually be...OK?

Maybe. I mean Elementary turned out ok, but that doesn't mean either weren't silly ideas prima facie.

The difference is that this sounds like it has absolutely nothing in common with the actual Mark Twain characters

Kind of like the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies raping the t.v. series for the name, but not being anywhere near what it was.

Er no more like IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING SAMUEL CLEMENS WROTE ABOUT HUCK FINN AND TOM SAWYER.

**Graphite**

Are you sure it has nothing to do with Tom Sawyer as written by Mark Twain?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sawyer,_Detective

**Frazzled**

Graphite wrote:
Are you sure it has nothing to do with Tom Sawyer as written by Mark Twain?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sawyer,_Detective

Interesting.

**Relapse**

sebster wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Relapse wrote:
Kind of like the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies raping the t.v. series for the name, but not being anywhere near what it was.

The first 30 minutes of the first movie was fairly Mission Impossible. Then the rest of the team got whacked and we were left with Tom Cruise running a lot for like 4.5 more movies.

After that first one, I happily missed out on all the others.

I'm going to have to look up that Tom Sawyer Detective book now. If it's anything like his Sherlock Holmes story, it'll be a hoot.

**Elemental**

My first suspicion is that this started life as a generic crime drama, and the Tom Sawyer thing was grafted on at the last minute to try and make it stand out.

**Ahtman**

Graphite wrote:
Are you sure it has nothing to do with Tom Sawyer as written by Mark Twain?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sawyer,_Detective

That is mentioned, and linked to, in the article in the original post. Of course people would have to actually read the link about the subject to know that.

**Frazzled**

Ahtman wrote:
Graphite wrote:
Are you sure it has nothing to do with Tom Sawyer as written by Mark Twain?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sawyer,_Detective

That is mentioned, and linked to, in the article in the original post. Of course people would have to actually read the link about the subject to know that.

"Reading's for chumps."
Bill Shakespeare