T.V SERIES: IDEAS, IDEAS, IDEAS!

A particular classic book, story, movie, or even a cartoon creation spawns out a whole new creation; a successful T.V series and I mean live action, not animated. For example, from the 1960 psychological thriller Psycho came the

currently running series, Bates’ Motel (2013 to present). Thomas Harris’ books Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal & Hannibal Rising have movie adaptations and now a prequel series,

simply called Hannibal (2013 to present) starring Hugh Dancy as Will Graham, Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Lecter and Laurence Fishburne as Jack Crawford- Graham’s (and much much later Clarice Starling’s) superior.  There’s the series about fairy tale characters (Snow White, Prince Charming, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Rumplestilskin, Red Riding Hood, etc) who are all stuck in the modern real world thanks to a curse by the Regina the Evil Queen a.k.a Snow White’s stepmother; Once Upon A Time, now going into its fourth season. 

There was also the little remembered 1992 movie that later evolved to the supernatural series Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (1997- 2003) plus its spin-off Angel (1999-2004), a 1996 T.V movie which brought about the Australian series McLeod’s Daughters (2001-2009), Stephen King’s The Dead Zone (2002- 2009) based on his 1979 novel (it already has a 1983 movie adaptation), a 2001 Australian series about a very notable Oliver Twist character, Escape of the Artful Dodger, which picked up from where Oliver Twist left off and the one everyone’s currently raving about (based on

the DC comic character Green Arrow) Arrow which began in 2012. 

As a person whose had more than enough of her share of books, movies and series which turned out to be disappointments I’m really impressed at how the T.V world seems determined to keep its status by getting new ideas despite the debut and now popularity of web series. The ones I’ve seen so far is Venice: The Series, The Inn and Beacon Hill; all very good and well written. 

What kills soaps’ rating these days are bad story lines, unnecessary characters, drastic change of a character and bad pairings. I stopped watching Days of our Lives after the end of the Bo Brady and Carly Manning story line then moved on to One Life To Live but alas... it ended up cancelled! So I made do with telenovelas which- trust me-  are  lot more satisfying  than American  soaps and past and present T.V shows I was able to come across; Desperate Housewives (2004-2012), Criminal Minds (2005 to present), Sex & The City (1998-2004), Alias (2001-2006), Prison Break (2005- 2009) and  Once Upon a Time (2011- present).  

With more T.V series being introduced these days, examples being Homeland, 

  a Sex & The City prequel The Carrie Diaries and the upcoming prequel of Batman Gotham, there are so many ideas for even more T.V series- from old movies and books. 

One good idea for a T.V series  would be one based on  a movie I remember very well; the 1984 The Never Ending Story of the young warrior Atreyu and the boy who read the book itself, Bastian. The movie was adapted from Michael Ende's novel of the  same name and apparently deviated too far from the book so probably  The Never Ending Story T.V series could make up for that by following its original concept. I for one hated the part 3; it was more comic than adventurous. 

Another good idea for a T.V series would be from the Harry Potter books. Not about Harry himself ( we fans would rather let the adult Harry have a peaceful life) but a prequel about Voldemort's life as Tom Riddle, until his  evolution to the Dark Lord and the various people he encountered and destroyed along the way; the season's final episode would naturally be the night the curse meant for Harry rebounding on him! (People, why not???) 

If Superman, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, The Flash and now Batman  can have a T.V series each, why not a live action T.V series Dare-Devil? Back in 1989 there was the T.V movie The Trial of The Incredible Hulk which was meant to be a backdoor pilot for a Daredevil series since it featured Matt Murdock/Daredevil who acted as David Banner's defense lawyer after he is arrested for murder and they both go against the Kingpin. But the idea was scrapped and years later after several animated series came the 2003 film where Murdock/Daredevil was played by Ben Affleck. 

Or... 

How about a live action series about  Ghost Rider? And why not, Ghost Rider's dark, supernatural tones plus the fact that Ghost Rider is an anti-hero(es) would made it a great series with high ratings, depending on the writing. 

Another idea  I can think of is Stephen King's The Dark Tower books; the series of course would be about the central character,  Roland Deschain; the  mysterious Gunslinger and his quarry, The Man In Black. I've read three out of the eight books and I honestly feel it deserves to be adapted for T.V. 

Like I said earlier, a lot of possibilities! 

New Batman series... GOTHAM

It’s really amazing how a lot of comics have moved from movie adaptations to T.V now. There’s been God knows how many film adaptations of Superman; the most notable T.V adaptations being Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

(1993-1997) which was more on Clark & Lois’ professional and personal relationship (Superman a secondary character but still important in the series) and Smallville (2001- 2011), about Clark Kent’s life before formally assuming his identity of the Man of Steel. 
 Of course back in the day there was the 1978-1982 The Incredible Hulk starring the late Bill Bixby

 (before its later 1988,1989, 1990, 2003 & 2008 movie adaptations),

Wonder Woman (1975-1979) starring Lynda Carter (its movie adaptation yet to come) and The Flash (1990-1991) starring John Wesley Shipp; who by the way will play a role in the new Flash T.V series- not a revival- but a spin off of Arrow.

Wolverine’s the most popular of The X Men so I won’t be surprised if he’s given a T.V series any time soon. If so, it would probably be in serious competition with this upcoming one.

The Superman franchise got the T.V series Smallville; now Batman is to have one too, simply titled Gotham. Gotham’s focus- so I heard while researching a Batman animated movie I watched recently (Batman: Year One) - will be on James Gordon’s (to be played by Ben McKenzie) early days as a police officer before eventually becoming Commissioner.  His first case after joining Gotham police department would be to solve the senseless murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents- Thomas & Martha- and from then on battling Gotham city’s other criminals and villains and probably a few bad eggs in the police department itself; from what I saw in Batman: Year One. And of course the focus would also be on young Bruce Wayne (to be played by 13 year old David Marouz) and his life after his parents’ death (which he never exactly got over) and long before assuming his eventual alter-ego; befriended by Gordon and fiercely protected by his legal guardian, best friend and butler- Alfred Pennyworth who will be played by British actor Sean Pertwee (son of the late Jon Pertwee; best known as the third incarnation of Doctor Who). Thank God the entertainment industry has improved so much that it’s not going to be anything like that campy Batman series which starred Adam West! No offence to the actor or the producers, considering I still watch and enjoy past Bond films like The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Goldfinger, but really... watching that series on LTV years back was a real effort.  The boys and I really preferred reading the comics and don’t get us started on the theme song!

Of all superheroes, Superman remains my favourite but I’m really excited about Gotham; I think it’s because Bruce Wayne’s background story and all the Batman stories have always been gothic in tone which makes it all the more popular fascinating to watch or read and like Smallville, we’ll get to see the hero as a boy; except of course Clark’s life wasn't tragic like Bruce’s.

In Gotham, James will be partnered with Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue). What I remember of that character is a big mouthed fatso with a fedora who irritated me very much and their superior will be Captain Sarah Essen (in the Batman comics she and James were partners, had an affair which ended his marriage to Barbara, later married James and then was murdered by the Joker, but of course that story continuity must have been rebooted by now) played by Zabryna Guevara, and it will feature villains Bruce will rumble with after he becomes the Dark Knight:  Harvey Dent(much later Two Face)- adult or child-I don’t know, Selina Kyle  (much later on Cat Woman), forensic scientist Edward Nygma (much later The Riddler) and Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin and to this day I prefer Danny Devito’s dark and deformed incarnation in 1992’s Batman Returns). I would very much like to see how The Penguin is going to be portrayed by Robin Lord Taylor because of all of the villains in the Batman stories, apparently The Penguin is the only one not insane or psychotic- I don’t remember reading any story about him being thrown into the Arkham Asylum until I watched the 2005 animated movie Batman vs. Dracula, where he and the Joker broke out of the place to find stolen money. The Joker is also going to be featured of course but I don’t know if he’ll be made Thomas and Martha’s killer or not. In the 1989 Batman movie adaptation Batman, it was revealed via flashback that he was the shooter but according to the Batman story arc in the comics, the killer was a mugger called Joe Chill. And to my surprise, Jada Pinkett Smith is going to play Fish Mooney; a villain I haven’t heard of before but with her superb acting skills will surely be a very interesting character.

I really hope Gotham will be a huge success.

YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY!

No matter the huge amount of calories, trans fat and whatever; we are prone to indulging in food that makes us fat; mostly those savoury spicy dishes and  sweet, creamy and sugary deserts and savoury foods  which smells so good and looks so eye catching that we simply can't resist them! But if they are going to make us fat; especially when eaten often, why do we eat them at all?
Well, why not? Food is there to eat for one thing and these days, especially in a country like mine where everyday is a struggle to out food on the table, coping with different kinds of people all the time, one just has to kick back and give oneself a culinary treat once in a while. What makes such  food fall under " guilty pleasures"... besides the amount of calories we're stuffing into our mouths , they are also pricey stuff we can barely afford. But all the same  in spite of  those two flaws, we do indulge them all the same. After all, who can resist!

Mostly indulged here:

SUYA: meat seasoned with various spices, groundnuts and onion; made an sold by Hausa street vendors or in fancy clubs or restaurants.

CHINESE FOOD: It's not to everyone's taste but it's a lot more popular these days as they are now included in most parties' menus and with more chinese restaurants being established.

DONUTS:  Unavoidable even with the sugar!

ISI EWU: The traditional Igbo dish made of goat's head and seasoned with  native spices, pepper & thick sauce (and yes spicy), you'll find this heavily indulged by patrons of beer joints!

ICE CREAM: (especially Blue Bunny) Pricey but what one cannot do without!

MEAT PIES: Next to donuts, the most bought snack in most fast food joints; more than enough to fill your stomach if you missed breakfast or lunch.

PEPPERED CHICKEN: The best of these are found at any branch of Tasty Fried Chicken; pricey... but oh so worth it!

BLACK FOREST CAKE: Chocolaty, Creamy and irresistible even to the  dieters among us!

SHAWARMA : Really Really popular here;  so much so that meatpies have somehow taken a back seat .Beef, chicken, sausage and even vegetarian... it's a guilty pleasure gladly bought often.

PRINGLES :

Ah... not only a guilty pleasure, but a very addictive one! No matter the flavor; you tell yourself just a few and save the rest later but you can't! You eat more and more of these delicious potato crisps, even though they are loaded with calories, and immediately long for more!