MTV Is Developing a Series Based on Scream!…??…!!!!…?
The Idiot's Lantern
Man alive, if I was ever more gloriously confused by a headline than I was by this one, I can’t remember when it was. MTV, who has been delving into scripted territory with shows like Teen Wolf, has announced that it’s developing a series based on the Scream movies. The franchise was successful when it hit theaters in the late ’90s, then tried making a comeback last year with a new sequel (which was awesome, but no one saw it). So, here’s the question: Is this a good idea? Or the best idea? Or is it only the best idea if we pretend it’s 1997?
In case we’ve only just met, I’m Jamie, and I’m a passionate, passionate fan of the Scream movies. However, as an adult who follows the entertainment of today, 2012, I realize that a movie that was a big hit in the 1990s that tried and failed to make a comeback (much to my dismay) might not be the most logical choice to adapt into a series. But there’s still a little part of me that thinks “Jeez, it’s about time someone thought of this!” That little part of me is still living in the blissful glory days of my last two years of high school.
Anyway, regardless of whether or not this is a good idea, it’s at the very least a comfort to know that MTV is choosing a scripted project as opposed to another ill-advised reality show about people who make questionable decisions in front of TV cameras. It’s even better that they’re looking into another horror-inspired series, in the vein of Teen Wolf, which was clearly meant to satisfy some of the Twilight crowd (and not the older crowd who remember the original Teen Wolf, who was Michael J. Fox surfing on a van in broad daylight, damnit). And I’ll even go as far as saying this might be a pretty cool idea for a series, if they concentrated 13 episodes on a series of murders that ended with a killer (or killers) finally being revealed, then starting anew in the next season with a new killer.
The problem with this whole thing: Scream was a parody/homage of the horror movie genre. No matter how many pop culture references were made, it was always about the movies. And that’s something very important about using the name Scream when trying to make a TV show out of it. Will every episode pay tribute to a different horror franchise? Will the classic horror genre be ignored completely in favor of a generic murder mystery with the Ghostface killer? Will it merely take place in Woodsboro and allude to the original characters, then go off on its own and bypass the whole mythology? This is where I start to worry a bit, because you can’t have Scream without the rest of the horror genre backing it up, nor can it really ever be about anyone but Sidney Prescott and her crazyass family.
There aren’t a lot of details about this show just yet, and the original Scream team of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson don’t appear to be involved. As of now, we know it will be produced by Tony DiSanto and Liz Gateley, who are former MTV executives, and there is no writer for the pilot yet.
All we know for sure is that it won’t have Randy Meeks in it. That alone is enough for me to have my doubts.
(TV Line via Flavorwire)
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
