Creepshow (TV Series)

[bassman]

Greg Nicotero has announced that he’ll be producing a television series based on Romero and King’s Classic Creepshow! http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/the-...-tv-series-284 "Creepshow is a project very close to my heart!" said Nicotero. "It is one of those titles that embraces the true spirit of horror… thrills and chills celebrated in one of its truest art forms, the comic book come to life! I’m honored to continue the tradition in the ‘spirit’ which it was created.” Set to debut on the Shudder network in 2019. I can’t think of anyone more fitting to bring this concept to TV!

[JDP]

This sounds like something that works well in TV format (there are many examples of cool TV horror anthologies: Night Gallery, Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, Tales from the Crypt, etc.), but unfortunately they are planning on broadcasting this on a subscription "video on demand" network, rather than a regular one. The show would have a much wider audience and be more successful if AMC broadcasted it on their regular network, like TWD.

[beat_truck]

After how things have gone with The Walking Dead, I can't really blame anyone for not wanting their show to be on AMC.

[bassman]

Being on a subscription service will also probably give them more artistic freedom, as well. Besides, subscription is the way all of tv is heading these days. I definitely wouldn’t want it on AMC. They were amazing in their heyday with Breaking Bad, Mad Men, early TWD, etc., but they’re a shell of their former selves at this point. Nicotero will be directing the first episode, likely more if the show is successful, but hopefully he can get respected genre directors involved for other episodes. Savini would seem to be a logical choice, as well. With Nicotero spending a majority of his time in Georgia with TWD, I’m hoping this show will set up shop here, as well. Definitely trying to get on that show!

[MinionZombie]

Sounds cool, and yep, makes sense to avoid AMC for this one. So much corporate-inflicted bullshit going on behind the scenes is directly leading to the downfall of my favourite show and it sucks big time. While all these disparate services with their own monthly subscriptions (it all adds up!!!) are quite annoying, I agree with bassman that it'll likely afford Nicotero & Co a lot of creative freedom. Great to see Creepshow back in the hands of people that care about the franchise and respect it, too!

[EvilNed]

Really good news. I used to subscribe to Shudder before they denied any credit cards issued outside the UK and US.

[bassman]

After the talk of the Shudder VOD service, I thought I remembered that it was also a regular cable network. I went to check, found my memory was deceiving me, but then also saw this: Shudder is an over-the-top subscription video on demand service featuring horror, thriller and supernatural titles owned and operated by American cable television network AMC So Creepshow won’t be completely free of AMC’s practices. Hopefully they won’t tamper with it...

[JDP]

After the talk of the Shudder VOD service, I thought I remembered that it was also a regular cable network. I went to check, found my memory was deceiving me, but then also saw this: So Creepshow won’t be completely free of AMC’s practices. Hopefully they won’t tamper with it... That was my point when I said "if AMC broadcasted it on their regular network", not on their "on demand" one. Since the show is really not "AMC-free", just go ahead and broadcast it to a wider audience in the regular network that most people know and already have in their cable service. Do you seriously think that TWD would have been nearly as successful as it is if it had been broadcasted on an "on demand" network? I don't think so! You would exponentially increase your audience for the new Creepshow show if you featured it on the regular network.

[MinionZombie]

Ah... Well, even if it's a subsidiary, it'll have its own staff of executives and so on, which should provide a different atmosphere in which to work. FX is owned by 20th Century Fox, as are many other things, but you see different entities under the same roof producing different material. Fox Searchlight makes different movies to 20th Century Fox, for instance. Yes, the point about the viewership is valid, but evidently they want to go with Shudder as it's a different model and market, and perhaps Shudder is looking to boost itself into bigger things. If you get more creative control in return for that smaller audience then that's a decision that can be - and has been - made. It's about finding the right home for the right thing. Ash vs Evil Dead could have had a much bigger potential viewer base if it had been on a major channel, but they would have given up a huge amount of control not to mention they would have had to censor themselves a hell of a lot. I'm assuming that Shudder have fewer restrictions on content compared to the AMC channel?

[bassman]

While it could potentially lower the viewer numbers, it wouldn’t be by a huge margin. These days, subscription services are the norm for TV content, so it’s not considered as detrimental as it would have been ten years ago. Subscriptions like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu have all had their own exclusive content that has been phenomenally successful. Stranger Things being a good example of something somewhat similar in genre, exclusive to subscription, and is just as huge as it would have been on a TV network back in the day. And as said before, being on the subscription service also provides them with more freedom as far as time, content, and ratings. So in the end I think it’s the right move. There’s just the fear that AMC may meddle with things, but hopefully this subsidiary company will prevent that from happening. Plus Nicotero has now made a name for himself in producing and directing, so that should also give him more clout with what he can do with the material.

[EvilNed]

As someone who works with film and TV-production; Sometimes it's not about numbers. My guess is that AMC wants to promote Shudder in order for it to compete with Netflix. While ratings are certainly welcome, and expected, it is not the sole reason for this show being greenlit. In order to make your channel or subscription service stand out among the myriad of others you're going to have to produce some unique content. Netflix does it all the time; Netflix is great with unique content. But Shudder hasn't produced that much - at least not last time I was a member. My guess is that AMC has reached a point where they're willing to promote Shudder to a greater extent than before. Part of that promotion is producing unique productions - which is a stepping stone to having a wide unique library of shows that only Shudder members can access. There's two sides to that coin. One is that more content gets produced, which is good. The other side is that the content - unfortunately - does not end up being as good as it could be. Because the end, quality is secondary to the primary reason (stated above).

[JDP]

Regarding the content: unless Nicotero plans to go ballistic on the gore, nudity and/or foul language, I don't see much of an advantage by making this an "on demand" show. The censors seem to allow AMC to get away with a lot of stuff that you don't see much of in other networks. TWD is certainly quite gory for a network show. But is Creepshow going to be more graphic than TWD??? If Nicotero is planning on staying true to the Romero-King Creepshow movies, the gore and explicit content should not be excessive. Those movies were well-balanced regarding graphic/explicit content. Enough to keep the stories cool and interesting for horror fans, but without sacrificing other content and thus making them just about mindless violence.

[bassman]

With Nicotero at the reins we have a pretty good indication that the feel of the show will be similar to Romero and Gornick’s two films, but I’m really curious to hear who all will be penning the scripts. While there isn’t a panel for the show at SDCC, there’s a good chance we might get some more tidbits from Nicotero throughout the weekend.

[shootemindehead]

So long as it as it isn't shit, like those 80's 'Twilight Zone' wannabes, I'll watch. TV is a little bit more "on the nose" now and I've a certain amount of faith in Nicotero. So, here's hoping.

[blind2d]

Yay, looking forward to this! Just hope I'm able to watch, as I don't really do TV anymore...