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Fantasy returns to syndicationIt's been nearly seven years since the final episode of Xena graced the airwaves. Apparently, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert have experienced what one might consider to be a seven-year itch. Raimi recently inked a deal with Dinsey and ABC Studios to produce 22 episodes of a new fantasy series for syndication called Wizard's First Rule. The TV series will be based on Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth series of novels.
When Xena and Gabrielle faded to black in 2001, so did the heyday of first-run fantasy shows in syndication. And since my favorite warrior took her leave, I've been not-so-patiently waiting for my next chance to see such exploits each and every week. Naturally, upon hearing of this series and the two men who will produce it, I began having flashbacks to happier TV times.
I know absolutely nothing about Terry Goodkind and his little book series, so I did some surfing to learn about what I might get to see when this new endeavor reaches the air. Naturally, I was hoping for a warrior woman with a fiesty female sidekick, but I was not deluded enough to believe that I would be that lucky.
What I found was a tale of a boy with a sword, his mysterious female companion and a host of other intriguing folk. The tales in Goodkind's books follow a woodsman named Richard who meets a mysterious woman named Kahlan while seeking clues to his father's death. Richard and Kahlan proceed to have adventure after adventure in this fantasy world that includes powerful sorceresses and a fair number of sword-wielding ladies as well.
Now the question is, what will the dynamic duo of Raimi and Tapert do with this fantasy land? Is there any chance we'll get to see a strong woman or six who can lead, fight and love the way some of their previous creations could? And will a certain blue-eyed beauty make any appearances on her hubby's new show?
Submitted by on January 29, 2008 - 3:00pm. |
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Tapert's Touch
Very interesting, although I wish they'd do a Xena movie even more.
For those interested, I also heard there is a deal in the works for Steven Sears (writer Xena etc) to work on bringing Terry Moore's 'Stranger in Paradise' to the little screen.
YAHOO for Francine and Katchoo!!!!
Doesn't LL look like Christie Brinkley in that photo?
Dinsey and ABC??? yeah...
Dinsey and ABC???
yeah... no interest. Thanks though!
-Nathiest
live for lust die for love
No Lucy, no Renee....?
Love those creators of Xena, but...no lucy, no renee....no thanks! Don't we have enough boys with swords on TV?
Oh, and thanks for teasing us with the photos! That was cruel!!! ;)
--Mari
Mari SanGiovanni
Author of: Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer...
www.GreetingsFromJamaica.com
Bring the brunette back!
I loved "Xena", but I gotta say, Lucy Lawless just doesn't cut it as a blonde. If she went back to being a brunette again, she'd look better and maybe get more acting work. Let's see if Rob Tapert (her hubby) hires her for his new series.
Meh
I have read half of Goodkind's series but gave up when it became obvious that he caught Robert Jordan's disease of writing twice as many books as is needed. I don't really care for either of the main characters but it might be passable if they can get decent actors to portray them.
There are some really tough women characters in the books though and if my memory serves me correctly there is a lesbian couple, although I can't remember which books they are in, somewhere between books 1-4 anyway.
Lesbian Couple is in book three
Lesbian in Book 4 I think
So my heart just stopped when I read something about Terry Goodkind. I read the series and absolutely fell in LOVE with it. Love love love.
It's a series of a bunch of books (I think 9 or 10), and I'll admit the ones in the middle get really repetative and unnecessary. BUT the 1st, 4th, and final book are amazing.
As for lesbians, in the 4th book certain characters come forth as lesbians. And some stay in the series until its conclusion! There's actually a really funny scene in the fourth book concerning the lesbian couple.
Plus, Kahlan kicks ass!
I just hope they don't screw up some of my favorite books. Alas, I just don't trust ABC with the story...
Raina and Berdine
I read the first book when I was 13. It was probably the first fantasy book I'd ever read and I was hooked ever since. His first book is probably the best in the entire series and I think I've read it like 20 times at least, and demanded that most of my friends read it too :) Raina and Berdine are two lesbians together in the series, so there is some lesbian coverage in the series ;) Plus i have to say, the mordsiths will appeal to a few of the xena-loving fans out there...they're awesome and kick sooo much ass :)
Unfortunately I stopped reading after the 4th or 5th book as it felt like the series would never end a la Robert Jordan. Plus it got annoying that the main character was the focal point for almost everything.
But anyways, hopefully this tv show would rock...i'm sooo excited. It'd be like a childhood dream come alive on tv for me :)
I actually liked the
I actually liked the writing style, but i'm not too impressed with the book series. It seems like everything good and bad in the world happens to one character. It's all about Richard. Got a problem? Richard will solve it! Need some supposedly cool guy to knock the crap out of? Just ask for Richard!
All in all, it's not bad. It's just not great. And as for seeing Lucy Lawless in it... I dunno. I just can't visualize her as any of the characters. But that's just me.
i've never read the books
but i'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they make a good series out of that, although i would rather watch female leads myself and just looking at those xena pictures makes me miss two of my favorite heroines of all time. xena rules!
Will They Kill The Male Lead?
Not a Healthy Book for Women
I also read Goodkind's books as a kid (I'd forgotten the lesbian characters although it explains why I liked the first few so much as a kid) but what I remember is that I stopped reading them because it became VERY clear that Goodkind doesn't like women. That he in fact has some sick sexual views about them evidenced by the increasing amount of violence towards them which he masks by pretending to write about sex and control.
Given how his books protray women as either saintly virgins or dangerous whores I'm not at all excited about this news.
We might not see Berdine and Raina
I doubt the 22 episodes are covering any further than the first book, as the title of the show "Wizard's First Rule" indicates. So, we *might* see Berdine and Raina when they introduce us to the Mord-siths, but I doubt we'd get to see them in a positive light, much less in a friendly interaction with Richard.
Unless of course the show ends up to be a huge hit and we have many more seasons.
Hmm . . . I wonder what watered-down version we will get?
I don't think a lot of the available online stuff will reveal this, but there is a lot of rape/war/incest/blood-shed/sex in the book. A ton. If they want to go to series, they're going to have to water it all down quite a lot or make many things metaphorical the way Xena's producers did.
Also, nogoal4u, this is not a little book series. Epic, not little. Internationally recognized in over 20 different languages, not small. I think Terry Goodkind went for a second Wheel of Time a la Robert Jordan (may he rest in peace), especially since the books supposedly have "ended" on the eleventh book (and one novella, and one short story), but the author has stated that he will write books based in the same universe much like Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey and other fantasy writers did and still do. The books will never stop coming! Which means that if Raimi and Tapert play their cards right, they could have this series and its spin-offs going for decades.
Kahlan KICKING ASS!
So I've seen the first episodes of the series and i must say Kahlan KICKS ASS! I read the books when I was 15 or so and I liked it because there were a lot of strong women. I can put up with Richard as the lead, partly because the women of the series don't all fall in love with him, but its a little irritating when he saves the day all the time. There's actually a couple of lesbians in the books, one of them becomes very close to family with Kahlan and Richard. The woman who plays Kahlan is absolutely beautiful (i don't know her name) and she looks fierce in the fighting scenes wielding a couple of knives which she fights several men at a time with. I think I'll stick around to watch this one.
"Blackmail always works better then bribery."
The lead star killed this
The lead star killed this show for me, and everyone I believe? haha too bad.
-Nathiest
the devil is in the details
Yay!
Add a few Amazonian women to the plot and I'll be hooked. Otherwise, ummm... uhhhh... no.
How's this for new TV show though?!
Six mysterious Amazonian warrior women who lust, love, and fight throughout the show. The boy is actually the son of the leader, and the mysterious girl is his secret mentor from the tribe! (who happens to be bisexual, for more drama) Awesome, I'd watch that! Xena times seven! To make up for all those missed years...
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