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Mac

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Mockingbird Lane
« on: October 14, 2012, 10:16:51 am »
Mockingbird Lane - NBC

Oct 26th... Munsters reboot

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Watch the magical first trailer for Bryan Fuller’s probably doomed Munsters reboot, Mockingbird Lane

The fate of Bryan Fuller's TV reboot of the classic sitcom The Munsters, titled Mockingbird Lane has been up in the air. A couple of weeks ago, various sources had reported that NBC had dropped the project entirely, but Fuller himself said Mockingbird Lane wasn't quite dead. Now it looks like NBC won't be picking up it up as a full series, but instead plans to air the pilot as a Halloween special, airing October 26th. It's a shame, since the trailer is filled with Fuller's visual magic.

We've had some concerns about the look of Mockingbird Lane ever since we saw the rather ordinary cast poster. But man, wouldn't I watch a show where piles of rats occasionally turn into Eddie Izzard. Sure, Jerry O'Connell's Herman Munster doesn't have neck bolts, but there are a lot of striking visuals on display.

Fuller wrote and produced the pilot with X-Men: The First Class' Bryan Singer, and according to Variety, there were disagreements between the two about the show's ultimate design. NBC execs also reportedly weren't on board with Fuller's attempt to recreate the feel of Pushing Daisies. And Fuller, for his part, has Hannibal, his other big TV project, to focus on.

This may sadly be another case of a beautiful Bryan Fuller project left underwater, but hopefully the pilot will prove fun. And if it does, there is always a chance that NBC could put the show back on Grandpa's slab and jolt it back to life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDmHcG8vq6Q
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Mac

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2012, 03:06:01 pm »
This was atrocious. No... horrible. No... so incredibly stupid I can't even imagine kids like this.

It came on early and we were making dinner. But I did pay attention. Not only was it stupid, it was odd. Just a very weird vibe. Hard to explain, but nothing that interested me.

I now know why the studio didn't go beyond this 'pilot' episode. If they did their homework, I'm sure they would have found audience reviews less than pleasant.

Afterward, I read some news the studio may consider it for a series.
TV Guide:
NBC's Mockingbird Lane enjoyed a respectable premiere Friday night. The expensive pilot-turned-Halloween special was watched by 5.44 million viewers and earned a 1.5 in the key adults 18-to-49 demographic. Unfortunately, Kitchen Nightmares' premiere only earned a 0.9, down from last season's premiere (1.6).

commentary

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While Tim Burton was busy remaking Dark Shadows on the big screen this year — and what a disappointment that turned out to be — another '60s cult item, the horror parody The Munsters, was getting a lavish reboot from Burton's TV counterpart Bryan Fuller, whose Pushing Daisies remains a fantastical benchmark of blending the whimsical and the macabre into a dazzling visual smorgasbord.

The result, reported to have cost NBC in the neighborhood of $10 million, is one of the weirdest hybrids of the comical and eerie in quite some time. The hour-long pilot of Mockingbird Lane (Friday, 8/7c), a monster mash of a hot mess, is being burned off as a Halloween special, with the very faint chance of being resurrected Frankenstein-style if the ratings show any juice. If this were to somehow miraculously go to series, I'd probably watch every episode, from morbid curiosity alone. But this is not going to be everyone's, or possibly anyone's, cup of hemlock.

Visually, it's a treat, with director Bryan Singer (House) bringing colorful panache to Fuller's fertile imagination with moments of bizarre bliss: the opening full-moon attack on a pack of scouts that turns into sadistic slapstick, or a sequence in which the dead-glamorous Lily Munster (Portia De Rossi) is clothed in a shower of bugs and creepy crawlers the way Cinderella used to be tended to by chirping birds. You're not likely to confuse Mockingbird Lane with Once Upon a Time, let's make that much clear. "The circle of life is a violent place," we're told, in case you were expecting The Lion King. (The news is even worse for the Bambis of the world.)

It's the tone, though, that could really give you nightmares, as it veers awkwardly from the cheerfully silly to the sappily sentimental and ultimately sinister without blinking an artificial eye. The casting is mostly on point, with Eddie Izzard an unnervingly desiccated Grandpa, whose "drinking" problem involves sprouting giant wings and a feral bat face, and Jerry O'Connell a stitch (with visible neck and chest scars) as Herman, whose literal "bleeding heart" as a well-meaning dad is as thuddingly obvious a metaphor as little Eddie's unusually hairy and toothsome form of puberty.

But let's not mock Mockingbird Lane or kill a Mockingbird. Instead, celebrate its audacious oddness while we can, even for just one night.
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Chiprocks1

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2012, 03:09:04 pm »
So this isn't a series but a one-off Halloween Special? I didn't even know it had aired already.
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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2012, 03:33:26 pm »
Well they are 're-packing' it. It started off as series, something happened and nothing beyond the pilot was made. They decided to not make a total loss and packaging this as Halloween Special.

See what they did there.  :-\
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Chiprocks1

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2012, 09:51:16 pm »
Well, I just added this to my Queue on Hulu. Will check it out tomorrow after I score a bag of Crystal Meth dipped in BlackTtar rolled in a Fatty. You know, to lessen the pain of watching this. Wish me luck.
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Mac

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2012, 04:09:46 am »
Yea, let us know what you think. Maybe it was a bad night to stop sniffing glue.
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Chiprocks1

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2012, 09:50:36 pm »
Mockingbird Lane (Pilot/Halloween Special)




This wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. But the Pilot/Halloween Special was half baked and under-cooked. It really didn't have anything compelling to hook a viewer and it definitely was NOT what I would call a Halloween Special of any sort. To me it came off as a rush job just to make a deadline with no thought to a story with a beginning, middle and end. If this is the only episode, it's not something I'd miss. Having said that, there is a lot of potential here if they can do a 'monster of the week' arc or something that has a well-thought out narrative. The first thing you have to do when watching this is immediately put the original TV series out of your mind and just go with this version of the characters. You can't top the original, so it's pointless to try and do it the same way. With the modernization of The Munster's it can work in the long run and where I can see the potential for some new on TV.

Watching the Pilot, I was very impressed with the Special FX. Really impressed. This is some of the best FX on broadcast TV right now and I was also surprised at how graphic the show was for a prime-time audience. Not that I care. Just pointing out that I'm use to shows on NBC being watered down.
« Last Edit: October 29, 2012, 09:52:10 pm by Chiprocks1 »
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2012, 04:13:13 am »
For 10 million it better have looked good.
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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2012, 01:20:26 pm »
"Mockingbird Lane" Officially Dead At NBC

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Bryan Fuller, creator/executive producer of NBC’s "Munsters" reboot "Mockingbird Lane," says the project is now officially dead.

He revealed on Twitter the other day: "I tweet with a heavy heart. NBC not moving forward with #MockingbirdLane. From producers and cast, thank you all for enthusiasm and support."

Work on the project began two years ago and, after some delays, a $10 million pilot episode was shot in June with Bryan Singer directing.

Though visually stunning, the network didn't think the concept worked. To offset the cost, they aired it as a Halloween special in October where it pulled in an average 5.4 million total viewers.

Further scripts were written, but now the NBC heads have made the final decision not to proceed. Fuller will now turn his attentions to other projects, including the currently filming straight-to-series "Hannibal" on the same network.
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Chiprocks1

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2012, 01:25:33 pm »
I had high hopes for this.








Not.
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.

Chiprocks1

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Re: Mockingbird Lane
« Reply #10 on: December 30, 2012, 04:52:01 pm »
Since this is official cancelled. Moving to TV's Greatest Hits and Misses.
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Michael Scott To Meredith: "You've slept with so many men, your starting to look like one. BOOM! Roasted! Go here.
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