Good Idea or Bad? Looking at various sci fi and fantasy television projects currently in the works and pondering whether they will fly or crash.
What Is It? The much-beloved original animated series follows three kindergarten-aged girls–Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup–who are given superpowers by their creator/father and who use those to protect the city of Townsville and the world. A live-action reboot of the series is currently in development at The CW, and Variety gives the following description for the project:
In the updated version of the series, the titular superheroes are now disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?
What Is in the Works? Heather Regnier (Sleepy Hollow, iZombie) and Diablo Cody (Juno, United Staes of Tara) are onboard as writers and executive producers with uber-producer Greg Berlanti attached as well. It is currently in the early development stages, likely working towards a pilot that the network will review in Spring. If picked up, it would probably join The CW’s schedule in the Fall of 2021.
Good Idea or Bad? The original Powerpuff Girls was a unique piece of magic that arrived on TV screens in the late ’90’s and delighted viewers young and old. The animation style definitely drew some inspiration from Japanese Anime, but still managed to create a vision all its own. The episodes had plenty of action for kids, cultural references and sly humor for older viewers, and it could even be somewhat subversive at times as well. But overall it delivered a well-loved cartoon series that appealed to all ages and that has stood the test of time.
A live-action reboot that checks in on the girls when they are older and somewhat disillusioned is an interesting premise and could work in the right hands. But it will walk a razor-thin line right from the start, and it would be difficult to carry the concept as an ongoing series. As a limited series on one of the streaming services or premium cable channels with less network oversite, perhaps it could be pulled this off. But it is headed to The CW which means we know exactly what we will get: pretty faces and lots of angsty drama with plenty of copy-and-paste dialogue and stories.
I appreciate that The CW has been a haven for genre shows on the broadcast networks, and I have enjoyed what the network has done with the Arrow-verse, Supernatural, and other shows. But the fact is that even those suffer from The CW way of doing things and that a little of them goes a long way. A live-action Powerpuff Girls will get funneled through the same tired formula and will almost certainly recycle plots (and dialogue) we have already seen from other shows on that network. This does not sound like an inspired idea to reinvent classic characters, but rather just another money-grab trying to cash in on a well-known franchise. And even if there was some inspiration behind it, that would almost certainly get squashed by the network machine. I count this as a very bad idea.
Notable Facts: The Powerpuff Girls first debuted on The Carton Network in 1998 and was created by Craig McCracken. The characters originally appeared in the cartoon short Whoopass Stew! which McCracken produced while still a student at CalArts. They were later included in the animation showcase program What a Cartoon! and were eventually picked up to their own series. The show proved quite popular and ran until 2005 for a total of six seasons with 138 segments. During that time, a Powerpuff Girls movie was released which acted as a prequel, going back to when the girls first received their superpowers. In 2016, an animated reboot of the series debuted on Cartoon Network with different voice actors for the lead roles. It was not as well-received as the original, but still lasted three seasons and 122 episodes.
Do you think that a live-action reboot of The Powerpuff Girls is a good idea or bad? Chime in with your comments below.
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Bad idea put this show on Cartoon Network instead not The CW