TV 'Arry Pottah

[Mentalist]

Even in an alternative universe where JK kept her big mouth shut and didn't put a two ton millstone around this things neck, there is still no reason for this to exist artistically.

Not only does it look like an uncanny version of what Christopher Columbus already did stylistically with the first two films, it's been reported that this is going to have the same insane prestige TV release format as everything else; meaning that by the time they are done, the actors playing Harry, Ron and Hermione are going to have mortgages and the flash forward scene at the end will be the only thing that doesn't seem off.

The casting of Snape is just baffling as well. It's just going to be a magnet for chuddies to scream endlessly online and the actual implication within the books as written does not welcome a race swap WHATSOEVER so that will almost certainly have to be rewritten extensively. The poor guy playing him has had literal death threats that have been taken seriously enough for them to turn the filming sets into a security fortress. Doesn't bode well!

The casting seems fine otherwise I guess? Nick Frost as Hagrid makes a lot of sense (and I'm glad he isn't trying to do a Coltrane impression), and Lithgow is obviously very good in everything, although he is 80 and this is going to go on for what seems like the next 15 fucking years at the pace they're talking about (unless the compress filming and stagger release?) so yeah... The kids seem fine. I'm sure they went through 20k auditions to get that right and all.

Anyway, the films had to chop up the books quite a bit, and sometimes egregiously, but I've read them. There isn't anything THAT amazing in them that deserves a series format to flesh the missing stuff out. I refuse to believe anybody needs to see the Grawp chapters filmed in their entirety.



Then again, this is the current top comment on the trailer so what do I know!

The only reason this could be HALF-decent is if it cleaned up the stupid shit that didn't work in the books instead of just filming it all more faithfully, but I doubt JK would ever have allowed that so yeah, this doesn't need to exist.

Also, what is up with the CHRISTMAS 2026 release date?! - I guess they want to film a bunch ahead or something but as I said before, the prestige TV nonsense is still going to be here with 2 year waits between "books" so these kids will literally be in their late 20's when this is done lol.

Good news for the executives and the online whiners though. I'm sure they will make a killing off this!

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

That's the thing -- nothing is guaranteed in the streaming world. They may NOT make a killing on this if it doesn't have record-breaking numbers to start with. And at some point, executives will order budgets slashed, or else cancel it after 4 or 5 seasons (depending on how ahead they are on filming).

I don't see this as a sure thing. Are the books still selling like they did 20 years ago? Rowling being an evil bitch doesn't help things either...

 

[Cassie]

Of course a 20 year old book is not selling like it did 20 years ago, but the series is regularly a top seller in fantasy.

I see lots of people complaining about race swapped characters. Snape has dreads, OH NO!

 

[Phil Collins]

I heard somewhere that each episode of this show cost somewhere in the ballpark of 100 million bucks. I don't know if that's true but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[CaptainWacky]

I don't see it as a story worth retelling either, but obvoiusly there's millions who grew up with the books who will want THE ACCURACY (and to be fair I've been rereading Lord Of The Rings lately and imagining things that could be included in a theoritcal tv show or movie written by a talk show host.) It does look pretty generic though! And the John Williams theme is sorely missed.

 

[Mentalist]

It doesn't need retelling. As an adaptation, the movies told the story well enough over 8 films. The quality faltered at the end but that was already the books problem. This isn't something that is screaming out for some sort of faithful adaptation at all. It only exists to make money. I hope the kids involved don't get chewn up to much by the nonsense that is about to come their way.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

This was a cute story... probably also a hint that the new version is unnecessary...

‘SNL’ Alum Reveals ‘Harry Potter’ Star’s Shocking Confession - DailyBeast
Bobby Moynihan said he was ill-equipped to handle the movie star’s on-set admission on “Obsessed: The Podcast.”

by Owen Mason-Hill

Saturday Night Live cast member Bobby Moynihan was unprepared for Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe’s shocking on-set confession when he hosted the sketch comedy show.

“My first real incident with Harry Potter was when Daniel hosted SNL. I was Hagrid in a Harry Potter sketch," Moynihan, 49, recalled of his 2012 sketch with Radcliffe on Obsessed: The Podcast.

“I was in these two-foot-tall boots, so I was towering over him. I had this giant wig and this huge coat on, and we were rehearsing,” Moynihan continued.

Noticing that the actor was some mixture of “upset” and “in the zone,” he asked Radcliffe if he was alright.

Moynihan said Radcliffe had a surreal moment when he donned his Harry Potter robes on "SNL." Courtesy NBC

“I think this might be the last time I’m dressed as Harry Potter, ever,” Radcliffe, 36, confessed to Moynihan.

In the sketch that aired just months after the final Harry Potter film debuted, Radcliffe was playing a burnt-out version of his iconic wizard 10 years in the future, sadly reliving his glory days like an ex-high school athlete.

Moynihan, who admitted that he had neither seen nor read Harry Potter at that point, realized that it became very real for the actor in that moment.

“He was done with the movies, and you could tell it hit him,” SNL‘s “Drunk Uncle” recalled.

Realizing he was dressed as one of Potter’s pseudo-father figures, Moynihan put his hand on Radcliffe’s shoulder and offered a word of encouragement.

“I feel that someone who was a fan would be dying right now if they saw this,” Moynihan said. “I felt very lucky that I was there, but also—I felt I should give him a moment."

More than a decade later, Moynihan and Radcliffe have reunited for a new NBC sitcom, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, with fellow SNL alums Tracy Morgan, who stars, and Tina Fey, who produces.

Moynihan recalled seeing Morgan, 57, in SNL creator Lorne Michaels’ office during his first hosting stint since leaving the show.

A decade later, Moynihan and Radcliffe teamed up for a full-length project, "The Fall and Rise of Reggi Dinkins." Courtesy NBC

“He was just standing in the middle of the room with his arms up in the air, screaming, ‘The dark horse has returned!’” Moynihan recalled. “He delivers every time on being Tracy Morgan. He’s a force. He’s the best. He’s a big beating heart.”

The new show, which also reunites 30 Rock creators Fey and Robert Carlock, gives a pair of has-beens a chance to make a comeback. Morgan plays the namesake disgraced former NFL athlete who taps washed-up filmmaker Arthur Tobin, played by Radcliffe, to rebuild his public image.

Moynihan said that almost everything he's ever heard about Tracy Morgan is true. "He's a big beating heart, also a tiny bit of a crazy person." Courtesy NBC

Moynihan stars as Dinkins’ basement-dwelling best friend, Rusty, who would do anything for his former Jets teammate.

“I keep saying he would take a bullet for Reggie when it was unnecessary,” Moynihan joked. “He would gladly take a bullet to prove that he would take a bullet, but he doesn’t need to.”

Moynihan and Radcliffe have a running list of over "1,500" hilarious things that Morgan said in passing. "Everything that comes out of his mouth is astonishing. Courtesy NBC

Reggie Dinkins is shot as a mockumentary, which Moynihan said is equal measures effortless and difficult after so many years of reading cue cards on SNL.

“Another character on the show is the audience, and you get to acknowledge them, and it’s wonderful,” Moynihan said. “Although I’m on another show, NCIS Origins, also, and I keep looking in the camera, and have to tell myself to stop."

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is available to stream on Peacock with new episodes premiering every Monday.

 

[CaptainWacky]