So, MTV announced today that they have commissioned a television drama based on the 80's Teen Wolf movies. From what I extracted from the article, it will follow a loner werewolf as he courts the popular loner girl. She has a best friend and he has an older brother who likes to cause trouble. Interesting. What a novel idea? MTV is on to something...wait, haven't I seen this before? Oh, yeah, The CW's Vampire Diaries. It is the exact same show. Just switch out the words vampire for werewolf and you have a carbon copy.
As someone who works in the biz, I know that there are no original ideas. But if you are going to steal someone's idea, you have to make it better. I don't want this post to turn into a rant on how everything in Hollywood is formulated and if you switch one or two elements you can pitch a brand new show (The City, anyone?) because that is not what this is meant for. I just am fed up with this unrequited love affair between some mortal girl and a supernatural monster with a soul. Let's be honest. It was cutting edge when Joss Whedon did it in the 90's with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At least then, when Buffy fell in love with Angel (a vampire, who happens to have a soul) she had an obligation to kill him and chose not to. But the love stories in recent pop culture, modern girl falls for bruiting vampire are just so sickening. If we learned anything from Romeo and Juliet, its that if two kids from two worlds fall in love, the chances of them ending up unhappy and dead are very likely. (Both Angel and Buffy during the series.)
On a different note, I am extremely excited about MTV adapting the UK's Skins for our domestic viewers. If you have been following this blog for some time, you know that I am a huge fan of this show. Originally created by a father and son team in the UK, this show centers around the lives of teenagers in Bristol. But the real great thing about it is that the actors are all the actual ages they are portraying and the show is written with the help of teenagers. So it actually reflects life, to a certain extent. This is tv we are talking about.
