Bob’s Thirsty Thursdays: 12 Monkeys – the TV Show!
This time last year, as FX was leading up to releasing their new TV show based on the hit 90s movie FARGO, doubts were had all around. A TV show based on a movie? What, are you crazy? That sounds like a horrible idea! I don’t know if I went as far as calling it blasphemous, but the word ‘pointless’ definitely rolled off my tongue. Seriously, you’ve run out of original ideas your remaking movies for TV now? But FARGO pulled through and it turned out to be one of the best TV series of the year. Yes, the year, and hell… maybe even of the last few years (save for BREAKING BAD and GAME OF THRONES, of course).
SyFy decided to follow the same formula with 12 MONKEYS: a new TV show based on the ’90s movie. And is the result as successful as FARGO? Of course not. I checked the first episode out this week and while they sort of hit the concept just fine, the idea of sitting through the Bruce Willy dude traveling to a different time each episode in his quest to find the Army of the 12 Monkeys and save the world… the whole thing makes me tired. For a few reasons (the biggest being that it’s a remake of the movie rather than doing its own thing):
1) There isn’t enough story for a full 10 episodes (10 hours) of TV. There just isn’t. It’s a 2 hour movie, and they’ve already extended the hell out of it for the first episode. I see maybe 3 more episodes until even the most devote 12 MONKEYS fan taps out. And you KNOW they’ll want to keep making more and more seasons of this shit.
2) The dude playing Bruce Willis (or James Cole if you want to be a dick about it). Some joker named Aaron Stanford–this dude lacks the leading man charisma that a show like this so desperately needs… because the whole show revolves around him! If you don’t give a fuck about this dude, you don’t give a fuck about this show. And guess what? This dude can suck a BabaDIIIIICK!
3) The whole Time Travel story device. One episode deep and there are just too many issues and problems with the time travel time lines that I can’t imagine anyone using their brains will be able to ignore.
On the plus side, the production value is fantastic, a dude from THE WIRE appears to be part of the recurring supporting cast, and the main chick / scientist is ridiculously hot (unbelievable, yes, but nice to look at none-the-less). Otherwise, skip this trash. Just revisit with Terry Gillium’s masterpiece (yes, I said masterpiece) and relive the good ol’ days when Willis gave a shit and Brad Pitt acted his balls off.