A Fables TV series?
LoneWoIf
Banned
Should there be a television series based on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series? They made a television series based on Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comic book series so why not Fables? I think Fables could work as a high profile minisseries made by HBO or AMC. As an on-going TV Drama, contemporary fantasy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy aiming at a Adult audienc.
Fables is one of the only comic book series' I read that would work well on TV because it's already more episodic than other comics. Also, I like Fables, but I don't love it...so I'm not that worried if it gets ruined in an adaptation. I'd just "meh" and move on.
The best way for this to work is to give Willingham creative control.
ABC optioned Fables at one point but then went forward with OUAT instead... The funny thing is they said stuff like "this is probably the first time someone's shown [SPOILER ALERT] Snow White pregnant or weilding a sword" and nope Fables beat them to the punch on both.
Comments
It would be awesome to see FABLES as a television show but I'm worried they would slaughter the beauty of the series and add certain things that don't need to be. They had that show 'Once upon a Time' and I have that a chance but the acting was terrible, the plot was bland and it was nothing spectacular or memorable.
IF they ever did walk down that path, I agree that Willingham would need to have full say in how the series would play out. I just worry it would turn into your typical day time soap operas. I'd give it a chance should that day come.
I heard that They are making a Fables movie, but Id much rather prefer a Tv show. Sadly people would comepair it to Once Upon a Time although honestly Once Upon a Time feels like obvious stealing
They're have been a ton of efforts but Bill Willingham is dead set on having the series 100% canon to the comics so it is very difficult to make a show.
If they could find neutral ground, I would love to see a show out of FABLES.
They are making a movie but it's still in development stages (no cast announced yet either) I would love a TV series but only if they did what they are doing with TWD, which is letting the series creator plan out the episodes...
Only a TV series would give Fables the proper honor and justice it deserves.
Well a lot of The Walking Dead fans were (and still are kinda) outraged how much the series has deviated from the comics, and even in The Game of Thrones they have started to deviate quite a bit (from Season 4). With the above two adaptations, I've never read the source material (TWD comics, and Song of Ice and Fire novels), so I am happy with them, but I do understand how those fans feel (since I love Fables comics series).
If someone ruined the Fables adaptation, it just wouldn't sit right with me. The adpatation doesn't need to match word for word, panel by panel as the comics (which then, would make the adaptation kinda pointless, since it's just carbon copy of the comics, and nothing more), but I think it needs to be at least 75 ~ 80 % faithful to Mr. Willingham's comics (my preference is 80% at least, but I lowered the range to 75%, since I felt a bit generous). And obviously, Mr. Wilingham, and Mr. Buckingham would need to serve as Executive producers (though, I guess even though TWD had comic book writer as Exec Producers, it didn't stop them from deviating lol), and would need tight creative control.
One thing I think is an issue with TV series would be the budget, especially for Monsters (particularly for Bigby's Big Bad wolf form, and several other monsters/non-human effects). Shows like GoT get huge budgets, but in it the CG Dragons are seldom shown. It's the complete opposite case with Fables, where often you have characters transforming, and much CG is required.
Too often, a show is cancelled prematurely because it costs too much to produce, and I do think that is one of the issues with potential Fables TV series.
Funny, they had plans to make a Fables TV show, ABC and NBC. NBC went on to make Grimm and ABC Once Upon a Time, both stories about fairytale living in the modern world.
They are, that sounds great, I would love to see a Fables movie, I demand Adam Harrington play Bigby.
Robert Kirkman admitted that he HAD to deviate from the comics because of the content: there is quite a lot of material in the comics that would get the show cancelled (rape, torture, child murdering, and all of it is very gratuitous and long) So with this in mind, you can understand why the show is different to the comics...
Would love a Fables tv series. Preferably on HBO, so it gets the proper budget it deserves.
i'm not too sure if this is true but if it is it is very sad to know considering how shit this show is apparently abc were making a fables tv show years ago which ended up becoming once upon a time what a waste
I also remember hearing that Willingham asked The Once Upon a Time creators if they heard of Fables and they said they didnt.
actually one of the creators hadn't read it and one if them did
If I recall, he said that he read a couple of issues then stopped altogether...
FABLES BELONG ON TV!
Fables deserves to be a television series. It's so interesting and amazing. Fables television show > Fables movie.
A movie is in development stages as we speak...
A tv series would be best suited for Fables. I would rather have them put it on Netflix or Hulu so the creators have more freedom over the content without having the make it appropriate for network television. If I was in control, here's what I would do.
The premier would be a two hour special focused on the first story arc: Legends in Exile (the murder mystery plot) as it does very well in introducing the characters and explains the world they inhabit and what Fabletown is and how it functions (not to mention that it has a really good mystery too). Then I would follow it up with the first season covering Animal Farm, Storybook Love, and have the season finale covering the March of the Wooden Soldiers. The following season can start with The Mean Seasons.
The Last Castle would be it's own movie set aside, but still canon to the series. The Barley-Corn take and Jack Horner capturing Death in a sack could share a single episode and could be told to Flycatcher.
Excellent idea! The first four volume are just made to be Season 1. Maybe 23 episodes should cover that?
Let's see. Let's just assume that the episodes are one hour long like any drama series.
Let's assume that the first volume, Legends in Exiles as two part episode. So that is two episodes.
Animal Farm arc could be done in three episodes.
Two Part Caper (the one with the reporter) could be done in one episode.
The events of Story Book Love could be done in three episodes and could double as a mid-season finale.
Then I would have Bag O' Bones and Barleycorn Brides share a single episode. I think these stories could told like Story within a story. Bigby telling Fly about the Barleycorn Brides and Jack Horner's escapade during the American Civil War.
Then March of the Wooden Soldiers would cover about five episodes? A lot happens in this arc.
So I think, if they stick with the comics and didn't add any unnecessary subplots, then the first season could consist of 15 to 16 episodes.
if i were to ask , i prefer to have fables as Animated T.V series than amc adaptation...
hahahaha or how about Fables making it as a movie... well mehhh probably it would be like an epic failed resident evil style... well it's better if no one will do a tv series or movie x'D
A Fables movie is already in the development stages though
Once Upon A Time is good imo, glad it didn't turn into Fables. I'd prefer Fables having it's own separate show.
It would be great if it was live action!
i wouldnt want it on AMC either. im pretty sure theyre gonna fuck up negan a bit.
They'll have to change Negan in some ways or else the show will be pulled off the air :P
I'm thinking it would be better off on Netflix.
I concur Netflix does some very good things with source materiel and it would be great to see what they do with it! ok Who would you cast as the Ragtag group of Misfits that inhibit Fable Town
People seems confused on the whole Once Upon a Time/Fables thing.
Despite what the creators said and having or not reading the comicbook, the true fact is that the network WANTED to make a Fables Tv series, they were already in talks with Willingham and all that jazz and seeing what things they would change for TV and what not, until suddenly someone in the network realize that this characters have being created so long time ago that the use of them is free of copyright, therefor since they were going to change the basic plot lines for the show anyway they could still have the same characters in name while not paying Willingham or having to worry about the fan base being piss about the changes and what not. That´s when the network hired the two creators of Once Upon a Time and that´s why is irrelevant if they read or not the comicbooks, because it was the network idea, not theirs.
And I´m pretty sure that the movie they are developing could easily suffer the same destiny. Willingham has spend years trying to take his property out of the comicbook into other forms of media, and the reasons he seem like wasn´t unable to do so until TellTale is exactly because of that very same reason every single time, if you change a little bit of the story then there´s no need to call it Fables as you can use those characters no strings attached, and then you do not have to pay the creator or being pushed by canon, fanbase or the creator own´s ideas.
Even if somebody rip it off even more clearly than Once Upon a Time, he can´t do nothing, because then people will recur to say that he also ripped off previous works thus invalidating the supposed copyright infringement, like for instance some of the side comics of Neil Gaiman´s Sandman, which I think is the first comicbook story about fables and mythological creatures living in hiding in the real world, tough I think in literature there are other examples that are prior to Gaiman´s work or the LEague of Extraordinary Gentleman from Alan Moore.
So yeah, it sucks, but the premise of Fables is so close to other things and uses characters that have no copyright, therefor is legal to rip off Willingham work.
I would say if there would be a series.
Netflix-Series animated.
If live-action then with bigger guest-stars:
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