Holy crap. Elfstones of Shannara coming to TV. MTV that is.

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:44 pm

So... this is "more than three thousand years" after the fall of Man and yet Rover Daddy has a working zippo lighter?

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 3:29 pm

MonkeyFinger wrote:So... this is "more than three thousand years" after the fall of Man and yet Rover Daddy has a working zippo lighter?

Youre dealing with a well established fantasy mythos. If a frikkin magic zippo, duh.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 3:44 pm

I like the show, but I wouldn't say I love it. It's currently the best fantasy on TV, but only because it's the only fantasy on TV.

As Smoove noted, I also was 12 and also was blown away when reading the Shannara books and discovering that they were living in a post-apocalyptic Earth (in fact, it was likely the catalyst for my fondness for post-apocalyptia in general). The fact that they just reveal it so casually in the show seems like a missed opportunity, but then they'd have had to go some length to hide it if there are fallen skyscrapers and such littering the landscape.

The only characters I really like so far are the king (can't go wrong with John Rhys-Davies), the Druid (Wilson from Arrow, among lots of other roles), and the leader of the bandits (Ajax from The Warriors). The other characters all annoy me to greater or lesser degrees, though the half-elf probably bothers me the least. Watching the supposedly well-trained elf princess get her ass utterly kicked anytime she encounters somebody remotely hostile is a bit stale already. The elf prince who stubbornly refuses to believe in magic or demons or whatever despite overwhelming evidence also gets on my nerves.

I don't plan to quit watching it anytime soon, but if I had a magic "this show gets renewed" token to spend, there's a bunch of other shows I'd probably spend it on first.

That is strange that MTV only runs a single showing. I'd expect they'd have it on 50 times a week. Must be a licensing thing, though I can't imagine any good reason for only showing it once.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 9:32 am

Yeah Im in the "Its watchable but not great" camp. I do like Manu Bennett as Allanon. Allanon always was a major league ass kicker and Bennett doe that well.

Cortilian · Post by **Cortilian** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 2:56 pm

Is there a way to catch up on back episodes? I don't see this on Netflix and Shannara turns up nothing on my Dish Network.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 3:08 pm

MTV.com

Cortilian · Post by **Cortilian** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 3:15 pm

Thanks. I was looking for Elfstones not Shannara.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Wed Feb 10, 2016 3:56 pm

I don't know if I can stick with this show. As if it's not bad enough that Amberle bungles everything she does, having "elf hunters" who shoot arrows at anything that moves might be more than I can take. I dunno - I'm finding more and more things about this show that irritate me.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Wed Feb 10, 2016 5:56 pm

Odin wrote:I don't know if I can stick with this show. As if it's not bad enough that Amberle bungles everything she does, having "elf hunters" who shoot arrows at anything that moves might be more than I can take. I dunno - I'm finding more and more things about this show that irritate me.

Production visuals are great. Acting and writing, not so much. It's really getting hard to watch. Shame it got the MTV treatment.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Feb 10, 2016 7:13 pm

I watch it because there are no other fantasy shows out there, but the writing - especially the dialogue style - it godawful.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:13 pm

Missed a week, watched last week, missed last night. With it only airing a single time before being locked in the Disney vault, I'm afraid I'll need to stop. Never realized how spoiled I was being able to record shows at a later time if I missed the original airing. If it ever ends up on Netflix or Amazon I'd give it a try again, but I'd definitely agree that it's clearly been MTVized. Just about the only thing missing from the episode I watched last week was a soundtrack by Paula Cole.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:17 pm

Jag wrote:
Odin wrote:I don't know if I can stick with this show. As if it's not bad enough that Amberle bungles everything she does, having "elf hunters" who shoot arrows at anything that moves might be more than I can take. I dunno - I'm finding more and more things about this show that irritate me.
Production visuals are great. Acting and writing, not so much. It's really getting hard to watch. Shame it got the MTV treatment.

That sums it up pretty good. They have what they need to put out a good fantasy but are ruining it by trying to make it Spring Break: Shanarra

Ok this is just too funny. I watched the last episode and half of it literally takes place in a

Spoiler:

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:50 pm

Wow, just wow! The last two episodes have been incredibly bad. Lets forget the fact that our heroes fall into a massive ravine in the middle of a frozen waste land, survive the fall into a creek about 1ft deep and its like mid summer outside. They trump that with a visit to high school and a rave in a western town. And in case that doesn't amuse you enough, they throw in D&D and Star Trek for kicks. The show has actually reached that fine pinnacle where its so bad its become worth watching. I just know that there's probably the most awesome drinking game built into this show, once I figure it out Shannara will be my go to get trashed show.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:53 am

I have to admit when I was a little kid, I used to pretend that my polyhedral dice were Elfstones and kept them in a little pouch. It was funny when Amberle did the same thing in that episode.

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 10:05 am

I have to still laugh at all the crap they find that still works after over 3000 years. Buildings and highways are crumbling ruins but they have film and a projector, playground equipment, plastic patio furniture and firearms with ammo they can afford to waste on trees? Not to mention the whole "butterfly in amber" underground treasure trove.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 10:54 am

rshetts2 wrote:And in case that doesn't amuse you enough, they throw in Star Trek for kicks.

This show is becoming full-on terrible and each week I'm tempted to just quit watching it. But I did think it was funny/clever when the human audience reacted to seeing Spock's ears.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:51 pm

The season finale was last night and it remained largely terrible. I'm re-categorizing this show as a guilty pleasure, rather than a genuine pleasure. It would be right on par with Z Nation if only it accepted that it's a terrible show and just ran with it. As long as it continues to think that it's producing quality television, it will continue to fail. But it's really about the only fantasy on TV, so I'll stick with it into season 2 for now, assuming there is one.

DD* · Post by DD* » Mon Mar 14, 2016 11:02 pm

Oh, lord that was horrible. Just finished the season (DVR, of course) - what a mess! I *loved* the Shannara books when I was growing up, and this is not anything like the universe Brooks created. Just awful. Though the girls are easy on the eyes.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Tue Mar 15, 2016 7:16 am

DD* wrote:Though the girls are easy on the eyes.

Honestly, pointy-eared-Kristin-Stewart definitely did nothing for me (her resemblance to the queen of resting bitch face definitely didn't help), and the human girl was just meh.

It occurred to me just now - this show should have been Xena/Hercules. It still would have been dumb, but it wouldn't have been pretending to be smart (and failing). It could have just reveled in its dumbness. I dunno. I haven't deleted my season pass yet, but neither am I looking forward to watching it again. Unless they get rid of everyone except the Druid and possibly the elfstones kid, who I find tolerable. Actually yeah, make it a buddy series with JUST those two, and I'd watch it. Throw in the ghost of John Rhys-Davies for good measure. Keep the big baddie - he's okay. The guy who played the bandit ringleader can stay, too. Everybody else can piss right off.

Now that I think about it, the only characters I actually liked were all played by adults. This makes me wonder - is the problem just that the writing is bad, or is it that the kids can't act? Or are the adults just strong enough to be able to push through the lousy writing and deliver solid performances? I don't know.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Mar 15, 2016 12:45 pm

Odin wrote: This makes me wonder - is the problem just that the writing is bad, or is it that the kids can't act?

You can't know B because of A. Plenty of fantastic actors in the Star Wars prequels gave awful performances because of bad writing. Perhaps if they were given both a better script and a better director they could be fantastic. Maybe not. The world may never know.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Apr 20, 2016 6:16 pm

Given a second season:

A strong digital performer, the series pulled in 16.6 million streams across all MTV’s digital properties and ranks as the highest grossing digital download for a single season on MTV ever.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:08 pm

Season 1 is up on Netflix.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:55 pm

Just kicked off ep 1 via Netflix. This is... not how I remember the books.

DD* · Post by DD* » Sat Sep 10, 2016 7:20 am

Zaxxon wrote:Just kicked off ep 1 via Netflix. This is... not how I remember the books.

Just wait... and try to think of it as a Hercules/Xena type show. Supposed to be serious (I think) but the end result is more cheese than Wisconsin. That, and drinking a lot before and during a viewing session. It helps. A little.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 10:03 am

DD* wrote:
Just wait... and try to think of it as a Hercules/Xena type show.

The difference was that Hercules/Xena were lighthearted action-comedies and knew it. Shannara is a comedy the thinks it's Game of Thrones.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 10:39 am

Yeah it gets worse, much worse. They MTV the shit out of it. The only good part is Manu Bennett as Allanon. And he is not in it all that much. Its basically Spring Break: Shanarra.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 10:44 am

Zaxxon wrote:This is... not how I remember the books.

It's not your father's Shannara! (guitar solo)

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:43 pm

Blackhawk wrote:
DD* wrote:
Just wait... and try to think of it as a Hercules/Xena type show.
The difference was that Hercules/Xena were lighthearted action-comedies and knew it. Shannara is a comedy the thinks it's Game of Thrones.

This is completely right.

rshetts2 wrote:Yeah it gets worse, much worse. They MTV the shit out of it. The only good part is Manu Bennett as Allanon. And he is not in it all that much. Its basically Spring Break: Shanarra.

Agreed, except that John Rhys-Davies is also decent as the king and the bandit-lord, played by one of the guys from the movie The Warriors, also does a good job. Basically, the experienced, adult actors seem to be able to out-perform the crappy writing, while the youngsters are left to wallow in it.

DD* · Post by DD* » Sat Sep 10, 2016 9:26 pm

Odin wrote:
Blackhawk wrote:
DD* wrote:
Just wait... and try to think of it as a Hercules/Xena type show.
The difference was that Hercules/Xena were lighthearted action-comedies and knew it. Shannara is a comedy the thinks it's Game of Thrones.
This is completely right.

rshetts2 wrote:Yeah it gets worse, much worse. They MTV the shit out of it. The only good part is Manu Bennett as Allanon. And he is not in it all that much. Its basically Spring Break: Shanarra.
Agreed, except that John Rhys-Davies is also decent as the king and the bandit-lord, played by one of the guys from the movie The Warriors, also does a good job. Basically, the experienced, adult actors seem to be able to out-perform the crappy writing, while the youngsters are left to wallow in it.

Agreed all the way around. Let's see what happens in season 2; after all, ST:TNG took a season or 3 to hit its stride...

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 10:04 pm

It's generally a rule that good speculative shows (fantasy, sci-fi) tend to be so-so or bad during the first season, then shine afterward. TNG was a good example. Babylon 5. Buffy. I'll wait and see how season 2 does, but most of those shows that end up good still have a sense of direction in season 1 that shows promise. You could tell by the end of season 1 of TNG what they wanted to do with the show and with the characters. This show does not have that.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sun Sep 11, 2016 12:50 am

Unlike TNG and Babylon 5, which at least had a couple of memorable episodes in their freshman seasons, there wasn't a single Shannara episode that left me feeling satisfied when it was done, nor any that I can remember looking back on the season (except the one where they fall into the high school and find D&D dice, which was memorable only for its insipid story). I'd certainly love to be wrong - it would be great if this show shaped up and became a worthy addition to the annals of sci-fi/fantasy television, but I'm pessimistic about its chances, to say the least.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:08 am

I just made the connection that the gal playing Eretria was also Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth.

Mind blown.

DD* · Post by DD* » Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:47 am

Um, guys, I thought what I meant was pretty plain, but just in case...

*Nothing* about this turd gives me any hope other than it might be good for (inadvertent?) laughs...

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Wed Sep 14, 2016 5:47 am

It's your sarcasm generator that needs work, haha. TNG's first season or two contained an inordinate number of crummy episodes and only a very few good ones. Likewise, Babylon 5 got off to a shaky start, ultimately leading to creator Joe Straczynski taking over full writing duties on the show because the other writers weren't getting it.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Sep 20, 2016 12:59 am

Just finished season one off tonight. Wow. I can't say we didn't have fun, but this is definitely in 'guilty pleasure' land. That'd be fine if it weren't likely the lone shot that one of my beloved childhood settings will get as a live-action treatment.

As posited earlier in the thread by you fine folks, it's impossible to know whether the actors are this bad or not simply because the writing is terrible from start to finish. I agree with most of the gripes discussed upthread, but the biggest to me is that they took all the interesting things that Brooks created (post-apocalyptic our-Earth setting, races with common human ancestry, Druid back story, etc), threw them into a boiling cauldron, and smashed the viewers over the head with it, repeatedly.

And they broke those things before tossing them into the cauldron. The level of world/technological decay (rather the lack thereof) is just nonsensical, probably because they decided to play it way up in this treatment.

Either this is a gross abuse of Brooks' world or my memories of the books from 15-20ish years ago are seriously rose-tinted. I know Sword... borrowed... heavily from Tolkien, but once Brooks got going, the series grew to stand up on its own.

--------

*Ahem*

Now that my old-man rant is over: once I let go the tragedy befalling my old friend and just went with it, I enjoyed myself. I'll be watching season two. By the end of the season the main young actors were doing a serviceable job, and Manu Bennett as Allanon is worth a watch. I hope they shake up the writing staff, though.

It's just a shame that Shannara couldn't have gotten a serious shot a la a lower-budget GoT attempt, led by showrunner(s) as enthralled by and respectful of the source material as David Benioff and Dan Weiss are to AGoT. I think Shannara could have provided a long-running series with a ton of worthy and varied arcs. Hell, they could even have snuck the Word/Void stuff in to change things up a few seasons in. But I guess it's likely that MTV knows what they're doing, and they hit their target audience well: I'm just no longer it.

Now get off my lawn.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Tue Sep 20, 2016 2:48 pm

Zaxxon wrote:But I guess it's likely that MTV knows what they're doing, and they hit their target audience well: I'm just no longer it.

Now get off my lawn.

I think this is it. The CW is similar with Flash, Arrow and now, ahem, Supergirl. They went into the silly teen, romancy stuff after a decent start. It turned alot of people off, but I guess more people like this stuff than hate it. They will be doing a Flash/Supergirl musical crossover episode this season as well. Which pretty much says it all.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Sep 20, 2016 3:01 pm

Jag wrote:They will be doing a Flash/Supergirl musical crossover episode this season as well. Which pretty much says it all.

Let's not go too far with our derision. Once More with Feeling is a classic.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Sep 20, 2016 3:10 pm

As a resident DC nut, I have to admit that I was thrown a little by the musical announcement. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not sure what they're thinking. And yes, Once More was brilliant.

A lot of the 'teen romance' on the CW shows, sadly, was centered around Arrow after the first couple of seasons. They really seem to be taking another look at that this season, though, as there has been a lot of criticism about it that they've openly responded to.

I'm also thinking it would be smart to look at this season's Supergirl almost like a reboot. They're on a different network with different restrictions and a different audience. Maybe they'll tone down the sparkle a bit.

Anyway, Shannara.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:22 am

And ker-cancelled.

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:50 am

Trying to recall... didn't they pretty much wrap things up at the end of S2?