Harry Potter TV series

[ohtoresonate at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 28237

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Zarleycat at a... wrote:
> Okay, everyone calm down - there is no Harry Potter TV series that I 
> know of.  I only put that as a subject because a friend of mine 
> < snip > wonders why JKR opted for a movie instead of a TV series.  
> Yes, a movie is BIG, SPLASHY, ATTENTION-GRABBING, and worth a lot of
> $$$....but my friend's thought centered on the Star Trek phenonenom.  
> She thought "Why not run the Potter books as a serial TV program? 
> The producers could do a chapter a week/a book a season and not run 
> into the problem of having the child actors grow up too fast.  Plus,
> like Star Trek, there would be the syndication possibilities.  Harry
> could run forever on TV.
> 
> Any thoughts?

Here are some:

~ Making a TV series is arguably more time consuming than shooting a 
movie.  Like her other fans and surely her publishers, I don't want 
JKR to be even more distracted from writing the rest of the books.

~ A TV series has a much leaner budget...and magic don't come cheap.  
Speaking of expensive special effects, how fitting that Lucas' 
Industrial Light & MAGIC is doing the FX work on the CoS film.

To maintain the same level of craftsmanship as the $125 million film, 
imagine the price for each of the 30-second commercials (on US TV, the 
*absolute maximum* number of spots in each hour would be about 30)!

~ Since the HP books are so tightly plotted (all Flints aside) and JKR 
seems very committed to wrapping up Harry's adventures at Hogwarts in 
7 volumes, 3 of which is yet to be publicly committed to paper and 
ink, starting a series before the entire arc concludes could risk the 
integrity of the story - you don't want to commit to anything that 
might contradict the books yet to be written.  Come to think of it, 
this is true of the films too...hmm...  

Syndication is also more difficult with a property like this one - 
the episodes would make no sense if watched out of sequence.  Notice 
that most shows that do well in syndication are situation comedies and 
adventures, formats that work best when each episode is relatively 
self-contained, unlike, say, soap operas.

~ Her opting for the movies doesn't mean she had to pick film instead 
of TV.  If these films do well, you can bet there will indeed be a TV 
series, but only if it manages to further explore the mythology that 
JKR has set up since JKR seems pretty adamant about her creations 
remaining faithful.  Possible...very possible!

BTW, Harry already "run forever" on my car stereo...now in both 
Stephen Fry and Jim Dale's voices. <g>

:) OTR, back in LA from the UK and wishing she had more time at