Emerald City (Wizard of Oz Reboot)

[sanman]

In this re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz by director Tarsem Singh, our heroine Dorothy winds up in Oz only to get caught up in a titanic power struggle against a backdrop of political intrigue, looming war, and potential apocalypse





"winds" - get it - I made a pun, there

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Not sure how I feel about this. I guess, I am partial to non network shows because they can do so much more. I'd like to see this tried on like Starz or HBO.

 

[sanman]

Yeah, after watching the pilot (episode 1 & 2), it seems like this show is pushing the boundaries on what's possible for broadcast network television. NBC certainly spent a lot of money on this - after losing so much market share to HBO, Netflix, etc, they've probably decided to "go big or go home".

This story is very edgy, dark, and gritty even - I was surprised at the level of violence, but they do their best to artfully respect broadcast constraints by cutting away at certain moments - which kind of makes some of it scarier, because it let's your imagination fill in the blanks on that stuff.

Spoiler

The "Wicked Witch of the West" is a laid-back junkie and brothel madam, who's "turned in her broom" and found her place in the new hegemony, running a whorehouse as her new trade.
Glinda the "Good Witch of the North" is sweet-faced in public, but a hard-nosed conniving jerk in private.
The witches are constantly scheming to get back power from the Wizard, but he's always pushing back and laying down the law to show them who's boss.
The Wizard, whose name is Frank Morgan (named after the actor who played him in the original movie) is in charge of things in Emerald City, because it was he, not the witches, who was able to save everyone from a powerful entity called The Beast Forever, when it showed up 20 years earlier.
That got him his respect/power/authority, which he used to declare a ban against all forms of magic in Oz. He further negotiated a deal with the witches, whereby they would be allowed a place in society, but were prohibited from practicing magic again.
The Wizard comes across outwardly as this loud, pushy, authoritarian guy, but when he's back in his private quarters, you see him flop down in his chair and take off his toupee, worrying about how he's going to make things work out. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Yeah, after watching the pilot (episode 1 & 2), it seems like this show is pushing the boundaries on what's possible for broadcast network television. NBC certainly spent a lot of money on this - after losing so much market share to HBO, Netflix, etc, they've probably decided to "go big or go home".

This story is very edge, dark and gritty even - I was surprised at the level of violence, but they do their best to artfully respect broadcast constraints by cutting away at certain moments - which kind of makes some of it scarier, because it let's your imagination fill in the blanks on that stuff.

This is good to hear! I will give it a chance.