Fargo [TV]

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well, this is happening....
Deadline wrote:FX Teams With Joel & Ethan Coen And Noah Hawley For Series Adaptation Of ‘Fargo’

Joel and Ethan Coen are bringing one of their signatures movies to television. FX has closed a deal to develop Fargo, an hourlong project loosely based on the Coen brothers’ 1996 comedic crime drama. The Coens will serve as executive producers on the project, which will be written/executive produced by The Unusuals and My Generation creator Noah Hawley. Warren Littlefield also will executive the project, which will be co-produced by MGM Television and FX Prods.

The Fargo movie starred Frances McDormand as a pregnant Minnesota police chief who follows the trail of two bumbling criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) hired by a car salesman (William H. Macy) to kidnap his wife. The indie earned seven Oscar nominations, winning two statuettes — for the Coen brothers’ script and McDormand’s performance. (The Coens won three more Oscars for No Country For Old Men.) The title belongs to MGM’s library, making the project part of MGM TV’s strategy to mine the company’s catalogs for properties suitable for series adaptations/remakes. The company has the Teen Wolf reboot on MTV and recently announced it was teaming with American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe for Fame, a scripted series based on the 1980 MGM film and 1982 MGM TV series. MGM TV first attempted to adapt Fargo in 2003 with a pilot starring Edie Falco and directed by Kathy Bates, which was done without the Coen brothers’ participation.
not sure what's more disturbing - the fact that this whole idea exists, or the fact that the last sentence exists. *shudder*

Re: Fargo [TV]

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What, the Edie Falco pilot? I think that's on the current DVD out in stores, but I wouldn't know.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Fargo [TV]

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Not something anyone has been clamoring for but if they get the right people involved it could be fun, there's a Twin Peaks locality thing going on with the original which could be fun longer term.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Fargo [TV]

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/film wrote:First Look: Martin Freeman Looks Minnesota Not-So-Nice on FX’s ‘Fargo’

The Coen Brothers don’t have a new film out in 2014, but their presence will be felt on the pop culture landscape all the same. Among the intriguing oddities being offered up by the TV gods this year is Fargo, an FX limited series based on the duo’s 1996 hit.

Technically speaking, the new Fargo is neither a remake nor a sequel for the first one. What it shares with the original is the cold northern setting and the “Minnesota nice” tone. At the center of this version is insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (played by the ubiquitous Martin Freeman), a sort of updated take on William H. Macy’s Jerry Lundegaard. Hit the jump to see him and some other new characters in the first stills from the show.
Fargo-TV-series-1.jpg
Fargo-TV-series-2.jpg
Although the series clearly takes inspiration from the movie, it’ll feature new characters, a new setting, and a new plot. The story is set in Bemidji, Minnesota (which, like Fargo and Brainerd, is a real place), and follows Lester’s ill-fated attempt to change his life after he crosses paths with the mysterious Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton).

Other key players include Colin Hanks as Duluth Police Deputy Gus Grimly, Allison Tolman and Bob Odenkirk as a pair of Bemidji cops, Kate Walsh as a former stripper, Oliver Platt as the Supermarket King of Minnesota, Glenn Howerton as an ambitious personal trainer, and Russell Harvard and Adam Goldberg as members of the Fargo Crime Syndicate.

FX’s Fargo isn’t the first attempt to adapt the Coens’ crime classic for the small screen. In 2003, there was a failed attempt to build a series starring Edie Falco. One huge difference between that version and this one, however, is that this one has the brothers’ blessing. The Coens are executive producing the series, which was written by Noah Hawley. Adam Bernstein (30 Rock) is directing the first episode.

No premiere date has been set, but look for the ten-episode run to kick off sometime this spring.
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Re: Fargo [TV]

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Should have stuck with your cliff's notes, there are a few major spoilers in there.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Fargo [TV]

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So I'll stick with this, it captures the vibe pretty nicely and definitely gets off to a bang-up start, don'tyaknow.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Fargo [TV]

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I thought they kind of laid on the hick simpleton vibe a bit thick at first, but I suppose they were just establishing that for the series. It got pretty good after that, though the story is still kind of rehashing the movie. It'll be curious to see where they take it from here.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

Re: Fargo [TV]

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Well this show was years in the offing and, I have to say, it shows: long gone are the days of the Sopranos, when it was enough for a TV series to provide a weak, poorly written pastiche of a feature film. You have to offer more than that these days, something even Agents of SHIELD understands. BBT's shallow Javier Bardem impression was perhaps the low point, although there were too many others to count. Bottom line: the Coens should have committed to writing this themselves, or otherwise not bothered. Really shit, really disappointing.

Re: Fargo [TV]

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I would call it fairly disposable, but entertaining enough. The movie itself was pretty over the wall into caricature when it comes to "Minnesota nice" anyway, so the fact that the show apes that wasn't really here nor there for me. I didn't think Billy Bob was bad as a typical Coen-style agent of chaos. And I like the fact that Freeman is much more complicit/straight up guilty than his counterpart in the film.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Fargo [TV]

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There's always the off chance that klimov is holding it to a higher, more stringent standard than those of us looking for some quick entertainment. No, it's not particularly original (obviously), but it appears to have a game cast and hits the notes we are looking for from the source material. And it sets up a pretty fucked up 9 episode run to come by the end of the premiere.

Klimov, didn't see you over in the Hannibal thread, have you had a chance to check that out yet?
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Fargo [TV]

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It's a pale, shadowy imitation of the Sopranos, like watching a second-rate Sundance indie that failed to generate any buzz.

Haven't seen Hannibal, not a fan of the horror genre.