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[angstbunny]

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Norman Lear, creator of both "All In the Family" and "The Jeffersons," as well as many other TV projects will be teaming with HBO to produce a new dramatic series set in the world of 1970s professional wrestling entitled "Everybody Hurts

Comments

Re: the Riches

[redfiona99]

Missy would be the person to ask about that. (Curses that that digital channels I don't get get all the fun stuff first)

Re: the Riches

[angstbunny]

I've heard Missy mention the show before, and from what I gather, it sounds like a good show.

[screamingintune]

Wuzza wuzza huh???

OMG thieving bitches!

I hope it's good, though. But I'm with you on the WTF '70s bit.

I will not be satisfied with this show unless it hits really, really hard. Otherwise, it's a missed opportunity.

[angstbunny]

THIEVING BITCHES INDEED

Dude, I SO wanna go back to Marks now. Never mind that I'm kinda tapped out on the wrestling front. I know we intend it to be a TV show, with all the pretentious directorial shit, but it can make for a great original story or something. Web serial? Except, urgh, I always hate the idea of putting original stuff up on the web. And our laziness knows no bounds anyway. BUT JUST GODDAMMIT. I hate missing the boat.

I want to believe that it'd be hardcore since it's gonna be on HBO. It'd better be hardcore. But just, urgh. The 70s.

[angstbunny]

I hope there is a storyline about a secret tranny-chasing wrestler

LOLOLOLOLOLOL <3333333333333333

Well, I know that there is historical significance and all that, and I know I'm plenty biased coming from the fact that I got into wrestling in the late 90s. I wasn't a fan growing up, unlike a lot of people, who will inevitably remember the 70s and the 80s as being the very definition of wrestling. I realize that. I get the points you make, and I agree to a certain extent. HOWEVER, setting any show in the 70s is like a disaster waiting to happen. Kitsch, cheese. The potential for lame is so much higher.

And aside from that, I feel like those years have been documented to death. Up to and including the 90s, with the rise and fall of the Attitude Era. The public consciousness of wrestling is either Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin. It'd be so much more daring to do something more recent, to attempt something that hasn't been done to death about a billion times already.

[angstbunny]

LOL, I was just gonna add to my comment to say that I hope it'd be more Mad Men and less Swingtown. If they get the setting right, it could indeed be amazing. It's just... it'd be SO EASY to go wrong.

Yeah, it sounds very tentative right now. Plenty of shows have been planned that never make it to air. I think it depends a lot on how The Wrestler does on the general market. If it flops, I guess that'd be the end of that, but dear god, imagine if it does really well. I mean, really well for an indy film. @__@

[pyroyale]

Hm, the 70s could be interesting. It was still very carny and territorial then and if they capture that correctly it could make for interesting viewing. Of course all of the backstage politics of the late 90s/2000s would make for better viewing although I doubt even HBO would be able to screen some of the shit the dirtsheets report about.

And please don't tell me that one little, highly praised film is going to lead to seven billion fictional wrestling shows because seriously, it will all pale next to the awesomeness that would be a reality TV show set backstage at RAW. Or a 24/7 Vince cam complete with mood swing meter.

[angstbunny]

It was still very carny and territorial then

THAT would be the interesting hook if they get it right. The problem for me, more than anything, is the kitsch potential being WAY high. Too much, "oh look it's the 70s! lol!"

Granted, if they do get it right, it could be amazing.

one little, highly praised film is going to lead to seven billion fictional wrestling shows

Dear god, I know. It'd be kinda bizarre. I've only said for ages now that they've mined every possibility for TV shows except for wrestling. Almost like a final frontier. I think the boom is gonna depend on how the movie does beyond the festival circuit. Critical acclaim doesn't necessarily translate to profit. But man, if it hits big, it'd be WILD to see people jumping on that bandwagon. Which is something I'm plenty torn about. :/

[pyroyale]

the kitsch potential being WAY high

Oh, I can see the colourful spandex and porn star moustaches already :-/ Kinda like the Brady Bunch meets Fight Club. I guess it depends on how much research they do as opposed to how quickly they want it on TV. A few crooked promoters cheating wrestlers at the pay window, heels kayfabing the crowd and territories buying each other out would make a fantastic background for a TV show.

Which is something I'm plenty torn about

I love wrestling being this little guilty secret that nobody knows or cares about other than to mock for being fake. The thought that snobby TV critics and the average HBO viewer might step into that world does not please me.

But this is pro wrestling. Even if dozens of TV shows do spring up and they lead to people jumping on the bandwagon they'd only find some way to screw it all up.

[angstbunny]

I can see the colourful spandex and porn star moustaches already

Exactly! Which is why I'd prefer it to be set closer to present day, because then the PERIOD SETTING~! wouldn't detract from the story and the characters.

As I said, I think it's a good sign that they have somebody who was actually involved in wrestling at some point. It's such an insular business. I think the potential for awesome is as great as the potential for spectacular suck.

I love wrestling being this little guilty secret

Exactly! And as much as I hate it, I'm still a little protective of it, too. I don't want to see people getting it wrong.

[idleleaves]

Ooh. Ooh!

The 70s, though? FAIL. I mean, full kayfabe = interesting times, but. Augh. The 70s is garish and cheesy on its own without adding the industry, which can be the same, into the mix.

[angstbunny]

full kayfabe = interesting times

Funnily enough, that's my opposite reaction. I wanna see something that deals with the breakdown of kayfabe. How it's a totally different world now, how the blend of kayfabe/shoot has been both beneficial and incredibly harmful.

[idleleaves]

... True. It'd be kind of neat, along those lines, if it could be set kind of in that time where it hasn't been that long since that breakdown, and where it's all kind of still a mess.

[angstbunny]

Yeah, exactly. I'd find that really fascinating. There's still this belief that wrestlers live the gimmick all the time, and it isn't like that anymore. I'd like to see an exploration of that.