Wicked (ABC TV Series)

[UmbrellaFish]

When I tell you that Salma Hayek is bringing a wicked new project to ABC, I mean that quite literally.

Sources confirm that the actress-producer is teaming with ABC to develop an eight-hour miniseries adaptation of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the Gregory Maguire bestseller that spawned the Broadway phenom. The insider stresses that it would be based on the novel and not the musical. As a result, this Wicked would be less of a prequel and more of a parallel story to The Wizard of Oz. (Universal, as you may know, is currently developing a Wicked film, and that would be based on the musical.)

ABC Studios will produce along with Hayek and Jose Tamez through the duo’s Ventanarosa Productions. The ex-Ugly Betty producer may also play a supporting role in the project, which is being penned by Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers).

Oh, and some juicy background: Two years ago, ABC — under then-president Steve McPherson — passed on a Wicked mini. But his successor, former ABC Family boss Paul Lee, resurrected it soon after taking the reins last summer.

Thoughts? Excited to see ABC getting back in the miniseries business? Got casting suggestions for Elphaba and Galinda? Personally, I’m rooting for Glee‘s go-to airhead, Heather Morris, as the Good Witch and Raising Hope‘s Shannon Woodward as the green one. Anyway, the comments section below is all yours! Hit it!

http://www.tvline.com/2011/01/abc-wicked-miniseries/

I rather like this idea and hopes it comes to complete fruition!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Oh, this is super exciting. I hope this actually comes true, because that would be an awesome idea. I only wish they would have done this with A Wrinkle in Time. The botched TV film version is totally unsatisfying. I don't know if I would like stars or unknown's to play the two leading ladies. If this happens, though, I know I'll be tuning in.

[Disney Duster]

But...but...I think the Warner Brothers film should try to be like the musical and the book. This feels like...an unnecessary re-tread.

BUT it's a re-tread I will gladly watch, it's just...does this ruin the movie's chances of A) being as much like the book as it can be and B) having as much success as it would had people not seen this miniseries?

Also, why is the producer and ex-Ugly Betty producer? Is that show over? Ugly Betty had an episode where the main character saw Wicked, actually.

Finally, Heather Morris could be a good choice for Galinda, but not if she acted like the "air-head" the article described her as. In the book, Galinda actually goes to college because she is smart. However, the book says there are different ways of being smart, pointing out that Elphaba is smarter in a different kind of way, while Galinda may be book or knowledge smart.

That means the musical dumbed Galinda down. Yep. To make things a liitle more easily clear I guess. That's a real shame.

And I don't get why people think Glinda would be dumb anyway. In both the movie and the book, she wisely new things no one else did, and in the movie she tried to teach Dorothy a lesson!

[pinkrenata]

That means the musical dumbed Galinda down. Yep. To make things a liitle more easily clear I guess. That's a real shame.

The musical dumbed everything down!

I will always be torn about Wicked, both the book and the movie. I read the book first and liked it more than I disliked it, but didn't love it either. When I saw the play, I more or less felt the same way, mixed with shock at how different it was from the book. Like I said -- it basically dumbed everything down! Over time, the songs have grown on me, as well as the choices they made when adapting the book for the stage. I really, really like it, I just don't love it.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens with this mini-series. I'm assuming the large fan-base will ensure they try hard to make it decent. Still, mini-series (especially fantasy) tend to scare me. I usually to associate them with sub-par special effects and cheesy acting. But you never know.

[pap64]

I was the complete opposite. I read the book after watching the musical, and I thought it was extremely pretentious. It overused philosophy (which I feel is a cheap gimmick to make the book seem more intellectual) and it took itself way too seriously.

The musical I feel strikes the right balance between whimsy and reality, coming across as a tribute to the original MGM musical. The characters were more approachable and the story made much more sense with all the superfluous intellect trimmed down.

Funny enough, the majority of my friends feel the same way. Some read the book first, then watched the musical later, others saw the musical first. But we came to the same conclusion that the book, while good, took itself way too seriously.

In the words of Doug Walker... LIGHTEN UP!

[PeterPanfan]

I fully agree with Renata... I think I like the book more, however. I don't see why Salma Hayek would produce this without having a part in it... if she has an American accent, I can see her being Elphaba.

[UmbrellaFish]

BUT it's a re-tread I will gladly watch, it's just...does this ruin the movie's chances of A) being as much like the book as it can be and B) having as much success as it would had people not seen this miniseries?

To answer question B, I highly doubt it. I'm sure you know classic films like Marty and 12 Angry Men were television movies before they hit the big screen, and that didn't impend either of them from becoming successes and garnering Oscars. And as the mini-series will most likely be quite different from the filmed musical, I don't think many people will be inclined to make comparisons, and I definitely don't think seeing the mini-series beforehand would stop someone from watching the movie musical.

As far as casting goes, I'll leave that up to the folks at ABC. I definitely do not like the idea of Heather Morris in the role, but to be fair, I'm probably biased to a Krisitin Chenoweth-style performance. I sort of like the idea that the cast (or the two leads) be unknowns, as mentioned by TSOD.

And lastly, to put my two cents into the "musical vs. book" debate, because the novel and the musical are so different, it's difficult to compare the two, and in my opinion, better not to. I will say that as far as books go, I feel Gregory Maguire did a magnificent job and Wicked is one of my all-time favorites; as far as Broadway musicals go, Wicked is great fun, however, not exactly a masterpiece of the medium, but still very enjoyable.

[SpringHeelJack]

It'd be nice to have a "Wicked" film that potentially won't blow. I'm for it!

[Disney Duster]

Pap, I want to understand you. You didn't like the book, but you loved the musical. Did you always feel the book was trying to be too intellectual before you even saw the musical? Well, I'm really curious what books you think are more "actually" intellectual than Wicked and how they are better than Wicked because of it.

Also, I like that the book took itself seriously. I like that it felt deep and tremendous. I mean, the book was addressing a lot of questions and things, it was tackling a lot of issues and exploring a lot of themes. And yea, deeper than the musical. The book gave me a good, deep-feeling, touching experience.

Now, I love the musical, also. I love them both almost equally as two seperate things, but I do wish the musical had been just a bit more like the book, but it's not like I don't find at least some faults with the book, too (like making Glinda less truly good or wise).

UmbrellaFish, well, I'll take that into account, but I actually am not all that familiar with the movies you mentioned, so I don't know if they're really a similar enough case/ a good enough case of success to compare.

We also don't know just how similar this series will be to the musical and how people will react...I mean, aren't they obviously trying to cash on the musical here, so I would think they would play up that aspect?

[Disneykid]

I loved the first third and last third of the book but felt the middle was a convoluted bore. The musical wisely axed that section and only focused on the first third (Shiz) and last third (Dorothy). Because of that, I prefer the musical, even if it could use some subtlety in parts. I do miss some things from the book that didn't make it into the show (the nanny, the twin brothers from Shiz, Elphie's more developed relationship with her father). It'll be interesting to see if this miniseries is influenced by the show in any way. I'm not expecting much from the middle 2 or 3 hours, but I'm very much looking forward to everything else.