10 Things To Dislike About The Idea Of A '10 Things I Hate About You' Remake
Posted by meredith on 06-25-2009
When I first heard that ABC Family was reviving "10 Things I Hate About You" as a TV series, I admit my inner teen cringed. As a film I cherished with my friends back in the day (buying the soundtrack, quoting at length, re-watching again and again) it just felt like someone was trespassing on my nostalgic territory. Could a new cast and writer (Carter Covington from ABC Family's "Greek") really channel that same edgy energy that made the original movie connect so well? And could a perfectly well structured story arc — based on Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" — really hold up when stretched into a whole sit-com season of episodes? I'm more than a little nervous to find out.
To see how other fans my age and younger were responding, I checked out the comments on the show's Facebook page. Not surprisingly, many echoed my defensive stance. While there were a few who were curious, most were not impressed and almost seemed rooting for the show to fail. Many of them also expressed a grievance that I didn't share, but found interesting — that the show was capitalizing on the death of Heath Ledger (who plays the bad boy "Patrick" in the film). Here are some of the posts:
"How embarrassing. I'm a HUGE Heath Ledger fan (I like to say his biggest), and this is just an insult. This movie is definitely one of my favorites of his, and turning it into a show is just bad news. I hope the ratings go lower than dirt and they take it off, that's just horrible. Hopefully they'll read these reviews. It's a wonderful movie, and they're ruining it."
"I totally agree this degrades the original movie that in no way needed this kind of nonsense brought to it. The movie was awesome and I don't see how this contributes. It doesn't uplift the movie trademark, but in fact is in my opinion a way to make money off of a great actor's death for their own benefit."
"I agree that it will probably be a terrible show, HOWEVER. Don't assume this just because it's a series being based off of a movie! Look at Buffy. That started off as an AMAZING movie, and was turned into an even more amazing tv show."
I included the last comment, because, well, she has a point. There is precedent for a movie to be turned into a show and take off on its own. And maybe '10 Things' will find its groove with a new generation of tweens and teens who are discovering perky Bianca and rebellious Kat Stratford for the first time. But my sense is "Buffy" was a very specific exception to the rule (Joss Whedon fans, back me up here?), and while the forces behind "Greek" seem like a talented bunch, I'm not sure that this imitation will really win over the skeptics out there…or even inspire them to give it a fair chance. Ypulse readers?
Categorized under: Movies & Music, TV
June 25th, 2009 at 10:54 am
How can you criticize anything when you haven't even seen it? Watch a few episodes, then make an informed decision. Batman has been remade many times, in many formats and people don't complain about it. Every retelling brings it's own unique nuances, some better than others. Once you see it, then you have the right to criticize. Until then…… it's best to keep your mouth shut.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Hi Give it a Chance. I'm not actually criticizing the content of the show so much as expressing the reservations I have about the concept. I'm also pointing out that a strong negative response from the movie's established fan base poses a challenge to the show's potential popularity. Regardless, I believe one always has the "right" to express themselves.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Considering this movie itself was a "refresh" of a Shakespeare play (The Taming of the Shrew) and has been adapted / reenacted about 50-60 times already, I'm not sure why it's a big deal. Heck, the BBC already made a TV show about it in the 80′s with John Cleese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taming_of_the_Shrew#Adaptations
June 25th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Still won't be the same without Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. They made the movie for me. But maybe for today's teens, it'll be another sugary pop-culture hit about the woes of high school life.
June 25th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I absolutely think everyone has a right to an opinion. I am of the strong opinion that you do not criticize something unless you have first hand knowlege of it. Enough said…..
June 25th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
As a closet "Ten Things" fan, I agree one should see it, but also don't think it will compare at all to the movie.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:56 am
Nope! I will not give this show a chance. I will judge it before I see it. I am a great judge of shows/movies. My friends ask me all the time my opinion, I just have a nack, and I am not very talented at anything else,lol! First they are messing with a classic! 2nd Heath only died a little over a year a go, so a lot of people will assume that they are trying to capitalize on his death. 3, I am sick to death of this generation re-doing my generations ideas! They have been raised by lazy- butt, do everything for you technology and therefore they never developed their imaginations, so they steal ours. I mean 90210,Melrose Place? not to mention the movies, Dukes of hazzard,Charlie's angels etc. Use your brains/creativity and create your own ideas! One last thing, this show will not have Heath Ledger, therefore it will suck!
June 26th, 2009 at 3:00 am
The Buffy movie was terrible. It was taken out of Joss's hands at an early stage, and the result was not at all what he had in mind. The show is so much better than the film that it's not even worthy of a comparison. The show was Joss's brilliant vision. The film was not. So making a show of the film actually made it better.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Greek rocks. If this is from the same team, I can't find even ONE thing to hate about a "10 Things" update.
Bring it on!
June 26th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I was hoping that this show would get renewed interest in the movie, which I've been waiting for in a re-released anamorphic DVD.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
@Norcross- But it's not another adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew." It's an adaptation of an adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew." And I'm not convinced of the value of a copy of a copy.
June 28th, 2009 at 7:53 am
Who knows how this show will turn out? However, television has not had a long, long list of successful television shows based off of films. Of the top of my head, I think that "M*A*S*H" and "Buffy" are the only successful television shows based off films in recent times. I loved the original film. I don't know about this series. We'll see.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I agree with the majority of commentators – this could be really good! I mean, it's such a good concept. There is wealth of material to have storylines about in high school, particularly with the angle of two totally opposite sisters. Plus, it's time for the next generation to love 10 Things as much as we did, even if it is television format. Can't wait!
July 14th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
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