Network TV has not been good for comic book adaptations over the last few years. Now that the various network have made it through pilot season and have made their series orders public, we learn that NBC has passed on The Sixth Gun.
The Sixth Gun, a popular indie book from Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt and published by Oni Press, now joins such high profile network near misses as Wonder Woman (also at NBC), Locke & Key (at FOX), and A.K.A. Jessica Jones (at ABC).
Seeing as how we’ve watched pilot after comic book pilot not make it past the pilot stage (or not even that far) over the lat few years, this news is hardly surprising, though it is disappointing. The Sixth Gun is a fun and inventive fantasy western series that deserves a wider audience.
Let’s just hope that Oni Press, Cullen Bunn, and Brian Hurtt got paid their option money. Apparently John Layman and Rob Guillory still haven’t been paid by Showtime after the premium cable network passed on Chew.
Update!
We originally posted about ABC picking up Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. based on information we were told that we have since confirmed is not final yet. We apologize for jumping that gun.
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Maybe NBC will wait a month and pick it up for a dollar cheaper. That’s what I do.
Not issue #1, that’s sold out.
Not digitally.
That sucks. But yet Revolution continues with a huge budget & god awful acting.
Yeah, Revolution is unbelievable. I like the story but the actors and dialogue are horrid. It’s the same thing with Falling Skies. I think the acting potential is better but the writing is so weak. The dialogue for these shows is like something out of an 1980’s TV drama, so trite and unoriginal. I keep expecting David Hasselhoff to walk on screen.
Not that it’s great by any means but I think Falling Sky is miles better than Revolution.
There’s your problem: that’s what network execs want to watch (or worse, think we want to watch), so smart, funny shows that have quality writing don’t get picked up. Maybe they’re right, people keep tuning in to Two and a Half Men…
I want to second the hope that they got paid. I feel like NBC would not be as dirty as Showtime, but I never thought Showtime would be capable of such scumbaggyness
I’m sure that just looked at how well Brisco County Jr. did and figured they’d pass on it.
Anyone know why they never try to make a quick buck & release the pilot episodes as a stand-alone movie? I watched a bootleg of Global Frequency’s pilot years ago and it was great. And yes, I know that Warren Ellis blames bootlegs of the pilot for the show not getting picked up.
GTFO, there was a Global Frequency pilot? I wanna see it!
Syfy is known to do that fairly often.
I am actually glad they passed. This was unlikely to be good on NBC. It would be better if it was picked up on a cable channel where there are less restrictions on content.
That’s a shame. It would have been great to see this on TV and also see more Western’s as well. Maybe it’ll be picked up in the near future by someone else….Or NBC again if they’re desperate….Which they will be trust me.
I think the title of this article should have been “NBC Fucks Up Yet Again.” That network is hurting. I can’t recall the last time I watched anything on it. “Heroes” maybe? I think when “Heroes” ultimately failed it greatly lessened the chances of ANYTHING from a comic making it on the air on NBC. But that was partly their own fault, and partly due to the writers strike.
And let’s not forget Powers on F/X (or is that still being worked on?), Aquaman on CW and Fables on ABC (which got replaced with the “oddly” similar and infinitely inferior Once Upon A Time). And wasn’t HBO considering Preacher at one point, or was that just a rumor?
I believe Powers is still under development, haven’t seen any info on it being dropped yet. (But several years under development doesn’t sound too promising either.)
Let’s face it, in a world of low budget “reality” shows that get good ratings (for some God forsaken reason), not too many networks want to back high-risk and costly scripted/special effects shows.
I think a problem network TV has with the Superhero genre is that they try to make it fit into their typical rehashed format.
Heroes had promise, but as a series it lacked direction, had too many writers doing their own thing and it was a complete mess. It had some truly fantastic episodes**, but as a series it had so many flaws.
**(The “Company Man” episode comes to mind, where the entire episode focused on just the Bennet family and it didn’t include all the other multi-loose ends.)
I watch Arrow — but it has the same story telling flaws as Smallville did; there’s just too much over acted emotional baggage dialogues between cast members for me to truly enjoy this show. Every character seems to have a hate/love relationship with the other characters. I feel like I wait around for the 10-15 minutes of the actual story in every episode. I have high hopes for Arrow. Maybe they will improve on the story telling next season.
AND — When they do get it right, like the show Alphas — gets dropped due to poor ratings. (sigh)
Smallville lasted 10 seasons and I enjoyed every minute of it!!