Question for VM Fans

[shipperx]

I never watched the show.  Sampled it a couple of times, but that's all.   A lot of my f-listers loved it though, so I see a fair amount of squee over the 'kickstarting a movie' thing.  Also see some snark over the 'kickstarting a movie' thing.  I have no opinion, as I wrote, I didn't watch the show.  But...

Wasn't it about a teen detective?  And isn't Kristen Bell like 30 now?

Is it kind of like wanting an adult Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden extension?  I'm confused.

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

VM was set in high school (s1-2) and college (s3). IIRC, the fourth season was supposed to be set a few years after the high school/college years, with VM as an FBI trainee. So I'm guessing they're going for that angle.

I'm sure there's more specific info out there, I jumped ship sometime in early s3. But season 1 was mostly brilliant.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

She was also a "teen detective" version of Sherlock Holmes, and we're seeing quite a few variations on that theme that are less disguised. I don't think her "teen-ness" was the most important part of her character, although it led to everybody underestimating her, which was funny.

From Wikipedia

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Thomas stated that he was interested in writing a feature film based on the series, in the interest of providing closure to the story lines and character arcs. In September 2008, Michael Ausiello, writing for Entertainment Weekly, reported that Thomas had met with Bell to discuss the plot, which would likely involve Veronica solving crime in college rather than as an FBI agent.

Whether he's gone back to the FBI idea or is sticking with Hearst College remains to be seen.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

It ended it in her college year, as the others wrote and they had plans of going on with being recruited by the FBI or CIA.

On the kickstarter page it says they want to go back to the early season setting by setting the movie during a 10 year highschool reunion. Could be really interesting, because there were still several loose endings from the highschool setting.

I'm not much into teen series, that don't have a supernatural element and season three could not keep up with the first two, but I think it could be brilliant. The drop in quality in the third season was largely due to the network demanding a more episodic plot.

[empresspatti.livejournal.com]

VM was a really interesting character - lots of smarts, snark and entertainment. I never get involved in the "this season sucks but that season was the best" stuff (paralyzed by not caring that much) BUT - I am really pleased to see that a VM movie will happen.

NOW if Terriers just follows this model!!

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

As you can probably guess, I am grossed out by all of this. I hate RT and KB more than I ever did JW and SMG. I actually kind of love SMG now and tolerate Joss.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

NOW if Terriers just follows this model!!

Oh yes. Then again, I'd settle for just a DVD box set... :/

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

The movie is supposed to be set at a 10 year high school reunion, as someone mentioned above.

I loved the first season and it kind of went downhill from there, but I am behind the making of a movie mostly because I want more Logan/Veronica, which I think they will go for in the movie (they would be idiots not to). RT messed up that ship (which I adored) in the third season and I really want to see them back together. And KB hinted at that on the Kickstarter page as well. Plus, I do love the relationship between Veronica and her dad as well.

[killerweasel.livejournal.com]

I never watched the show when it was on. I have no plan on catching up on it now.

Here's the thing that bothers me- the show ended 8 years ago and now that Kickstarer is the popular fundraiser thing, they've decided to make a movie. If they'd really wanted to make a movie prior to this, couldn't they have had some other sort of fundraiser to do so?

Is it only being run by fan donations? Cause I have to assume all of the actors involved have at least a semi-decent chunk of cash banked somewhere. If they wanted their movie so badly, maybe they could have tossed in some cash.

Don't get me wrong, I think Kickstarters can be amazing things that lead to great results, provided they reach their goals. I just find it a bit off that they're doing a fundraiser now instead of when the series was more popular and the actors were still closer to the characters' ages.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I'm in the same boat... although that said, I still think Season 1 is worth watching, but that no one should bother moving on from there Like with the Mutant Enemy folks, it rapidly becomes obvious that a lot of the stuff that comes across as brilliant was really more of a happy accident that the powers that be actually dislike.

[rahirah]

Apparently the movie will be about Veronica going back to Neptune for her high school reunion, or something. IOW they're going to age the characters up to match the actors.

I ended up watching VM finally, a couple of years ago, and it's a pretty darn good show, especially the first season. I mean, it's a show about Veronica being a noir teen detective, not a show about her angst-ridden non-relationship with Logan, as fandom had led me to believe. But the OTT "VM is a million times better than BtVS, Rob Thomas is God!" reaction it got from a number of disappointed, bitter Spuffy shippers (who then predictably went on to become disappointed, bitter LoVe shippers) keep me from loving it.

I will say that RT seems to like his actors and his characters somewhat more than Joss does, even if he's no better at writing relationships than Joss is.

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

I want more Logan/Veronica, which I think they will go for in the movie (they would be idiots not to)

But that's the rub, isn't it? Rob Thomas IS an idiot who ran VM into the ground, and is a megalomaniacal asshole in the Whedon/Brannon Braga/Dan Harmon vein, so unless he promises it specifically, there is no chance he'll revive a pairing he never really liked. Remember: his couple of choice was Veronica/Duncan, and he was really pissed off when fans didn't love them, so much so that he threw a spanner into every attempt to bring Veronica/Logan back together in the rest of the series. Didn't she end up with that universally despised Piz character?

If this movie does get off the ground (and I seriously doubt it will), be prepared for VM's cinematic version of the Buffy Season 8 comics. You heard it here first.

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

Well at least if that happens I can find out ahead of time and not spend my money on a ticket. :-)

And if it was just a movie about Veronica and her dad without any shippy stuff, I might watch that, too.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

I agree about season one. It was wonderful. Then season two happened. :-(

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

RT's clueless comments about the popularity of Logan/Veronica in S1 bug the everlovin' crap out of me. He couldn't freakin' see what was right in front of his face. Ugh.

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoyed all three seasons, each in their own fashion; and while I liked "Veronica + Logan," to me that wasn't at all the point of the show. Right from the start it was clear that it was initially about Veronica finding herself apart from whoever she happened to be dating, and throughout it was more about a girl who liked to use her brain, and grew up, and peripherally about having boyfriends. Her relationship with her father and friends seemed more important, in the overall theme of the show.

Logan as a character is a bit of a shit, and I know it's largely an unpopular opinion, but honestly, if anyone but Jason Dohring were playing him, I doubt he'd be this popular (it was like casting Rickman as Snape). I certainly liked him because of Dohring's portrayal, and that was, for me, because I'd watched Moonlight first...

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I think it has more to do with Warner Bros agreeing to pick up the cost of distribution and promotion if they garner enough interest from fans to raise 2M in 30 days. Thomas, Bell and Co could have probably scraped together the dough to get it made, but I doubt they could cover the cost of making prints (about $2K/print) even as an indie or platform release.

[next_to_normal]

They didn't just decide to make a movie, though. Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell have been saying they wanted to do a movie for years, but couldn't make it happen. The problem isn't really money (though I doubt any of them are famous enough to have a few spare millions lying around) - it's that Warner Bros holds the rights to the property, and they didn't want to do anything with it. The actors involved can't just go off and make a movie with their own money. They'd need Warner Bros' permission and licensing - and Warner Bros didn't believe there was enough interest in a VM movie to make it worthwhile.

I don't know whose idea it was to use Kickstarter specifically, but my understanding of the deal is that Warner Bros said to Rob Thomas, "Okay, if you can get $2 million from the fans to do this movie, we'll give it our blessing." Kickstarter gave Thomas the opportunity to prove that there IS still a lot of interest and enthusiasm among the fans.

Maybe they could've tried crowdsourcing earlier, but I don't know that they could've done a fundraiser on this scale prior to Kickstarter that would've generated enough cash to prove anything to Warner Bros.

[molliemole.livejournal.com]

As you say, Jason Dohring made Logan appealing, because he was definitely a character with "issues".

What I liked about VM was (a) Veronica had a brain and used it, and (b) she had a wonderful relationship with her dad.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

And if it was just a movie about Veronica and her dad without any shippy stuff, I might watch that, too.

Word! Wordy McWord!

Though sadly I no longer have any VM icons to post this with..

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I agree with that, so many fans told me to avoid season 3 like the plague (I watched all three seasons for the first time last year) and, while I can certainly see the many problems that the show had that year, ultimately I am still glad I watched it and I wouldn't call it *terrible* or anything. And that's really the rep that season 3 seems to have, that it wasn't just bad for VM, but that is was painfully awful television full-stop. And that I don't see

The first season was the best obviously, it had the most emotional mystery to solve, and also could spend a lot of time introducing us to the characters for the first time, giving Logan layers etc. I think season 2 struggled with sustaining a mystery over 22 episodes and not dragging in parts, so in a way I can understand the CW's request for multiple arcs in the third season. It's just a shame they never pulled it off well. It could have been a great show on cable with a more limited run of 12-15 episodes to solve the main mystery, 22 episodes for any one mystery just stretched things out a little too much after the first season

And honestly I never got the big deal about Logan, Veronica's character was the bigger reason I was watching the show and I would have followed the FBI spin-off they suggested too (although I did also love her relationship with her Dad of course and characters like Weevil and Mac)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I don't think Terriers needed another season - that ending was perfect.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Basically it's the same scenario as what happened with Firefly. Fox held the rights and Whedon got the movie made when he was able to demonstrate fan interest. Another example is Farscape - that got cancelled, fan interest got the mini-series "Peace Keeper Wars" made two years later. Of course that was closer to the end of those series not literally 6-8 years after they ended.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Neither Joss nor RT are Romance writers. RT is a noir writer - romantic relationships in noir by and large end badly, and Whedon is a horror writer, ditto.

Problem is too many fans saw them as romance, and neither writer does that.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Series did have a cliff-hanger, which apparently no one but me seems to remember and I only vaguely do - in the series finale, Veronica's Dad was in trouble due to something Veronica did, and Logan had also gone off the deep end. Those were two of the loose ends. Although - being noire - they didn't necessarily need to be tied up. (I had to explain noire to someone in RL today - it's hard to explain off the cuff.) I'd say it had a Angel like ending, but was more ambiguous and noire than Angel.

Rob Thomas basically wrote a female noire detective series - and he is one of the few tv writers who understands "noire". It was controversial - mainly because noire is NOT for everyone. It doesn't end happily, it isn't romantic, and the characters often aren't likable - particularly the hero/heroine.

Think a female Philip Marlow but in High School. What was great about it was the twist on gender roles.

Romantic Relationship Shippers had issues - mainly because RT is not a romance writer - noire writers don't do romance. They dislike romance. They are sort of anti-romance.

For years they've discussed doing a movie. Since the show ended with Veronica in college and looking into a summer FBI internship, while her father got into trouble...they could do a movie with a 30 year old Kristin Bell with no issues. The series only took place in high school for the first two years.

Also unlike Gellar, Bell has aged well.;-)

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

Yep. I was very fond of Logan (he's very interesting!), but I didn't hinge my enjoyment of the show on whether or not he and Veronica ended up together. (Not that I would be unhappy if they DID, mind you...) I liked Veronica, I liked Ken (I was REALLY interested in his story!), and I liked the world they'd made for them.

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

He was an interesting character, that's for sure -- but I wasn't sure if I actually LIKED him (or would like him hanging around me!).