Friday, October 12, 2012

NBC gives up the ghost on "Mockingbird Lane"

NBC, given its recent poor track record with revivals & reboots, has decided against going ahead with a full-on revamp of the beloved 1964-6 horrorcom, The Munsters, and will air Mockingbird Lane as a stand-alone, 1-shot special, airing later this month. Creative differences between creator Bryan Fuller (ex-Pushing Daisies) and the network are said to be the cause of this change of heart.

NBC spent $10 million putting this together, but as cast photos appearing on Yahoo! pretty much tell the tale. Fuller was putting himself at risk of alienating fans of Munsters by making the characters appear to be a little more human than originally presented nearly 40 years ago. For example, Jerry O'Connell (ex-The Defenders, Sliders, My Secret Identity) as Herman is identifiable by a large scar around his neck. If that didn't throw up a red flag, what would?

Mockingbird Lane will air 2 weeks from tonight. Beyond that, it'll likely be shunted off to cable cousin SyFy for dumping before being released on DVD to recoup the losses if at all possible (and you know that's likely). I for one can't wait to read the reviews......

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