But, thinking outside the box… what other oldies would you like to see revisited? Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason? Dick Francis’s jockey Sid Halley? Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey? Margery Allingham's Albert Campion? Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski??
My #1 pick, and we should be seeing it soon at the movie theatres (supposedly February of 2028!): a revival of Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote with Jamie Lee Curtis (count me a JLC fangirl) picking up where Angela Lansbury left off.
When I was writing the Dr. Peter Zak mysteries, I was definitely channeling Dr. Kildare -- even though he was not really a “sleuth” he was a doctor.
Is there a classic sleuth or literary or pop culture personality that influenced a sleuth you created?? Or have you always truly started from scratch?
LUCY BURDETTE: I’d be okay never seeing another Murder She Wrote, except…I adore Jamie Lee Curtis! I was more in the camp of Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames as a kid, rather than classics. I wonder if The Pitt would be considered a modern day Cherry Ames:)?
I really feel we’ve overdone incarnations of Miss Marple when Joan Hickson was so perfect, although I confess St Mary Mead was the inspiration for my Welsh Llanfsir ( which means St Mary’s)
There are so many good sleuth around now. I don’t think we should keep rehashing the past— how about a Duncan and Gemma or Claire and Russ?
JENN McKINLAY: I’m in the camp of I like the Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot in my mind better than any screen adaptation, although Hickson is stellar. As for Jamie Lee Curtis, I love her, I just hope they keep the iconic tv theme music. I see her being more slapstick than Angela Lansbury, who did have excellent comedic timing.
I second what Rhys observed–why not use some amateur sleuth novels from this century? We are 26 years in, after all. I did hear that Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jessie Q Sutanto is being adapted and I am excited for that one.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Count me as third for more contemporary cozies on TV/streaming. One of my gripes with Acorn and Britbox is that their original stuff tends to be much more hard edged. Which is why I’m also excited about the Tommy and Tuppence remake. Did anyone else watch the first 12 minutes on YouTube? I was hooked.
In the same vein, I can’t be the only one who’d love to see a Nick and Nora reboot. Whether done again set in the 1930s, or a modern-day version, those books are well overdue for a remake.
I’d also be fascinated to see a remake of Earl Derr Biggers Charlie Chan mysteries. Biggers intent was to great an admirable and heroic Chinese character in a time when American culture was full on “Yellow Peril.”
For his time, he did pretty well, but the stereotypes really didn’t age well, not to mention all the white actors in yellow face. Wouldn’t those stories be great with an all-Asian cast and all the racist stuff washed out?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, I would always do with another Morse, although the original was perfectly perfect. And I think Magpie Murders (and etc. ) blends old and new wonderfully well.
I’m terrified that there might be a Kinsey Millhone series, because we all know Sue Grafton did not want that. And thinking about it, I don’t either. It just–can’t work. And Julia, you have me musing over NIck and Nora. I first thought, ooh, genius. Then I thought–nope, leave them alone in our hearts and minds.
Rachel Eckstrom Courage took The Golden Girls and made them amateur sleuths in a cozy mystery series–it is so wonderful! But would it have worked the other way? Well…maybe….
My final thing–many of those old series, which we loved at the time, were all about men telling women what to do. Hmm.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I was actually never a big Murder She Wrote fan (ouch) but I’d be willing to give Jamie Lee Curtis a go.
I’m a little over the Christie adaptations, although I do want to see what they’ve done with Tommy and Tuppence. They were always my faves of the Christie sleuths and it’s nice that they were not, as Hank says above, about men telling women what to do. I think Tuppence was always the brains of that duo!
And maybe because I loved the detecting couple, those stories planted somewhere in my subconscious the germ of what became Duncan and Gemma.
Thanks for the shout out, Rhys! You know I’d love to see them adapted, and also Julia’s Russ and Clare!
Speaking of Christie-related TV, it occurred to me that Amanda Chapman’s MRS. CHRISTIE IN THE MYSTERY GUILD LIBRARY and its upcoming sequel, MRS. CHRISTIE AND THE MYSTERY IN THE MEWS would make fabulous TV with the glamorous present day New York setting and Agatha Christie’s ghost (possibly!)
HALLIE: What great ideas!? Hollywood, are you listening??
What spin-offs and inspired-bys are you looking forward to or have been enjoying lately?? And what makes a character so intriguing that writers can hang mystery plots on their backs? Is there a niche sleuth/personality that hasn't yet been "taken"?
There are some, like Nick and Nora, that might make an interesting do-over, but I often wish for less re-doing of what has been done and more new and original . . . I’m all for a Clare and Russ or Gemma and Duncan.
ReplyDeleteI’m iffy on the “Murder, She Wrote” remake . . . Jamie Lee Curtis is wonderful, but Angela Lansbury certainly made Jessica Fletcher her own.
What a fun topic. I also love Jamie Lee Curtis, and we'll see how they mash her up with Jessica Fletcher. Yes please to a Gemma and Duncan series, and a Clare and Russ series, and Amanda Chapman's books would be an excellent screen addition to the Christie nods.
ReplyDeleteI have realized I never read any Tommy and Tuppence books. Yesterday I FINALLY finished reading Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the first time. Dame Agatha's writing and storytelling sure stands up to the test of time! Now I'll have to get Britbox so I can watch Tommy and Tuppence and all the rest, and then you'll never see me again...
There was a 1991 V.I. Warshawski movie - did anybody see it? It starred Kathleen Turner and, cringe, is described as an "action comedy" film which apparently bombed. A good remake of her as a series would be fabulous. Have there ever been any Dick Francis series? Or Dorothy Sayers? That I would watch in a heartbeat, especially with Harriet Vane starring more than Wimsey.
My amateur sleuths originally were inspired by the cooking cozy sleuths I was reading in late eighties and early nineties - Faith Fairchild, Goldy Schultz, China Bayles - plus the independence and smarts of Kinsey Millhone and VI Warshawski.
Edith - that V.I. Warshawski movie was DREADFUL, what a mistake. I cannot think of who might play V.I., so best leave her on the page and in my mind.
DeleteEdith, I just discovered a Goldy Schultz series on Hallmark (which I signed up for to watch Jenn's Paris is Always a Good Idea). It's a little different than the books, but starts with Dying for Chocolate.
DeleteI generally am not in favor of rebooting well-known detectives for film or television. They try too hard to put a different spin on things and the executives involved are witless drones who have no idea what they are doing. They are the ones who "reimagine" our favorite characters to suit their own needs and ego, a la Perry Mason. They are the ones who decide to make Hercule Poirot and Jules Maigret younger; it worked with ENDEAVOR, but seldom with any other character. There's a reason why we'll never see Kinsey Milhone on screen and why Sara Paretsky shut down any further V. I. Warshawski films after Disney had done the character so much dirt. Tommy and Tuppence may well be a great series, but they WILL NOT BE Tommy and Tuppence except in name only. I fear the new ROCKFORD FILES. I enjoyed Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple but she WAS NOT Miss Marple, nor were a number of others. Jim Hutton came close to being my idea of Ellery Queen but only because Queen was such a fluid character over the course of the novels and Levinson and Link's Queen happened to hit on one of them. I liked Tom Selleck's Jesse Stone and abhorred Mark Walberg's version of the character. Mark Williams' Father Brown is not G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown. And look what they did to Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr Also, far too often Hollywood has lampooned beloved characters just to be different and make a buck -- Charlie Chan, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, etc.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm too much of a purist.
Characters I would like to see on the screen if they are done right? Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective, Bill Crider's Sheriff Dan Rhodes, Terry Shames' Samuel Craddock, any number of Edward D. Hoch's characters, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson (and not, Heaven forbid, Aloysius Pendergast), Mollie Murphy, Duncan and Gemma, Clare and Russ...I could go on and on.
Well-known detectives revisited and done right? Just about all of them.
I would love to see Samuel Craddock come to life!
DeleteFirst off, no to Kinsey Millhone and a new Jessica Fletcher.
ReplyDeleteSecond, they did do that two season Perry Mason show on HBO. I never saw it though so I can't say how it was.
The notion of doing a new Charlie Chan film series would be cool IF it was done right. And anyone involved acknowledging that when the original movies were made in the late 1930s, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that they were going to cast an Asian actor in the lead role so stop kvetching about something that can't be changed from 90 FREAKING YEARS AGO!
I'm not all that connected to The Rockford Files so I'm not dreading the redo. I mean, I saw episodes of the original but I remember nothing about them. Plus, David Boreanaz does have a gravitas that he'll bring to the role so that's a wait and see for me.
I saw the V.I. Warshawski movie and yes it bombed. For good reason too, it just wasn't a good movie. The same goes for the One for the Money movie featuring Stephanie Plum that starred Katherine Heigl. It was crap. I would love a harder edged Warshawski movie (or HBO series).
For me, the Spenser books would be ripe for a GOOD adaptation again. I loved the Robert Urich series (even if Robert B. Parker didn't) but when they made the movies for A&E, they were not nearly as good. And after the abomination that was the movie Mark Wahlberg was in as Spenser, anyone associated with that project should never be allowed near any new Spenser project.
Personally, I want a Country Store Mysteries series even if it would likely have to be on Hallmark. Robbie Jordan solving crimes, making breakfast and lunch and kicking butt would be awesome!
I'd love to see Ingrid Thoft's Fina Ludlow get the live action treatment. I miss Ingrid and Fina so much.
Oh, and the Karen Kijewski Kat Colorado series as well!
That's all I've got for now.
By the way, I've seen comics that have continued various franchises as of late. Not of the detective genre but both The Last Starfighter and The Greatest American Hero have series that are continuing the franchise out now.
Aww, thank you, Jay! Wouldn't a Country Store series be fun? (I'm writing a Adele short story right now - stay tuned for news...)
DeleteJay - YES! to Ingrid Thoft's Fina Ludlow. I loved those books and that character.
DeleteI am not a fan of the endless remakes of the classics. Are they easier (cheaper?) to produce than new characters and new stories? Aren't we ready for some new and more varied characters with diversity of every kind? Dame Agatha has her place in history, but I vote for someone new to be given some screen time.
ReplyDeleteCurmudgeon here…I cringe reading of hopes of Reds’ writings turned into TV. Just go back and read the book again. Nothing against all of you becoming wildly wealthy celebrities, but what your words and my mind create while reading your books is far better for me than watching them manipulated into another format. Same in reverse: if Professor T were to be manipulated into print. Enjoy this brand new week. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteHas anyone started watching USA’s series, Anna Pidgeon, based on Nevada Barr’s novels? It’s interesting, although Anna’s character survives major physical accidents looking pretty good. It’s much better in my opinion than Darkwind, the Tony Hillerman adaptation. Every time my husband watched that, I had to explain why there was no way Joe Leaphorn would ever do those things. I figured Tony was rolling over in his grave.
ReplyDeleteFrom Mignonne in Arkansas
At first I had no thoughts, but as I read the comments above I found myself wondering if William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor books could be brought to the big screen. Each story is far too epic for converting to a TV series, but I could see them working well in theaters.
ReplyDeleteI'm of very mixed opinion as I wait for the new Murder She Wrote. Even though it wasn't the best writing in the world, Angela Lansbury made it worth watching. (I have re-watched some of them in recent years as it is the kind of comfort TV that my sister now enjoys.) I am a huge Jamie Lee Curtis fan and I feel confident she will do a good job, but I still question whether it is a wise effort.
Last week was Tommy and Tuppence in our house – on Acorn (new) and Britbox (old). Here comes my gripe – which also includes the Lynley series. They just seem to try too hard – to be funny, pert, au courant – which ends up ick. The old T&T had such great actors, and I will admit that I spent a lot of time trying to run through my mind where I saw them before (Tommy was Joe in Coronation St – I would not have guessed that one.) The new actors are great, but the use of language is uncalled for – ‘effect’, anyone? We will continue through the rest of the series, but we also have to put on closed captioning to understand them. As for the rewritten Lynley – just a firm no.
ReplyDeleteWho would I like to see – I don’t know. Ann Cleeves lucked out with Vera and Shetland, but is iffy with the Matthew series. Louise Penny’s Gamache was terrible casting and rewriting in my opinion. Should I be a writer, I would have trepidation in the casting and writing of my characters. Like the choice of the audio reader, it is so important. Maybe they are best left in our heads? (Sorry, you guys).
I've always thought Clare and Russ would make a great series -- but a lot is in who the actors are. You get a picture in your mind, and sometimes it's hard to get over that. No to Jessica Fletcher. I just can't see Jamie Curtis playing Jessica -- no matter how much I love her.
ReplyDeleteI’d really like to see a Three Pines series that Louise would be satisfied with! But I keep waiting.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there’s Tom Sullivan’s DS Cross. I’ve finished seven of nine books so far this month, and I’m in love with the character.
And Jamie Lee Curtis makes anything great that she appears in. So I’ll also be watching the new Murder She Wrote.