Monday, March 29, 2010

Books to TV or Movies



A while ago, I came across an episode of a Nero Wolfe mystery on TV. It was good and I loved seeing the characters 'come to life'. Casting decisions were great - each character was as I had pictured them. The Inspector Morse series was a success. It had a loyal following in both books and in TV. Robert B. Parker's Spenser series had a good televised run with Robert Urich and Avery Brooks.

It doesn't always work this way, though (whether on TV in in movies). Some film or TV versions really disappoint readers, fail to win new fans, and flop miserably or are cancelled early on. "Burglar" (Whoopi Goldberg, based on the Bernie Rhodenbarr series by Lawrence Block) comes to mind, as does "VI Warshawski" (starring Kathleen Turner, based on the books by Sara Paretsky).

And of course, there are the mystery series we're dying to see on screen. The Janet Evanovich website has a readers' poll asking for casting choices of all the main characters. There is no word yet about production or a film release date.

As a reader, what did you think of screen versions of your favourite sleuths? In your opinion, what are the hits and what are the misses? Or what sleuth series would you love to see on TV or the silver screen? And who would you cast?

1 comment:

  1. I thought Jeremy Brett was perfect as Sherlock Holmes, and I thought Rupert Everett was the completley wrong choice for Sherlock Holmes (though he is a fine actor otherwise).

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