DC Television Pennyworth - Batman Prequel gets series order at Epix

[misslane38]

We officially have too many superhero shows

This isn't a superhero show, though. There are no superheroes in it, and I have my doubts if there will be much in terms of the fantastical in the show. Anyway, I'm all for focusing on civilian type heroes. I'm just not sure Alfred is the one I'd choose.

 

[Spider-Fan]

This isn't a superhero show, though. There are no superheroes in it, and I have my doubts if there will be much in terms of the fantastical in the show. Anyway, I'm all for focusing on civilian type heroes. I'm just not sure Alfred is the one I'd choose.

Too many shows based on comic book characters then

This is like making a show/movie about Aunt May. Who wants that!!! (Yes, I am aware that nearly happened, LOL)

 

[Zant]

This isn't a superhero show, though. There are no superheroes in it, and I have my doubts if there will be much in terms of the fantastical in the show. Anyway, I'm all for focusing on civilian type heroes. I'm just not sure Alfred is the one I'd choose.

Oh superheros and fantastical characters will show up. Just give it time. They just can't help themselves.

 

[Ozbridge]

I imagine Bruno Heller's Powerpoint pitch to WB includes a few points:

- This show isn't about the movie-exclusive DC characters, i.e. Batman and Joker
- A network (EPIX) has agreed to air it and (presumably) agreed to pay a per-episode fee for it
- This is a reality-grounded show, there won't be any supernatural/ sci-fi elements or superhero in it (which definitely doesn't work on TV according to Heller)

Why is Heller interested in Alfred? I guess being a Londoner growing up in the 60s makes him want to create an English character with military background secretly working for an American billionaire in the 60s (I have to state preemptively that I have nothing against creator's self-insert characters though, after all people draw from their own experience to create fiction; Stephen King writes about writers and there're movies about struggling actors trying to make it in Hollywood for a reason). Also Alfred isn't remotely related to anything supernatural/ supervillain, which is a plus in Heller's book.

When there's a showrunner pitching the idea and a network agreeing to foot the bill, WB just naturally greenlit it.

 

[Dr.]

The sarcastic hypotheticals are amusing. (Hey! Maybe there should be a TV show featuring Hal Jordan’s dentist?! ) But as I understand it, Alfred’s British intelligence/special forces backstory has been canon for several decades. And a series about an SAS agent isn’t exactly an off-the-wall notion. If anything, it might be a tad formulaic.

 

[2kt09]

- This is a reality-grounded show, there won't be any supernatural/ sci-fi elements or superhero in it (which definitely doesn't work on TV according to Heller)

lmfao, what?

 

[Teelie]

We’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel now, eh?

The sad thing is we don't need to be. There are so many other great properties in the DC Universe that have yet to be tapped, but we're mining the freakin Butler.

This is scraping under the barrel and into some other entirely different barrel that has no reason to be touched in the first place.


It is very transparently a cash grab with a dash of desperation behind it. Gotham at least has Bruce Wayne in it even if it is pre-Batman (and instead chose to just trample all over the title). This and Krypton both are just needless spinoffs from a main series who will never, ever be relevant to the character it spun off from.

 

[Ozbridge]

lmfao, what?

I don’t think superheroes work very well on TV, probably because of the costume thing. … TV is about real people and faces, and not so much about magic and the supernatural things.

Gotham Showrunner Says Superheroes Don't Work on TV

I guess this series will probably just be about a former soldier/ spy whose name happens to be Alfred Pennyworth working for an American billionaire whose name happens to be Thomas Wayne, and apart from that not at all related to DC comics. It perhaps affects WB less than Powerless too (WBTV had to suffer Powerless' ratings on NBC, while this series airs on an unrelated network). Cable networks are full of 10-episode series produced under the assumption that there won't be a second season anyway, so they just decided to give it a try.

 

[2kt09]

Gotham Showrunner Says Superheroes Don't Work on TV

I guess this series will probably just be about a former soldier/ spy whose name happens to be Alfred Pennyworth working for an American billionaire whose name happens to be Thomas Wayne, and apart from that not at all related to DC comics. It perhaps affects WB less than Powerless too (WBTV had to suffer Powerless' ratings on NBC, while this series airs on an unrelated network). Cable networks are full of 10-episode series produced under the assumption that there won't be a second season anyway, so they just decided to give it a try.

oh lol
the show just kept getting more costumes, magic, and supernatural things anyways though

either way, I wouldn't put it past him. Which Batman villains are established and international enough to brush up against "young" Alfred?

 

[Ozbridge]

oh lol
the show just kept getting more costumes, magic, and supernatural things anyways though

You meant Gotham? Heller stopped writing for it at the end of season 2, before, in my opinion, the costumed villains started to appear.

 

[2kt09]

You meant Gotham? Heller stopped writing for it at the end of season 2, before, in my opinion, the costumed villains started to appear.

Writing individual ep is one thing, but who took over showrunning duties?

 

[Ozbridge]

Writing individual ep is one thing, but who took over showrunning duties?

After Heller disappeared without a trace Danny Cannon and John Stephens took turns giving interviews, though Cannon writes/ directs more and definitely gives more interviews.

 

[Mister J]

oh lol
the show just kept getting more costumes, magic, and supernatural things anyways though

either way, I wouldn't put it past him. Which Batman villains are established and international enough to brush up against "young" Alfred?

Wouldn't surprise me if the League of Assassins got into the mix somehow, even if Ra's isn't formally matched up as an on-screen antagonist. Maybe even placing the Cobblepots in line with The Batman show from a few years back (sans Penguin, but still).

Oswald "Ozzy" Cobblepot is descended from an aristocratic family whose lineage goes back to Newcastle, England. Alfred Pennyworth's grandfather was once a butler to the English Cobblepot's and Alfred was raised on stories on how cruel and disrespectful the Cobblepots were to their staff.

 

[TheVileOne]

Go ahead and revive the Flying Graysons.

 

[Flash525]

Gotham Showrunner Says Superheroes Don't Work on TV

I guess this series will probably just be about a former soldier/ spy whose name happens to be Alfred Pennyworth working for an American billionaire whose name happens to be Thomas Wayne, and apart from that not at all related to DC comics. It perhaps affects WB less than Powerless too (WBTV had to suffer Powerless' ratings on NBC, while this series airs on an unrelated network). Cable networks are full of 10-episode series produced under the assumption that there won't be a second season anyway, so they just decided to give it a try.

I guess the Gotham showrunner hasn't been watching the CW shows huh?

 

[Jh7058622]

Is it weird every time I see Pennnyworth trending I mistake it for Pennywise and think some sequel news for It: Chapter 2 has just dropped?

 

[Flash525]

Is it weird every time I see Pennnyworth trending I mistake it for Pennywise and think some sequel news for It: Chapter 2 has just dropped?

Hah, I admit when I first saw the subject title, I was trying to understand how Pennywise was going to factor into Gotham; not the usual villain for Bruce Wayne to be fighting.

 

[misslane38]

Too many shows based on comic book characters then

This is like making a show/movie about Aunt May. Who wants that!!! (Yes, I am aware that nearly happened, LOL)

I wouldn't say there are too many shows, and Aunt May is a straw man in the sense that she isn't on the same level of potential as other civilian characters.

 

[Flash525]

I want to see a prequel Spider-Man show about Uncle Ben and his Rice business...

 

[Spider-Fan]

I wouldn't say there are too many shows, and Aunt May is a straw man in the sense that she isn't on the same level of potential as other civilian characters.

I am not saying a show about a civilian character in a superhero world cannot work. But what I am saying is a show about Alfred isn't going to work and will be mocked as much as the Aunt May example. No one wants to see a show about Alfred, they want Batman. Like if they did a show about Lois Lane that had nothing to do with Superman at all, I could see that potential. Investigative journalist show with a metahuman twist? Good idea. That's one example. Show about Batman's Butler being a government agent in his youth probably not even fighting anything more than standard crime boss of the week? That show exists with 100 faces. It's not interesting.

 

[Ozbridge]

I guess the Gotham showrunner hasn't been watching the CW shows huh?

You meant Gotham creator Bruno Heller? I don’t know if he’s ever watched the CW shows, I don’t think he’s ever mentioned them.

 

[Teelie]

I think Heller's problem is he can't figure out how to make a superhero television series so he assumed no one else could either then put on blinders to the dozen or so examples that prove him wrong.

 

[Ozbridge]

The show is expected to film this fall in the UK given its London setting, though EPIX might consider pushing production to winter.

https://screenrant.com/alfred-pennyworth-prequel-series-filming-start/

 

[Aximili86]

Cool they're actually shooting in the UK. I kinda expected an L.A./NY for interiors, lots of greenscreen for exteriors type of dealio.

 

[Pennywise]

The show is expected to film this fall in the UK given its London setting, though EPIX might consider pushing production to winter.

https://screenrant.com/alfred-pennyworth-prequel-series-filming-start/

Cool.