What does the prospect of 'The Graysons' mean for 'Smallville'?

[greenlantern248]

Well as I said earlier I think the whole concept of this kind of show is flawed. The CW could have a certifiable hit on their hands if they picked up on a series starting at the point in Dick Grayson's life where he puts down his Robin mantle, moves to Bludhaven and then becomes Nightwing.

It's almost too perfect for the CW. You have a REALLY compelling storyline about a transitional phase in a young Dick's life (LOL ) where he has to "up his game" in a strange city so they can have the whole "fish out of water' thing that they love so much.

He's also in his early to mid 20's so he has those types of "life issues" to deal with so it aligns perfectly with their target demos. He's also got no superpowers so he's extremely relatable, and you've also got a combo of Supernatural and SV producers running the show which seems like the perfect mix for a dark, heroic character.

AND since its in his post Robin days, you dont have to have Bruce Wayne be an integral part of the series. He can be referenced as his "mentor" etc but never actually named, so you never run afoul of the Features people or Nolan, especially since Dick Grayson doesn't even exist in the BB/TDK world.

How did they miss this and go for the pre-Robin Dick? You basically have to trip over it to get to the pre-Robin concept. It's so obvious. It's like they're swimming across the Atlantic Ocean so they can get salt water out of the English Channel.... How are they missing this??

See that is a show I would watch, a show about Nightwing. Even if the CW didn't want to do costumes, the show could do something like he gave being Robin cause he didn't want to play dress up anymore, so he goes and works for the Bludhaven Police dept, seeing that people still need help and when he realizes that the police are crooked he struggles to "play dress up" again and become Nightwing


Now the thing that gets me, is The CW turned down Mercy Reef which was a really good looking show, it had a lot of potential. Now they contracted a pilot for a show that is probably going to fail.

 

[Webhead2006]

well yea it sucks stupid cw, but right now we still dont have enough details on what this is going to be and if it stays this pre robin show maybe it wont get past a pilot order. Cw doesnt pick up alot of pilots in the last few yrs.

 

[NotFadeAway]

They should just do a Nightwing show. For some reason, I always thought a Nightwing show, done in the vein of Angel, would work.

 

[Axl Van Sixx]

Yeah, it sounds like everybody would prefer a Nightwing show. Richard Grayson is a much better substitute for Dick than "DJ", as well as reflecting the character's growing maturity. I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick of the trend I've seen in DC Comics shows ever since Lois and Clark...namely, superhero shows that minimize the "super". Hence L&C focused on the relationship between Clark and Lois with Superman an extraneous part-time job Clark had to put up with; Smallville was Superman before he becomes Superman, now we have The Graysons, with a pre-Robin "DJ" Grayson in the circus? Give me a break.

 

[Webhead2006]

We will just have to wait and see what happens with the development of this and maybe the producers will change things around with alot of the negative fan comments about what we know about it. But with Dawn O still in charge of the cw she probably wouldnt go for a Nightwing show, which sucks cause that would be a hell of a lot better then pre robin days. They could easily make it a cop drama show, toss in a little romance crap here and there, and then alot of dc elements and have it set in the nightwing city or even NYC(i hear nightwing is there in more recent comic time).

 

[christhn]

A superhero show about a guy's life BEFORE he becomes a superhero and he has NO powers to learn. I don't see how this could work. Smallville without the powers is basically no different from all the other WB dramas.

 

[ny_gambit]

Didn't the WB try a Batman show without Batman already?
It was "Birds of Prey"... it sucked.

 

[Captainhulk]

If they did a show about Dick Grayson leaving Batman and doing his Night wing thing, I would go for that.
http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/nightwing.html

 

[christhn]

So I think we've established that pre-Batman Dick Grayson is lame, but post Batman Dick Grayson would be awesome.

 

[Webhead2006]

Yea we just dont have enough details yet and things could totally change and for all we know they could do a pilot and it doesnt get picked up at all.

 

[storyteller]

I think the idea is that

1) We have enough info to know they want to do a pre batman meeting. Thus any heroics goes against the idea of Robin.

2) If it does get picked up then obviously thats the reason we discuss.

 

[Webhead2006]

True but with all the fan hate of this pre robin idea maybe they see its not a viable way to go and they could switch it to nightwing era, which still gets around not having batman, stick to dick's human based foes, and then throw in a little romance crap once in awhile.

 

[Cmill216]

.....

The CW Scraps Plans For "The Graysons"
Smallville
executive producers Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders had been working with Supernatural's McG on a project taking on another DC Comics legend - Robin - in a series called "The Graysons." Unfortunately, trade paper reports confirm rumors that the series will not come to be.

Variety reveals that Warner Bros. Pictures' Jeff Rubinov was the one to pull the plug, claiming that Rubinov initially gave his blessing but changed his mind in recent days.

"The studio has opted not to go forward with the development of 'The Graysons' at this time as the concept doesn't fit the current strategy for the Batman franchise," the studio said in a statement. "Warner Bros. Television is currently working on several replacement options for the CW."

A failure to launch for The Graysons may very well improve the chances of a Smallville Season 9 - or it could hopefully mean something even better than The Graysons should come down the pipeline. Stay tuned.

 

[Threshold]

Thank god.

 

[Mikelus]

I think we can thank Nolan for saving us from such crappy idea of a show, he's the boss.

 

[Lighthouse]

Why is WB so smart when it comes to making decisions about the Batman universe(post-Shumacher of course), but so damn stupid when it comes to every other franchise?

 

[TwilightPro101]

I think we can thank Nolan for saving us from such crappy idea of a show, he's the boss.

Actually this decision was from the Warner Bros. and DC end of things.

 

[LexFactor]

Thank god this isn't happening. It was an awful idea.

 

[ZIPBAGS]

Very nice....This was a horrible idea. Now give us a season 9 or a Green Arrow/Justice League show. Where Tom can make cameos...

 

[Brainiac 8]

I'm glad he came to his senses there.

Now give Justin a Green Arrow show gosh darn dang diddley!!!!

 

[MagicPrime]

I'm glad he came to his senses there.

Now give Justin a Green Arrow show gosh darn dang diddley!!!!

Green Arrow + Green Lantern (Hal) = Win!

Imagine if they made a new super-hero comedy...

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold.

 

[AgentPat]

Actually this decision was from the Warner Bros. and DC end of things.

The decision, yes. But it probably was made due to Nolan's gripes, and you KNOW Warners want to keep him happy. Very, very happy!

Daily Variety
11/6/08

CW tosses plans for 'Graysons'
Network nixes Boy Wonder show
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

The Boy Wonder won't be flying into primetime after all.

The CW and Warner Bros. TV have been forced to scrap their plans for "The Graysons." Show, which had been given a put pilot commitment, was set to revolve around Batman sidekick Robin in his pre-Caped Crusader days.

Decision to yank the project came from Warner Bros. Pictures Group prexy Jeff Robinov, who initially gave his blessing but changed his mind in recent days.

"Warner Bros. TV never had 100% clearance," said one exec familiar with the project.

The CW had been counting on "The Graysons" to fill the void left by the likely series end of "Smallville." Like "Smallville," "The Graysons" is a superhero origins story. Show was developed to revolve around the world of Dick "DJ" Grayson before taking on the iconic Robin identity.

Project was to be the latest DC Comics franchise to be mined for the smallscreen by Warner Bros. TV. "Smallville" exec producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson were set to write and exec produce, while Wonderland Sound and Vision's McG and Peter Johnson were also aboard to exec produce.

According to studio insiders, Robinov has decreed that Warner Bros. "rethink its DC Comics strategy" and as a result didn't want to do anything big with a DC franchise at the moment -- at least when it came to "Graysons."

"The studio has opted not to go forward with the development of 'The Graysons' at this time as the concept doesn't fit the current strategy for the Batman franchise," the studio said in a statement. "Warner Bros. Television is currently working on several replacement options for the CW."

It's understood that "The Dark Knight" helmer Christopher Nolan never signed off on the TV show; one insider said the helmer was uncomfortable with having a TV show related to the Batman franchise on the air. But according to the studio, the decision to scrap the show rested solely on Robinov and not Nolan.

Others wondered whether Warner Bros. got nervous over the idea of having both an active Batman TV series and film series at the same time. "Smallville" and, before that, "Lois & Clark," were launched during a lengthy hiatus from the bigscreen for Superman. Some believe 2006's "Superman Returns" was hurt at the box office because of the simultaneous TV show.

A script had not yet been written for "The Graysons," which was still in early stages of development. Word of "The Graysons" first emerged last month (Daily Variety, Oct. 1) -- prematurely, in hindsight.

The one-hour "Graysons" was to be set in modern times and focus on young DJ as he faced challenges involving first loves, young rivals and his family -- a famous juggling act -- as he grew up. (In Batman lore, Grayson was part of a family act called "The Flying Graysons" and orphaned after a gangster had his parents killed.)

Insiders said Warner Bros. TV is now scanning its library for other potential franchises to develop for the CW. The netlet is already kicking the tires on other franchises for next year, including a revival of CBS Paramount's "Melrose Place."

Coincidentally, a new animated Batman series, "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," bows on Cartoon Network next Friday.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117995430.html​

LOL @ the supposed impact SV had on SR.

Why can't they just admit the film sucked?

 

[ZIPBAGS]

Smallville....Season 9.........

 

[Mikelus]

Actually this decision was from the Warner Bros. and DC end of things.

Of course, but Nolan wasn't celebrating either with the show idea. Warner has a hard time deciding what to do with Superman, but Nolan dominates the Batman franchise and if he's not happy with something, WB will please him.

 

[The Major]

Batman will be to the Graysons what the super suit is to Smallville. Once he/it shows up, the point of the show is over.

CW needs to stop with this formula. It worked with Superman but he has a much easier concept to do that hero's journey thing then most.

A Nightwing show would be perfect. Sure they'll have to work on making the Nightwing name recognizable but then name isn't completely unknown thanks to the 90's Batman cartoon and it'll force them to make the show good instead of purely relying on their title to get people to watch.

A show like this would increase Nightwing's exposure, too.

They could just focus on Nightwing establishing himself as a super-hero in Bludhaven like in Dixon's comics.

Make it have an Angel tone to it.