Beloved cult show Veronica Mars is officially back. In less than a day, Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell got the $2 million they asked for to fund a Veronica Mars movie. This is with Warner Bros. blessing, so essentially the movie is a go to be made.
This means cult shows will flood Kickstarter looking for new life. Here are five that should make the jump.
Before we begin, this isn’t yarn-spinning. Crowdfunding these movies has a huge appeal for studios because you can not only get the audience to pay for the production costs, they’re more likely to buy a ticket (you have to fork over $35 to the Mars Kickstarter before you get a copy of the movie), and they get to keep the rights. So they can make a movie on the fans’ money, sell that movie to all the usual channels (which the fans will obsessively buy), and limit their costs.
So, yeah, studios are going to run with this.
Better Off Ted
Better Off Ted, to be fair, did better than most science fiction sitcoms: It made it to two whole seasons. But it just never could get a fair shot from ABC, and sadly it seems to have gone by the wayside. But it’d be nice to see Phil, Lem, Linda, Veronica and Ted back, if for no other reason than we miss them.
Masters of Horror
Why, precisely, this strong anthology show never got a third season from Showtime remains something of a mystery. But it delivered some of the best and most troubling short horror films in recent memory: Joh Landis’ episode “Family” in particular marked a career high for George Wendt (yes, Norm from Cheers). Frankly, all it’ll really take is putting a few cult directors in the video and it’ll be funded.
Pushing Daisies
Bryan Fuller is currently running Hannibal, but fans still love his goofy, twee mystery series about Ned, a pie-maker who can raise the dead for only sixty seconds. It was a superbly made and dryly funny series that got screwed by a writer’s strike and ABC, and we already know there’s a plotline Fuller was working on, since he was turning it into a comic book: Ned fighting the zombie apocalypse.
Justice League Unlimited
We could probably do an entire list of just animated shows. But this one in particular deserves a second shot, if for no other reason than a mix of odd broadcasting decisions and odder expectations meant that it only narrowly got a chance to finish the way the writing staff wanted.
The Cape
The Cape had its weak points, but it was a sincere and often very successful attempt to reconstruct the old-fashioned superhero. Furthermore, the show was shut down just as it was starting to develop a larger mythology, and it’d be nice for the show to get a shot at seeing if movie audiences would enjoy its two-fisted, cheeky vibe. Hey, if it’s successful enough, maybe it really could go for six seasons.
We’re sure you’ve got others: Let us know what they are in the comments.
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Whatever happened to the Pushing Daisies comic? Fuller put a page in his Twitter once, showing Ned, Chuck and Emerson in a graveyard, and it looked fantastic.
And what about Reaper? I’d like some closure on Reaper.
Oh, here’s the page:
[bryan-fuller.com]
+1 on Reaper. God that ending was terrible.
Apparently DC just doesn’t think there’s enough interest in the book to put it out, something that happens more often than you may think. I’m a little surprised Fuller didn’t shop the rights to Boom! or IDW.
A Kickstarter campaign for the PD comic could have all my money.
Or at least some of it.
Heat Vision & Jack! Black Dynamite 2! I need these in my life!!
Some of the Masters of Horror were great, but some (eg “The Washingtonians”) were unwatchable garbage. The range between awesome and terrible is what killed it.
I agree that it was variable in quality, but considering how bad many horror series are…
I know its not off the air just yet but someone should start a kickstarter for young justice. I’m a 23 year old man and I thought that show was awesome
I agree, honestly, I remain surprised the DC Animation unit doesn’t just continue these series as direct-to-DVD movies. Netflix has an entire library of ‘em.
Clone High!!
BRING BACK SILVERHAWKS!!
Live action or animated, I do not care which!!
Their was a wink and a nod to the ‘Hawks in the new Thundercats cartoon (which is awesome)
Obvious nerd is obvious – Serenity goddammit!
Honestly, somebody floated the idea of Whedon doing a Serenity animated series, and I think that makes a lot more sense. Everybody, including Whedon, moved on to new jobs and the scheduling issues are a bear. But voice work is cheaper and hiring an anime studio would be pretty amazing.
Yes it would lend itself very well to that format or even a Clone Wars type CGI.
As much as I like JLU (got the whole thing on DVD) they thought they were cancelled during the cadmus arc in season two so they planned that finale to be the series one. Then they got renewed and did the Legion of Doom season (which was good, just not as good as what came before.) If I were to pick one animated show to get a truncated season or movie it’s be Young Justice. They just got the shaft by Warner Brothers and CN because they are stupid and I’m sure they did not enough time to tie up all their loose ends. I think they have like two or three episodes left.
One left. Its this Saturday. Its really the only cartoon (Besides Archer and occasionally Bob’s Burgers) that I would watch. Dicks.
REAPER.
Count Duckula.
Human Target!!!!!
People liked the cape? Cause me and my roommate watched the whole first season and other than Summer, it just got worse and worse. Although they did make Summer look hotter and hotter, hence the continued watching
I thought the Cape was terrible, and I watch exclusively terrible television
*SIGH*
Now the cynic in me is expecting the studios to INTENTIONALLY tank some really good series just so that they can sit back and (for the reasons Dan pointed out) go “You want more of that show you liked so much? Pony up the bucks and get a Kickstarter going, fanboy!”
I’m with my masked friend here. I’ll put up money to see some independent production studio do a Inhumanoids movie but why on earth should I give paramount cash to make a movie they don’t have the balls to make just so that they can then charge me again for the pleasure of watching it?
They won’t intentionally tank a series they’ve paid for, but I won’t be surprised if some series go Amazon Instant Video/Kickstarter only.
Holy shite, someone that mentioned Masters of Horror’s existence. Thank you, Seitz. Goddamn do I miss that series.
Man, that makes me sound stupid. I guess I was overwhelmed with emotions for a sec. I really do love that series, as a cult horror fan that literally cannot find any decent horror on television outside of MoH, Twilight Zone and Carnivale/Twin Peaks.
No worries, I get loving a show. The ending of “Family” is going to stay with me for a long, long, loooooooong time.
Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles plz.
I’ll third Reaper, though if you want closure the people who made the show actually had an interview where they revealed how it would’ve ended.
Came in to make a case for Justice League Unlimited. Saw it was on the list and was happy.
The movies have been anywhere from okay to awesome, but they don’t hold a candle to the multi-season long arcs with throw backs to events from previous series.
Also do we really need 19 analytics/social sharing/advertising elements on this site?
Lost movie, make that whole series finale a dream sequence and do it right! Or just follow up with Hurley’s adventures on the island.
Invader Zim!
I need to watch pushing daisies. That’s the same guy who did Wonderfalls right? And I frikkin loved that show. But Justice League goes right to the top of my list. God I love/miss that show.
It is, Bryan Fuller, possibly the most talented showrunner on TV who keeps getting screwed.
Veronica Mars has been off the air for 6 years. Kristen Bell is 32 and just had a kid. Hopefully it’d still be a good show, but the ENTIRE dynamic of the series would have to change or it would feel empty.
Futurama is a good example of this, despite being a cartoon…and I really hate to admit that. There’s an entire season and a half of Futurama sitting in my Netflix queue that I simply can’t muster the fucks to be given for.
Well, the planned “fourth season” was going to basically dump most of the cast, put Veronica in the FBI, and have her stuck going back to Neptune anyway.
Masters of Horror technically did have a third season. Showtime passed and Lionsgate took it to NBC with the title Fear Itself: [en.wikipedia.org]
Minus the gore and boobs the series still had a few decent stories but nothing really unique enough to sustain a series.
The Cape? Really? You lost all credibility there.
Don’t get me wrong, the show at its worst was a cheesefest. But it was a highly entertaining cheesefest. Bump off the damn kid and make David Keith a bigger part of the show and it’d still be on the air.
How could nobody say Gargoyles? Also, I’d like to get a Deadwood or Rome movie. I never got through season 2 of Masters of Horror, found the series was very hit or miss.
I tried to limit it to recent series, although I do love Gargoyles.
You know what was an interesting show that I’d like to see again, though it’s impossible given how long ago it was? American Gothic. Gary Cole is great in everything.
So was Lucas Black, it could actually work.
I LOVED Better Off Ted, but I HATE HATE HATED the character of Linda. If they make the movie, write her out of it. Seriously.