Tuesday 18 August 2009

The Time Traveler's Wife: The TV Show?

Tuesday 18 August 2009


I finished reading Audrey Niffenegger's excellent sci-fi romance earlier this summer, but probably won't see the just-released film version (starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams) until it's released on DVD. The reviews have been mixed, but most people seem to have enjoyed it, while many critics claim it's improved if you've read the book (which fills gaps in its logic.) It's also made a decent splash at the box-office amidst big blockbusters (debuting at #3 with $18 million), which has no doubt encouraged the next twist in the tale: The Time Traveler's Wife is set to become a television series!

Wait, didn't that already happen with Journeyman? Well, yes, that cancelled show stole elements from Niffenegger's book, Quantum Leap, and many others. But this will be intentionally based on the book, created by Marta Kaufman (Friends, Veronica's Closet), who has apparently been trying to get a TV adaptation made for years.

What do you think? Will the story make a better TV series than it did a movie? Did you love the movie? Or will the book always stand apart as superior to its adaptations? It seems to me that any TV version can't blindly follow the book's decades-long story, but will have to change various aspects to make fulfilling individual episodes possible. And with a knotty thing like time travel involved, I don't envy anyone having to plot its long-term arc!