Novels/Series That Deserve TV Shows

[What Would Jesus Do?]

We have Game of Thrones, The Wire, Bosch, Dresden Files, various renditions of Sherlock Holmes, Morse, Lynley, and many more. But there are lots of wonderful novels and collections that would make great TV series.

My first nomination would be John D MacDonald's Travis McGee series. Plenty of material (21 novels).

What would you like to see?

 

[h-hawk]

As a kid I enjoyed a series of books about other kids finding a "treasure" in a civil war cannon, creating a lake monster and generally outsmarting adults in The Mad Scientist Club. I think that would make a good limited series.

 

[JRHawk2003]

 

[mnole03]

The full Aubrey-Maturin series.

 

[h-hawk]

The full Aubrey-Maturin series.

My wife and I were hoping they would do a sequel or prequel to Master and Commander. She has read all the novels. Maybe we can get the production team from GOT to take on the television version. It would look awesome.

 

[cubsMDdmb]

Robert Jordan wheel of time series. I’ve heard things are in the works.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

Penthouse Forum

 

[ThorneStockton]

I could watch a TV series based on Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series that actually closely follows the plots. The new Amazon one with Jim, isn't it.

I've liked the movies Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger, haven't seen Sum of All Fears yet. They're all entertaining enough, but they don't do the books justice at least relative to what a full season could do per book.

 

[sober_teacher]

I'd give a great deal to see someone not named MTV to do on based on Terry Brooks' extended Sword of Shannara series (MTV completely butchered it).

Also - David Eddings' The Belgariad/Mallorean series (10 books total, so lots of material)

I saw HBO is working on one based on The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials) series, which might be interesting.

 

[mnole03]

My wife and I were hoping they would do a sequel or prequel to Master and Commander. She has read all the novels. Maybe we can get the production team from GOT to take on the television version. It would look awesome.

I’ve read the full series, too. They’d make great television. The battles would be incredible.

 

[BubsFinn]

Asimov’s Robot series and Foundation series could be done quite well.



(Edited because I’m a forgetful moron)

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Robert Jordan wheel of time series. I’ve heard things are in the works.

This would be my vote as well.

 

[BelemNole]

Robert Jordan wheel of time series. I’ve heard things are in the works.

Yeah, I believe they've started work already.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Yeah, I believe they've started work already.

The nerd rage will put GoT to shame if they don't do this one right.

 

[Bonerfarts]

Wheel of Time and KingKiller Chronicles are both in the works, and I'm excited for both.

 

[Tom Paris]

Anne Rice's Mayfair Witch Chronicles.

 

[mnole03]

Wheel of Time and KingKiller Chronicles are both in the works, and I'm excited for both.

There is no way the third King Killer book resolves everything.

 

[BelemNole]

The nerd rage will put GoT to shame if they don't do this one right.

From what I've read they're already taking some liberties with the source material. Making it very Moiraine centric.

 

[BelemNole]

There is no way the third King Killer book resolves everything.

He's been rewriting that book for what 7-8 years now? I'm starting to think he never releases it.

 

[mnole03]

He's been rewriting that book for what 7-8 years now? I'm starting to think he never releases it.

It’s very GRRM-esque. The first two books took a little more than a year each.

 

[Chuck C]

Personally I never understood the praise for The Kingkiller Chronicles.

 

[ggmike1992]

The Talisman by Stephen King would make for a fantastic movie/mini-series.

 

[mnole03]

Personally I never understood the praise for The Kingkiller Chronicles.

Kvothe is a Mary Sue, but he’s an unreliable narrator so it’s understandable. The second book gets a little ridiculous, but I really like the mechanics of magic in the series and the writing.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

From what I've read they're already taking some liberties with the source material. Making it very Moiraine centric.

That makes sense. It would take like 10 different series to try to cover all of the source material.

 

[BigDelHawk]

Robert Jordan wheel of time series. I’ve heard things are in the works.

No shiit....I love that series.

 

[BigDelHawk]

• For a movie, or better yet a limed release TV series, A Connecticut Yankee in King Authors Court would be good. Another would be King Arthur and Round table, but not sterilized. Arthur was, in reality, a pretty twisted guy. I mean killing an entire ship full of babies to keep Mordrid from becoming a man who ends his rule, that is twisted.

 

[theIowaHawk]

Cornwall’s American Revolution series, forgetting the characters name. His Viking show is popular, American history would be fun.

 

[sober_teacher]

• For a movie, or better yet a limed release TV series, A Connecticut Yankee in King Authors Court would be good. Another would be King Arthur and Round table, but not sterilized. Arthur was, in reality, a pretty twisted guy. I mean killing an entire ship full of babies to keep Mordrid from becoming a man who ends his rule, that is twisted.

There are seemingly, a hundred different versions of this floating around. Bing Crosby did one, a kid's version was made in the 90s...A Connecticut Yankee has been done.

 

[Bonerfarts]

Cornwall’s American Revolution series, forgetting the characters name. His Viking show is popular, American history would be fun.

Conwall's The Last Kingdom is pretty good on Netflix. Its not on the level of GOT, but definitely worth of a watch if your interested in mid evil history.

 

[Finance85]

My first nomination would be John D MacDonald's Travis McGhee series. Plenty of material (21 novels).

What would you like to see?

I loved "The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything". Fascinating concept.

 

[Finance85]

John Sandford's Lucas Davenport (Prey) or Virgil Flowers series.

Iowa folks would be able to relate.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

My wife and I were hoping they would do a sequel or prequel to Master and Commander. She has read all the novels. Maybe we can get the production team from GOT to take on the television version. It would look awesome.

Totally agree.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Robert Jordan wheel of time series. I’ve heard things are in the works.

My favorite fantasy series of all time. Yes, ahead of Tolkien and GoT. But I don't see how they can possibly do it justice.

I really want them to prove me wrong.

There's a group on Facebook - well there are probably many - where people are having fun suggesting actors to play the various roles. Might be the first series with a trillion dollar personnel budget, if these folks have their way.

That said, some of the suggestions are really excellent.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Maybe somebody, some day will do Dune justice. There have been several attempts. Some not awful. But none good enough.

 

[mnole03]

Maybe somebody, some day will do Dune justice. There have been several attempts. Some not awful. But none good enough.

Dune is like Hyperion. It just works so much better in book form. There’s just so much going on that it’s probably impossible to do without it looking silly.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

No shiit....I love that series.

I'm rereading it as we speak.

It's wonderful.

 

[ggmike1992]

Maybe somebody, some day will do Dune justice. There have been several attempts. Some not awful. But none good enough.

I see Denis Villeneuve is directing a new version of this. Per the Wiki entry he is planning it as a 2-part film and has a respectable ensemble cast assembled for it. He did quite well with Blade Runner 2049 so I’m excited for this. Tentative release of November 2020 for part 1.

 

[BigDelHawk]

There are seemingly, a hundred different versions of this floating around. Bing Crosby did one, a kid's version was made in the 90s...A Connecticut Yankee has been done.

Have you ever read the book? It has not been done. The book is surprisingly violent, and anti-war. It is also antichristian and anti-Catholic.

 

[kc78]

The nerd rage will put GoT to shame if they don't do this one right.

Did this actually end well? I stopped reading after Jordan died and decided to wait until it was all over. The two people I trusted on it said the first two Sanderson novels were ok, but then it all went to Hell. Was it actually a satisfying ending? At this point I'd have to start over and re-read the entire thing to catch up as it's been over 10 years since I last read these, but I did spend a considerable amount of time reading them. It would be nice to tie them up.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I see Denis Villeneuve is directing a new version of this. Per the Wiki entry he is planning it as a 2-part film and has a respectable ensemble cast assembled for it. He did quite well with Blade Runner 2049 so I’m excited for this. Tentative release of November 2020 for part 1.

Thanks, I hadn't heard that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(2020_film)

They say there's a logical place in the book to break it into 2 movies. It's been too long since I read it for me to identify that spot.