Perhaps. A few sites, citing an Empire Magazine interview with They Live star Roddy Piper, report that Carpenter was in talks with SciFi to develop his 1988 film into a TV series for the network.
Unfortunately, that's all we know, and it doesn't look as if the interview is on Empire's Web site. Nevertheless, I think this could be a really cool idea. They Live was a lot of fun in a campy, B-style sort of way, and its not-so-subtle plot of aliens trying to control mankind through subliminal methods is something that could be easily fleshed out into a full series. In the film, Piper's character, John Nada, finds a pair of sunglasses that allow him to see the various subliminal messages broadcast across the city: OBEY, CONSUME, etc.
Besides some great dialogue ("I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubblegum" and "you look like your face fell in the cheese dip back in 1957") the film is also infamous for a fight sequence that goes on for so long it becomes ludicrous. Here's my idea: have at least one episode each season that consists of nothing but a single fight that last the entire length of the episode. I would totally watch that.
Giveaway Tuesday: Signed True Blood promo poster
TV Squad is now iPhone-friendly
Giveaway Monday: The Shield season six DVD - VIDEO
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-25-2007 @ 3:07PM
Keith McDuffee said...
South Park parodied that fight sequence in the cripple fight episode way back. This is definitely one of those hidden gems of movies that's campy but has some "WTF is that thing?" moments that keep it memorable.
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 3:18PM
David said...
Can't Sci-fi come up with something new? The Flash, Painkiller Jane, BSG all redos of old things. Stargate is a rehash of everything sci-fi, Doctor Who isn't theirs. Come up with a new idea damnit!
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 3:45PM
Keith McDuffee said...
@David -- Hey, with what they did with BSG, can you blame them for keeping up with the rehashes?
Then again, I saw Flash Gordon and ... uh boy.
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 4:11PM
Akbar Fazil said...
David, can you ever come up with an new statement that isn't something negative?
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 4:22PM
Scott said...
Isn't Peter's endless fight with the chicken in "Family Guy" also a parody of this?
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 4:25PM
Chadly said...
David - you mean something like, I dunno...Eureka?
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 4:27PM
David said...
Hey jackass Akbar Fazil, I thought you said you would ignore me. It seems you only ignore me the time I say something positive.
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 4:32PM
Akbar Fazil said...
Well David, it appears your continued negativity is impossible to ignore. (and honestly, is jackass the best you can come up with?)
You actually say something positive?
As for the topic, I think a They Live show has potential. Maybe not in a sustainable multi season show, but you could defintely expand the world and see alot more.
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 4:51PM
Bash said...
I think the idea is bad. I liked the movie but instead of making a series out of this they should re-do "V". That's basically the same thing but with lizard. Uuuuh creepy ^^;
Oh and don't feed the trolls.
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 6:20PM
David said...
You are the troll Bash, you are negitive about something!
It's clear that Akbar Fazil can't read or just picks and chooses what to read so he can complain. I posted in the spoilers, nothing negitive. I posted about Drew Carey being TPIR host, also not negitive. It seems that he just chooses to be an asshole towards me.
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 7:22PM
Wil Wheaton said...
I watched They Live this weekend because I wrote about it in my Sci-Fi Guilty Pleasures of the 80s column today at Suicide Girls.
I don't see how this could possibly work as a TV series. The movie itself is about 20 minutes of really good story wrapped in hilariously awful 80s action movie filler.
Anyone remember the series based on "V"? I think this would be a similarly steaming pile of anti-awesome.
Reply
7-25-2007 @ 10:42PM
Akbar Fazil said...
Fair enough David, I don't read every post here. However, on all the ones I do read most of the time you have something negative to say. If me pointing out your continued negative attitude is me being an asshole, so be it. (I actually considered your comment about "there are too many people on the show" in the last spoiler post to be negative, maybe I read it negative since that is what I have come to expect from you)
Reply
7-26-2007 @ 10:00AM
Bash said...
Wil Wheaton thought what I thought.
I feel special. Oh the tingling inside ^^;
Reply