Netflix has proven they can make very high quality original content. You just have to watch “Orange is the New Black” to see that. However, Netflix has been aiming pretty exclusively to an adult audience, but with the upcoming Marvel series they have planned, they’re starting to branch out into more material to appeal to a younger audience. And on that note, they’ve just announced their next series, which is an adaptation of Lemony Snicket‘s terrific book series A Series of Unfortunate Events.
I devoured these books when I was younger. Then, after I digested them, I read the novels and loved them. The horrible situations the three Baudelaire children are put through after the death of their parents over the course of the thirteen books are endlessly entertaining. We already had an adaptation of this material before, in the truly unfortunate film version starring Jim Carrey, which tried to condense three books into one film. For the record, that is just as bad as stretching one book into three films, Peter Jackson. The Series film could never figure out what tone it was going for and made it a chore to sit through.
I am more optimistic about the prospects of this as a serialized television show. Netflix has proven themselves, and I do trust them with this material, provided they hire people who know what they are doing behind and in front of the camera.
Snicket (the pseudonym of Daniel Handler) released a pretty funny quote about the acquisition:
After years of providing top-quality entertainment on demand, Netflix is risking its reputation and its success by associating itself with my dismaying and upsetting books.
His blend of sarcasm and macabre is always funny, and if the show can harness his tone, I think we will all have a great show to watch.
Original report from Time.
