In the past few years, there have been several popular YA book series turned into tv shows. Often when things are adapted for television (or movie), they get cut up, changed, edited, and patched back together to fit "the industry's" vision of what the public wants. Sometimes it's good, sometimes bad. I'm curious, what do you all think? Are you reading and/or watching these books & shows? Here are some of them:
GOSSIP GIRL
I've watched a few of the Gossip Girl episodes, and read several of the books – the Library owns all of them, so go ahead and place a hold if you want to check them out. I thought casting overall was decent, although I was horrified by the casting of Jenny (her defining attribute, which drove the plot in several of the books is her … um… generous chest, which is nonexistent in the show). Also, I didn't like them changing the character of Serena's brother. Oh well.
VAMPIRE DIARIES:
The Vampire Diaries books originally came out in 1995. They were pretty much out of print and forgotten until the TV show came out in 2009. Now the books are all reissued and spiffed up, with a brand-new sequel just out. Ian Somerhalder seems a bit old to me, to play Damon (I can deal with 25-year-olds playing high school students, but 35?). Also, the actress who plays Elena is a bit too likable for my tastes — one of the things I liked about the books is how nasty she is. Otherwise, I think the show is a decent adaptation. Too bad it will have to fight off comparisons to Twilight and True Blood.
PRIVATE:
This series is different in that it is actually a web series, playing on the internet and not airing on broadcast television. The book series debuted in 2006, and the web series in 2009 (DVD just released in August, and we should have it in the SCL collection soon!). In an interesting twist, the producers conducted an American-Idol-style casting competition, with the top contenders for the role of Kiran competing in a televised reality-TV-style contest. I haven't seen this one at all, so you'll have to let me know if the best person won.
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS:
This one is a newcomer to the TV show block — it's still in the midst of its first season, and not coming out on DVD until next year. The books first started coming out in 2006, and are still going strong. The story of the missing/ presumed dead girl who comes back to haunt her guilty friends has been done many times before, but this series actually does a good job of keeping you on your toes. I've only seen the pilot of the TV show, and it seemed like the character development and casting did justice to the books.
So, are there any other recent TV shows based on YA books that I am missing? Let me know, so I can add them to my read and watch lists!
