The "Wonderfalls" DVD comes out next week and I urge any "Daria" fan to pick it up. It was pretty much a live-action version of "Daria" that I always secretly wanted. Of course it didn't last long but at least the production team had enough respect for the fans to release a really nice dvd package for the fans and not leave them waiting for years. The reason I say forget "Daria" is because the show has always been a struggle. The network acted as if it never knew how to treat the show. The seasons were at best short. I coulda paced the show better then MTV. And while "Daria" is dead in the water, "Wonderfalls" might actually be back if the DVD does promisingly. The makers of "Daria" just seem to be in their own world and I refuse to waste more of my time thinking about a dvd release or anything else for that matter, especially when a show that's just as good is being released in a little over a month.
Get "Wonderfalls". Forget "Daria".
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I'll reserve judgement for now. I've seen too many attempts at making something in live action like that go wrong.
A struggle? For whom? I never found it anything of the sort. If you really have to be spoonfed in order to make sense of Daria, then perhaps it was never meant to be. Certainly I have no wish to see a dumbed down Daria.
Maybe. Maybe not. Hindsight, as I always say, is a wonderful thing, but it seldom gets us anywhere. Certainly, MTV didn't do any favours to the series, but it managed to spawn a cult nonetheless.
Again, I'll reserve judgement.
Then you go off and watch it. There's nothing stopping you. I'd prefer to wait and see what it turns out like rather than abandon a series that I know and like. I'll still be holding out for a DVD release of Daria.
I meant struggle in terms of scheduling and promotion. And I heard that any movies or spin-offs (the popularily rumored Trent Lane series) are all dead in the water. I'll be the first in line for the "Daria" DVD, but I'm just not holding my breath. With the attitude I now have the series will already be out for weeks before I know about it though because I'm not wasting any more time.
On the other hand you HAVE to see "Wonderfalls". It's a great show.
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That matters to me how? Yes, it was badly handled, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a great show.
I'm not too worried about that. If it happens, it happens.
I'm hopeful, but I can see where MTV might have problems, having seen the various VHS releases and the DVD movie releases. On one hand you have the extra headache of trying to release with the original soundtracks and all the legal and financial shinnigans leading from that. On the other is the pain of having to record soundtracks to replace those that you can't use for whatever reason. Whichever way you go, it isn't going to be easy.
I don't see it as a waste, but then I really hope that my life doesn't revolve around TV so much that I really have to get the next big thing before it happens. I can wait.
And, as I've said, I'll reserve my judgement on that. Too many times people have said to me that a show is "great" and "I have to see it" only to be let down by the actual product. I'm not saying that this will happen this time, but it could, either in the short term (it sucks to begin with) or later on (it's OK but it sucks later). We shall see.
On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 18:35:14 +0000 (GMT), Chika wrote:
I don't know where you live. In the U.S. the DVD won't be released until February 1, 2005 (its release date was moved back over a month ago). If you know where it's being released next week, by all means let me know so I can get it.
Daria was never a struggle. A struggle is network interference requiring the 1st episode to be rewritten, then, getting the schedule slot o' death on Friday night, and then being cancelled in just four episodes. (Tim Minear's prophetic comment when letting folks know that Wonderfalls would be scheduled on Fridays at 9pm, "Or as we like to think of it, the advertisement for our soon to be released 13 episode DVD set.")
The Daria seasons were standard length for cable series. See The Sopranos, or Sex in the City as other examples.
Wonderfalls has less chance to go back into producation as a series than Firefly, and I don't think there's any real chance of Firefly returning as a tv series (movie franchise, maybe)
It is not, of course, an either/or proposition. I will very gladly get the Wonderfalls DVD set when it comes out, and I will certainly get the Daria series set if/when one is released. I've never accepted that it isn't enough for something to succeed, something else has to fail.
For Daria fans, if you didn't see the aborted run of Wonderfalls on Fox, you might want to at least rent it and watch episode 2, Karma Chameleon, which features a wonderful guest star turn by Sarah Drew, aka Stacy of the Fashion Club.
I meant to say next month for the release. I coulda swore it was coming out something like Jan. 18th.
Yeah I know the standard length of a cable series is 13 weeks but those 6 weeks/7 weeks runs were really annoying, but how much can I complain when the show lasted for 5 years? But I'm still left with the impression that the show was a missed opportunity on MTV's part. And why don't we get Daria terrorizing the college establishment. Or Trent's failed attempts at love and career and getting up at a reasonable hour? Like I said before the scheduling always got my goat. It might be childish to quibble but they coulda paced the show to where a season woulda lasted at least 7 months. Did they ever submit the show for an Emmy? I don't believe they ever did. They never promoted all the rave reviews the show got. They needed someone who really loved the show at the network, but then again like I said before 5 years. I guess I'm just greedy. I wanted more. More episodes. Bigger success. And no one seemed to give a damn.
On a side note I had no idea that "Stacey" was the girl in episode 2 of "Wonderfalls" which is my fave of the 4 I saw. I do agree that "Wonderfalls" had the true struggle. But I did hear (I suppose 4th generation gossip) that the show wasn't dead in the water. Take that for whatever it means. Just remember FOX only has 1 strong drama and it's far away from being a smash hit ("24"). So who knows.
<< But I'm still left with the impression that the show was a missed opportunity on MTV's part. And why don't we get Daria terrorizing the college establishment. Or Trent's failed attempts at love and career and getting up at a reasonable hour? Like I said before the scheduling always got my goat. It might be childish to quibble but they coulda paced the show to where a season woulda lasted at least 7 months. Did they ever submit the show for an Emmy? I don't believe they ever did. They never promoted all the rave reviews the show got. They needed someone who really loved the show at the network, but then again like I said before 5 years. I guess I'm just greedy. I wanted more. More episodes. Bigger success. And no one seemed to give a damn. >><BR><BR>
Actually, there WAS someone at MTV who gave a damn about Daria. Brian Graden was the VP of Programming during the Daria's run, and he was clearly the show's biggest cheerleader (after Eichler and Lewis). Without him -- and the letters, e-mails & phone calls from us fans -- Daria would not have even HAD a fifth season. True, MTV didn't do a very good marketing job where Daria was concerned; they essentially ran ads to promote first-run episodes and left the rest to word-of-mouth. Why they failed to capitalize on all of Daria's critical acclaim or submit the show for Emmy consideration is beyond me -- maybe that would've made Daria (and by extention MTV) seem more "mainstream" and less "edgy". OTOH, the cartoon Downtown DID get an Emmy nomination (it lost to an ep of "The Simpsons"), but that show STILL got cancelled. Many loud laments have been raised over the fact that MTV didn't even bother to show Downtown's 13th and final episode. And Downtown is NOWHERE to be found on DVD, either. Before MTV ended its five-year animation project in 2001, it produced the short-lived Undergrads (which later wound up on Comedy Central and is now on DVD).
I can't answer the question "Why isn't Daria on DVD yet?" It wasn't exactly ignored by people. IIRC, it was one of MTV's highest-rated shows in the pre-Osbournes era. It had viewership of somewhere between 750,000 and 1,000,000 per week -- pretty damn good for a basic cable show that didn't involve a big yellow sponge. I don't know where MTV's focus is; it may be cheaper to produce a show like Road Rules (blecch) or Pimp My Ride (love it!) than to spend over $500K per episode on Daria. Maybe they HAVE been listening to us fans and are trying to put out a high-quality DVD release; from what I've been hearing, the key problem may be getting extended copyrights on the music used in each episode. Whatever.
Bottom line:I will not bemoan the absence of new episodes of Daria; heck, I've seen too many excellent shows turn to crap because they went on way longer than they should have. I'M not going to give up on a complete DVD release; I will keep the links to the petition and TVShowsonDVD.com in my signature until the release comes out. (More than 13,600 people have signed the petition. Daria is among the 30 most requested DVD releases at TVShowsonDVD.com.) I will keep writing letters & sending e-mails and faxes & making phone calls (when time permits, of course, since I DO have a LIFE!) and posting reminders here. Look at how long it took Seinfeld and Charmed to finally make it to DVD. Beverly Hills 90210 isn't on DVD. Neither are JAG or Roseanne.
If you want Daria on DVD as I do, just hold on. SOMEBODY at MTV/Viacom is bound to hear us. I've got faith that we'll see a release before Daria's 10th anniversary in 2007.
Cricket
"Daria" on Comedy Central e-mail: http://www.comedycentral.com/help/questionsCC.jhtml Phone: (212) 767-8600 Snail mail: NO LONGER ACCEPTED! DVD petitions: http://www.the-wildone.com/dvdaria/ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/showinfo.cfm?showID=323
What does it take for a Daria group lurker of a few years to actually post for the first time? For me, it was a post of a like-minded Daria fan suggesting the TV series WonderFalls. I never would have heard of it, had it not been suggested here. Having seen an episode, I can heartly agree, this is something special. There are a number of ways to see the 13 episodes, including the upcoming DVD release in February 2005.
If you like Michael Crichton books, you might greatly enjoy Tom Clancey or John Grisham. Or not. And if you like Daria, you might like Wonderfalls.
This, I think, was the reason for my lurking here. It was the hope that someone who found Daria compelling might suggest something similar. Well, that, and the celebration of something fun, freshly creative, and intelligent.
A Wonderfull suggestion - Thank you.
"DogSurfer" wrote in news:1103722332.831560.36430 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:
I'm picking up this thread in the middle, but I don't like the subject line. I also LOVE Wonderfalls, but forget Daria? Not a chance. There's plenty of room for both.
And if you like Daria and Wonderfalls, also check out the Showtime series "Dead Like Me". It was created by the same person who created Wonderfalls and features a lead character who could remind me of Daria (and Jaye from Wonderfalls), only her circumstances are a little strange.
Too bad it was recently cancelled.