We've been free-pooping for weeks...

January 19, 2009 3:12 PM

The Remnants. It seemed so promising at first. From the writer of GO and Big Fish, comes a pilot for a post-apocalyptic comedy unlike anything you've ever seen, starring, among others, the much celebrated Zefrank, Justin Bateman,and Ernie Hudson. But after six months of shopping it around the major networks, it seems the The Remnants might just die on the vine. But wait! what's this flurry of press coverage? Go put in your two cents (or hopefully a lot more) here!
posted by Parannoyed (20 comments total)

This looks really, really good. Unfortunately that "flurry" of press coverage doesn't amount to a hill of beans, and we all know how likely it is for an original piece of quality programming to get on the air (let alone survive).
posted by Roman Graves at 4:05 PM on January 19, 2009

It's awesome, and the Helvetica t-shirt ZeFrank's wearing at ~5:00 seals the deal.
posted by pwally at 4:13 PM on January 19, 2009

I'm just glad that "Justin" Bateman had that sex reassignment surgery reversed. I think that was a good call on her/his/her part. (Thanks for pointing to this!)
posted by steef at 4:14 PM on January 19, 2009

Justine Bateman
posted by Optamystic at 4:14 PM on January 19, 2009

So much snark for just one little "e". I love you guys too! =)
posted by Parannoyed at 4:18 PM on January 19, 2009

I don't know. I thought it was ok, but not incredibly special or anything. Also, randomly bringing in the mandatory eye candy in the pilot kind of screams pandering.

It could have potential. If there's ever a time to launch this sort of thing, it'd be now - maybe it could ride the Fallout 3 wave of post-apocalyptic enthusiasm.
posted by Mitrovarr at 4:19 PM on January 19, 2009

i'm watching the Simpsons episode that's based on The Prisoner. If that can get on network TV, maybe a grassroots effort could get it on the air.
posted by SkinnerSan at 5:01 PM on January 19, 2009

Or they could try to do a Doctor Horrible thing and make some money based on the show. Plus, in that format they could quit the series whenever it gets played out. Plus they could go outside the studio system. I wonder what funnyordie.com is worth right now?
posted by SkinnerSan at 5:04 PM on January 19, 2009

I like Zefrank quite a lot but as an actor he's sort of creepy with those big piercing never blinking bug eyes of his.
posted by cazoo at 5:11 PM on January 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Or they could try to do a Doctor Horrible thing

Yeah, he points out (right under the video, man) that that hardly worked for someone with Whedon's name power. So no.
posted by lumpenprole at 5:27 PM on January 19, 2009

Man, I miss The Show. Ze Frank as an actor is a little creepy, though I was over it after a couple of minutes.
posted by jeffkramer at 5:28 PM on January 19, 2009

Ze Frank rocks....

And that's from someone who is way too old to use those terms..

I've had him bookmarked since the ice age of the internet... I would love to see more of this...
posted by HuronBob at 5:34 PM on January 19, 2009

My penis is the hammer.
posted by Bageena at 6:54 PM on January 19, 2009

John August's comparison to Joss Whedon skips several things. Whedon underwrote Dr Horrible himself, and knew it might not make a penny back. August is looking for backers. Whedon wrote a taut three-part series with a solid plot arc. August wrote the first episode of what appears to be a meandering series with a slow reveal. And that's why Whedon gets the online space in a way that most people, even highly-successful screenwriters like August, do not.

The Remnants reminded me less of Dr Horrible than of YouTube series like Felicia Day's The Guild. The Guild, as I understand it, makes enough money to keep producing through a combination of donations and selling dvds. This wouldn't be the kind of revenue model that August would want, I don't think, but it's probably the only model that would work with what he has.
posted by Georgina at 7:56 PM on January 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Amanda Walsh!? Crap. I had totally forgotten about her after she disappeared from MuchMusic years ago. Now you got me all "in love" again. Thanks.

For seriousness though, I really hope someone picks this up, or they at least make a few more indie episodes. I really enjoyed it.
posted by patr1ck at 10:32 PM on January 19, 2009

My two cents? This is the Big Fish that should have been made into a movie.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:33 AM on January 20, 2009

I'm no expert on series pilot. Are they pitching for a similar sized series or this is just a smaller promo? The way I see it, in this format it's quite hard to bring forth both the comedy and the mistery narrative. That is, if they want/ed it to be story-driven (they might also have decided to keep the whole apocalypse thing in the background, and use it just as an excuse to bring forth the characters).

All this said I liked it, but not so much than I would campaign for it.
posted by darkripper at 5:29 AM on January 20, 2009

Well, crap. That was just enough to get me seriously interested.
posted by Happy Dave at 3:14 PM on January 20, 2009

Georgina: The Guild didn't make enough money to continue. They made a deal with the devil (Microsoft), and without it, they barely made a season's worth of episodes.
posted by zabuni at 4:02 PM on January 20, 2009

.Georgina: The Guild didn't make enough money to continue. They made a deal with the devil (Microsoft), and without it, they barely made a season's worth of episodes.

So... they parleyed their moderate success in the first season into a moneymaking deal, and that's a bad thing? I guess your point is the original business model didn't survive, but it _did_ get the show noticed enough to get a backer, which is still pretty awesome to me.
posted by wildcrdj at 5:41 PM on January 20, 2009