Some recommendations by genre:
Salt and Pepper - buddy cop
Warmflash Dance - dancing
Night Vision Gogol - evasion/surveillance tips
Elliot’s Carvery - barbecuing
3 Likes
Tiffany On The Case
or if the writers make her out to be a thief, how about a series with her planning a heist
Casing Tiffany’s
2 Likes
Can Scaramanga be relatable? OK, I like a challenge.
I think the the best way to approach it would be to approach it as the character’s origin/ early years. We see Scaramanga getting drawn deeper and deeper into the underworld. In the beginning there is some conflict and a desire to get out but over time we see his humanity eroded as he places more value in money reputation than on a human life. And when that time comes, when he has become truly irredeemable, that’s where the series ends.
In terms of story I’d use the elephant rampage and Scarmanga’s first kill as the the inciting incident. We’d meet Scaramanga as a young man on the run from the authorities. He needs to get out of the country but needs to make a deal with a criminal organisation in order to do it. Since he has no money he has to survive by trading on his greatest skill, his marksmanship. Once the unsavory chore is complete he settles in America for what would seem like a quiet life tending to animals, perhaps dreaming of taking centre stage in Vegas. However circumstances (maybe desperation, maybe blackmail) bring him into the orbit of the Spang Brothers where once again he must use his talents to kill. First he kills out of necessity but he soon realises that it can become a lucrative trade.
That would be the thematic underpinning of the series; his greatest skill forces him down a dangerous path. He can either get out or try and make this life work for him.
Remember, this won’t be a literal adaptation of the Scarmanga of the novel or a prequel to the Christopher Lee version. He’d be made of the same DNA as both but there’s also the freedom to craft a character with more intricacies and nuances.
You bring up the comparison to Joker but here’s the thing; the Joker of the film was essentially a new character with few connections to his comic counterpart. Scaramanga provides a lot more to work with in terms of backstory and motivation. I truly believe that making him the protagonist is much less of a leap that it was for Joker.
Edit: Besides, what I’m thinking would have more in common with Scarface.
But that’s what I meant: making him relatable is equal to making him banal, just one more anti-hero.
The special element in Scaramanga‘s character is his devilish view of life. Better not to explain, leave him a riddle.
4 Likes