Where are the good live action comic book hero tv shows?

[Luke]

The Walking Dead tv series is coming out soon, not really super hero related but comic related, it looks pretty good

Oh, it's going to be better than good.

[Gamerforlife]

So I'm bringing this thread back up because I've been thinking about the possibility of someone pumping out a good Batman show right now. I mean he is at the height of his popularity right now. Everyone is anticipating the next Nolan movie as possibly the only real movie...well, comic book movie at least, to really give Avengers a run for its money in terms of success this year. The Batman games from Rocksteady have been great, and they are getting people talking again with some new story based DLC coming out very soon for Arkham City that will involve Batman and Robin taking on Harley Quinn. As far as cartoons and comic books go, Batman is quality literally EVERYWHERE right now. He pops up in so many current ongoing books right now it's amazing, and he is a frequent face on DC's hit cartoon Young Justice. That show has even had its number of Bat family characters bumped up by quite a bit this season with Nightwing, Red Robin and Batgirl. It might not be an exaggeration to say that Batman is the face of DC right now.

So let's look at the current television climate. The Walking Dead has been a huge success, so TV shows based on comic books can work. In fact, TV based on any kind of literature is a good way to make lots of cash right now if True Blood and Game of Thrones are any indication. Plus, Smallville - even with its many flaws - was a success. Successful enough that a Green Arrow show is being made:

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/the-cw-offi ... ries/11106.

The climate is perfect, for somebody to step up and deliver a killer Batman pilot and win over a network, or a cable channel. My god, the thought of a cable channel like AMC or a pay to watch channel like HBO doing Batman makes me giddy. You would have no restrictions for showing Gotham City in its truest form, with all of the horrific, violent, twisted, disturbed, perverse and generally messed up qualities that define that place. Gotham City is like hell on earth the way it's been portrayed throughout comic book history in the past few decades and it'd be one of the darkest shows on television

The more I think about it, I feel like it's coming. It's the last frontier for Batman really, a successful live action TV show. Hell, it's the one area where Superman has actually kicked Batman's ass with Smallville, Lois and Clark, and that Superman show with George Reeves. Amazingly, this is one area where Superman consistently finds success while Batman's only real TV success is in the world of animation where Batman:The Animated Series paved the way for much of DC's successful cartoons. Yes, I know there was the Adam West show too, but it's so laughable now. To think that that has been the only successful representation of Batman in a live action TV show. Wow.

What are your thoughts on this? Who do you think could pull this off as show runner. I'd like to say Joss Whedon, but he's in movie land right now. Plus, as big of a fan of his as I am, I don't know that a super dark character like Batman plays to his strengths. Even Angel - his darkest show, and one that had many references to Batman in it - still left room for comedy, which characterizes a lot of Whedon's work. You can't do comedy with Batman, unless you're going for an all out, retro take on the character like Batman The Brave and the Bold

[Jrecee]

I had some pretty good ideas for a batman tv show. To avoid doing villains that Nolan had already done I focused on Bane and Catwoman. . . so much for that.

I'd still like to see it. You could have all the different villains interacting with/against each other without the restrictions of a 2 hour movie. If the riddler only showed up for five minutes in one episode, you could get away with it, because he'd be the focus in another episode. The villains could be utilized better in this way. And I still think Adrian Pasdar would make a great Bruce Wayne.

[BurningDoom]

The flash tv series.

+1

Pretty good series for the time. Don't know how well it would hold up today, though.

Walking Dead is EXCELLENT. One of the best plot-driven shows on T.V.

I enjoyed Smallville, as well. The last few seasons focused more on story and villains than the first few seasons, so it became more comic book-ish.

I remember Mortal Kombat: Conquest being pretty good. But I was also the perfect age for the target audience, in 6th grade and playing the MK games. I haven't seen it as an adult.

There's a Conan series out there, too. I've never seen it, so I don't know how well that is.

Animated just works better for comic books on T.V. For a live-action comic book show to work, it either has to be aimed at kids (because they have lower standards) or it has to have a huge budget. Or else it's gonna end up looking ridiculous.

[Jrecee]

Animated just works better for comic books on T.V. For a live-action comic book show to work, it either has to be aimed at kids (because they have lower standards) or it has to have a huge budget. Or else it's gonna end up looking ridiculous.

Again, I think Batman is one of the doable ones. He's a detective, so you can focus more on the mystery aspect. Other than the initial costs of creating a batcave, a batsuit, and the car, I don't think it would cost much more than the typical crime/cop show.

[Nintendork666]

I hope Comic Book Men comes back for another season. Looks like that hit just a little too early to take advantage of all the current Avengers hype.

Lois & Clark was also a fixture of my childhood. I haven't seen that in a long while.

EDIT - just found out they renewed CBM for a 2nd season... AWESOME.

[Gamerforlife]

http://entertainment.time.com/2012/05/2 ... elevision/

[Gamerforlife]

I like the above article referencing Buffy, Angel, Supernatural and Grimm as examples of successful TV superheroes.

[indecks]

How is it that no one mentioned Misfits yet?

[BurningDoom]

How is it that no one mentioned Misfits yet?

I've never even heard of it.