In part two of our Q&A with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, executive producers of the upcoming syndicated television series Legend of the Seeker, they talk about diverging from the books, how the first-run syndication landscape has evolved since they produced Xena: Warrior Princess and Cleopatra 2525 and how and why Raimi and Tapert work together so often.
Legend of the Seeker is a fantasy-adventure-romance show based on Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule. It stars Bridget Regan, Craig Horner and Bruce Spence and kicks off with a two-hour premiere on Nov. 1. The following are edited excerpts from Raimi and Tapert's Oct. 15 conference call with reporters.
How free are you to diverge from the books--or book, since you're primarily adapting Wizard's First Rule--and maybe take those characters in another direction? Or are you planning on following them pretty closely?
Tapert: We've actually remained true to the characters, and what we've done is we've taken aspects of the book, storylines from the book, and blended those into episodes that differ from the book or run tangentially. ... We've had to, in the world of television, create events that were not portrayed in the book but still remained true to the characters, the theme and what's happening within the overarching story within the book.
Raimi: I think it's because of just the nature of the format of television. We wanted to satisfy the viewers completely, and in this sense we need to have a beginning, a middle and an end in each hour story that the viewers come to see. And yet no novel is really constructed that way--in 50-page beginning, middle and ends that ends at page 50 and then begins again from page 50 to 100, then from page 100 to 150. They're just not constructed that way. So obviously we had to take some license with the book as far as the plot of them so that each episode had a conflict for the main character, each episode had a theme and a beginning, a middle and an end. Whereas, [with a] linear novel, it may just be one beginning, middle and end over the course of the 800-page book.
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Craig Horner and Bridget Regan star in Legend of the Seeker.
So I think that is to be expected. I think that there's no television program that could work any other way with a closed format. But I think the most important thing--at least for me--is that we remain true to the heart and soul of the characters, what they represent, what they stand for, the good things that they're fighting for, what their weaknesses are and how they overcome them, what the villain represents to the hero, the nature of this love story. Those will all be intact and brought as faithfully as possible by our team of writers to the screen. The actual plot events, though, they're going to be happening in a slightly different order. And ... different. Sometimes different stories will be told.
First-run syndicated shows are rarely done anymore. How has the television landscape changed from what it was when you guys did Cleopatra 2525, Hercules and Xena? It's totally different, right?
Tapert: Yes, it is. You know, we've been very fortunate to be partnered with ABC Studios to have great faith in the source material--the book--and put great faith in Sam and [me] and our two partners, Josh Donen and Ned Nalle, and Ken Biller, in going back into something that really may not exist, which is first-run syndicated original programming of action-fantasy. Nothing has been on the air for a few years. There's a real question mark. "Hey, is that a viable world?" And ABC Studios said, "We believe in you guys, and we believe that that market can be resurrected." And we'll tell you at the end of November, after our first five or six episodes. But I believe that it wasn't that the audience went away. I believe that eventually there was a flood of subpar product, and the audience wised up to that and moved on looking for something else. And so I think in returning to first-run syndication our belief--and ABC Studios' belief--is that if you make something well and honor the audience and give them something new and exciting, that they will come.
The two of you have worked together for many years. Sam, what makes Rob an ideal creative producing partner? And Rob, to you, what makes Sam an ideal partner?
Raimi: It's not Rob's good looks, I'll tell you that. I've known Rob since our days together at Michigan State University, and I think we have a respect for each other. Rob is very smart. He's a good businessman. He's honest. I think honesty and respect for one another have been the keys to our long and profitable and very happy relationship. That's probably the same thing that would make a good marriage.
Tapert: It is like a good marriage. And additionally, Sam understands heroes and heroines and what makes people want to watch movies and television. That's the journey that people go on the screen with, and certainly I've benefited and learned from that and continue to gain insight into how you can tell a story, a classic story, in a new and different way. And that's one thing that I continue to learn from this long association as partners.
- Ian Spelling
