Dissertation Topics: Book vs. Show

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[SoMuchTV]

If you haven't seen it in other media or clicked through all the links, this series is based on Richard Russo's novel Straight Man. Which FWIW I liked okay but it wasn't my favorite of his novels. I will plan to watch if it's on a streamer I already have, but I don't plan to sign up for anything new for it (despite being a fan of both Richard Russo and Bob O.)

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

I will plan to watch if it's on a streamer I already have, but I don't plan to sign up for anything new for it (despite being a fan of both Richard Russo and Bob O.)

It's going to be on AMC/AMC+.

[SoMuchTV]

24 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

It's going to be on AMC/AMC+.

Cool. I recently switched to YouTube TV so I should be able to dvr it and not need to get AMC+. 

And since this is the book thread, I just saw that there’s a third book in the Nobody’s Fool series. Somebody’s Fool, I think?  I just put in an order request at my library. 

[DearEvette]

I unreservedly loved the book.  But that is because I think he got the toxic dynamics of a University academic department just right.  Plus the humor.  I am so curious about the adaptation. I plan to do a re-read.

[meira.hand]

On 1/21/2023 at 1:29 AM, DearEvette said:

But that is because I think he got the toxic dynamics of a University academic department just right.  Plus the humor. 

Did not read the book but just watched the pilot and they got both just right, without resorting to being mean for the sake of it. 

[SusieQ]

I read the book six months ago because I saw Bob Odenkirk was going to star in it. Wow, the show is very different from the book, which I enjoyed.

My understanding is that Richard Russo sold the rights to the book and said they could use the characters any way they wanted. So many changes! I get that there had to be some adjustments since the book is 25 years old, but I  think they went overboard.

I'm still watching because I love Bob O, but I'm disappointed in many of the changes.

[Inquisitionist]

Curious: does it seem like the series is ending where the book did, or is there room for a second season?  Despite its flaws, I've found it interesting and entertaining.

[Simon Boccanegra]

@Inquisitionist The first season's ending had some elements of the novel's ending (the remission of Hank's psychosomatic urological problem, the ousting of Dickie Pope), but it's very different. The novel ends with some other shake-ups in the university's administrative structure, a resolution for Julie and Russell, a different career outcome for Lily, a big revelation involving Hank's troublesome student (Leo/Bartow), Hank Sr. passing away, etc. Farrelly and company left themselves room for another season if this does get renewed. 

But the whole series has been a different animal: milder, less caustic and provocative in its satire. There are some plot elements I'm not surprised didn't make the transfer: the goose-killing (wrongly attributed to Hank for a time); Lily's ex-cop father who shoots a black teen who came to the door to collect newspaper money on his brother's behalf. There are other things they might have been holding back in case there are more seasons, such as the personal life and writing talent of Hank's secretary, Rachel. She's otherwise very much as she is in the book, upspeak and all. 

I thought the novel was fairly good (not my favorite by Richard Russo), but the series did not work for me. It has its moments, but it reminds me of something I'd have watched in the '90s out of inertia if there were nothing better on that night, or if it were on before or after something I liked better. Spin City would be a good comparison. I watched every episode of that until Michael J. Fox had to bow out, but I'll be damned if I can remember a single episode's plot or a line of dialogue. I just remember the actors and the premise. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Simon Boccanegra