Book vs. Series: On The Shelf

[quarks]

50 minutes ago, magdalene said:

Netflix tends to cancel most shows after the third season (if they make it that far), but there are of course the exceptions, like The Crown and Stranger Things. If they can keep the quality up and the book fan base happy, and if the producer wants to continue they could be such an exception.

Alienating the books fans may not be helpful.

It might not be helpful, but:

a) At least some book fans (including me), are not in favor of sticking with Eloise and Sir Philip.

b) Given the combination of first season events on the show, and offscreen events involving Marina's actress, it is very difficult to see a path forward for Sir Philip and Eloise that will not involve negative publicity and potentially alienating viewers.

c) And from Netflix' point of view, the number of show viewers vastly outnumbers the number of book readers. 

And by vastly, I mean that Netflix has reported that Bridgerton season 1 - only season 1 - garnered 113,300,000 complete views.  All eight Bridgerton books and the four prequels have, as of mid-2023, sold around 17,000,000 copies Those are amazing book sale numbers, no question, and full congratulations to Julia Quinn, but represent only 15% of the show numbers. And again, that's a contrast between just one season of Bridgerton and fourteen books.

Complicating the issue further, as per HarperCollins, about 750,000 of those book sales came between December 25, 2020, and January 15, 2021 - right after the first season was released, and HarperCollins saw another sales spike after the second season was released. Which is to say, at this point, the show is driving book sales - not the other way around. 

And sure, that doesn't account for library reads, which would certainly increase the book reader numbers - but those Netflix numbers also don't account for how many people are in the room watching the screen, which is presumably at least sometimes more than one person.

So I think it's fairly safe to say that, even accounting for library readers, the book fan base probably represents around 10 to 15% of total viewers - and that might be optimistic. Not nothing, certainly, but maybe not enough to make this a huge concern for Netflix executives. 

[RachelKM]

3 hours ago, quarks said:

It might not be helpful, but:

a) At least some book fans (including me), are not in favor of sticking with Eloise and Sir Philip.

b) Given the combination of first season events on the show, and offscreen events involving Marina's actress, it is very difficult to see a path forward for Sir Philip and Eloise that will not involve negative publicity and potentially alienating viewers.

This. I read all of the books, many of them more than once in the since the early 2000s. And I really like To Sir Phillip with Love (it's not my favorite book but I like it.)  That said, I completely agree that sticking with the books would be terrible for so many reasons. 

I'll be honest, I would probably skip that season if they tried. 

I want them to follow the books generally; but the only changes that have really pissed me off have been the ones that violate the norms of the era in a way that would have been viewed beyond scandalous in the time (the actual engagement of Anthony and Edwina, for instance). 

In the case of Eloise and Phillip, the changes already made would make following the books would be beyond the pale  in terms of the scandal.  It was a little unusual for the female cousin of Philip's late wife to begin writing him regularly.

But, on the show, Eloise barely even met Marina more that a handful of times. And she met Marina in the context of being her brother's fiancée who attempted to trap him and was publicly outed for it.  What possible reason would she have to write to Phillip? 

And, as I've said before, I don't really think the book would lend itself to the structure of this show. Bridgerton the TV series expanded the view of the book beyond the Bridgerton child of each book and his or her love interest. It had added Queen Charlotte and and expanded the perspective of Lady Danvers. The show is more of an ensemble about the Ton rather than about the 8 Bridgerton children and their eventual spouses. 

Eloise's book is completely isolated from the Ton and the rest of her family by plot necessity.  So, unless we want a story in which the only face we know well is that of Eloise and the remaining cast is two small children and a man we saw briefly in two scenes, it would have to change. 

But, I don't know, maybe they can find a way. I can't picture it. 

[magdalene]

no point.

Edited December 27, 2023 by magdalene

[Jane Tuesday]

I'm fine with them changing Eloise's story, but I'd also be totally fine with them doing her book story, but with different names. Would it really matter if she started writing to her dead cousin Melissa's husband, Felix?

The one thing I definitely DON'T want is a continuation of the Theo "relationship". It's boring, clichéd, and WAY too unrealistic, even for this show.

Then again, Show Eloise is boring, clichéd, and WAY too unrealistic, so they could skip her romance altogether, as far as I'm concerned. 

[PRgal]

Finally reading the books (okay, I’m listening to the audiobook) and can only picture the actors in the roles rather than using my imagination.  I can’t be alone in this right?