I really enjoyed the books, so I'm actually pretty hyped for this. However, the tone of this trailer seems a LOT more comedic than I interpreted the books. Don't get me wrong, the books had plenty...
I really enjoyed the books, so I'm actually pretty hyped for this. However, the tone of this trailer seems a LOT more comedic than I interpreted the books. Don't get me wrong, the books had plenty of funny moments, but they were generally pretty serious overall, IMO. Even if they do go with more action/comedy for the show I am cool with it though. It should still hopefully be a fun watch.
This is definitely a comedy. They even got Jack Mcbrayer. I regret watching the trailer because it tells too much. It reminded me of why don't warch trailers anymore.
This is definitely a comedy. They even got Jack Mcbrayer.
I regret watching the trailer because it tells too much. It reminded me of why don't warch trailers anymore.
The trailer didn't really give that much away, IMO. There is a LOT more to the story than is shown in the trailer. The trailer only showed the basic premise and initial story setup... which you...
The trailer didn't really give that much away, IMO. There is a LOT more to the story than is shown in the trailer. The trailer only showed the basic premise and initial story setup... which you discover in the first few pages of the first novella, and will likely discover in the first 10 min of the show.
Jack Mcbrayer also isn't really a member of the show's regular cast either, AFAICT. He's just portraying an actor who is portraying a character in The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, one of the serials that Murderbot regularly watches. I doubt you will see all that much of him or John Cho, who is also portraying a character in the same serial.
Funny enough, it's this comment that's finally compelled me to try the series. I'm not sure why I've come away from past recommendations assuming the books to be overly comedic, so seeing an...
Funny enough, it's this comment that's finally compelled me to try the series. I'm not sure why I've come away from past recommendations assuming the books to be overly comedic, so seeing an opinion tempering that expectation gave me the final push.
Ah, nice. I'm glad my comment convinced you to finally check it out. It's a great series. Network Effect, the only full length novel in the series, is unfortunately the weakest of the bunch, IMHO....
Ah, nice. I'm glad my comment convinced you to finally check it out. It's a great series. Network Effect, the only full length novel in the series, is unfortunately the weakest of the bunch, IMHO. The story dragged on a bit too much for my taste, but it's still good and well worth reading.
I think I'd call them dryly sarcastic but not comedic, which I can see where you'd get the wrong impression. I'm glad you enjoyed, I think they're excellent
I think I'd call them dryly sarcastic but not comedic, which I can see where you'd get the wrong impression. I'm glad you enjoyed, I think they're excellent
I was expecting a more gender-ambiguous face and voice for Murderbot, but I will still certainly give this series a try. Absolutely love the books, and if I need to think of this as separate...
I was expecting a more gender-ambiguous face and voice for Murderbot, but I will still certainly give this series a try. Absolutely love the books, and if I need to think of this as separate material to enjoy it, so be it.
If they keep the character genderless and neutral in action and personal voice, I can see myself getting used to it. It WOULD be somehow more likely in my head canon that men would be turned into...
If they keep the character genderless and neutral in action and personal voice, I can see myself getting used to it. It WOULD be somehow more likely in my head canon that men would be turned into sec units in the corporation rim, and they did otherwise keep the body lean and trim (to save on bulk shipping costs of course). I'm bummed because an NB/agender/androgynous lead in ANY major media would be a huge win, but I also get where they must have felt they needed a major name in action to headline it. I'm cautiously optimistic even if it doesn't fit my imagination.
I had two thoughts after thinking about this some more. I don't think the SecUnits are full bodies turned into part bots, I thought that could be wrong; the impression I had was more one of...
I had two thoughts after thinking about this some more.
I don't think the SecUnits are full bodies turned into part bots, I thought that could be wrong; the impression I had was more one of growing parts of a body the way they want. Especially given that it doesn't have any genitals, IIRC.
Nonbinary and agender folks aren't necessarily androgynous and don't owe society a particular gender presentation. So, while the lead is not, the character still explicitly is non-binary regardless of how it presents at any given time.
I'm still not thrilled with the casting of Muderbot itself, but I do think they really accurately hit the other characters, so I'm more optimistic than I was before this.
Right, so as long as the character resists being called a "him" and honors the genderless identity in the show, I can roll with Skarsgard as the lead. The narration is certainly more "animated"...
Nonbinary and agender folks aren't necessarily androgynous and don't owe society a particular gender presentation. So, while the lead is not, the character still explicitly is non-binary regardless of how it presents at any given time.
Right, so as long as the character resists being called a "him" and honors the genderless identity in the show, I can roll with Skarsgard as the lead. The narration is certainly more "animated" than I got used to in the audio books but I understand the need to emote more because we will be losing a lot of its internal voice.
As far as the origins of cyborg-humans, they're vague and mysterious and not explicitly said to be one thing or another. We just know they're a combination of biological human bits and mechanical bits in varying proportions based on purpose. We also know that in that universe, memories can be directly manipulated, edited, deleted and implanted into cyborg humans. I suppose the way I imagined it is that if a human suffered a catastrophic event that otherwise killed their body, they could be "salvaged" by using cybernetics and have enough bits replaced to become functional again. Because the corporation rim has many, many opportunities for terrible things to happen to human bodies, this made sense to me because it could be "cheaper" to find "donors" than to grow needed parts in a lab. Any memories of a previous life could be deleted or overwritten to start with a clean slate and a governor module implanted. But again, it's never explicitly said, so it's all speculation on my part.
Re: non-binary stuff: agreed though I suspect if it is playing augmented human it'd probably roll with he/him pronouns (or maybe they/them) instead of the she/her that either Rin or the previous...
Re: non-binary stuff: agreed though I suspect if it is playing augmented human it'd probably roll with he/him pronouns (or maybe they/them) instead of the she/her that either Rin or the previous persona before that was perceived as. (I wasn't accusing you of not understanding in my previous post or anything btw just had been pondering it)
courtesy spoiler
I like the theorizing about what SecUnits and other bot/organic hybrids are made of. Given the amount of healing and augmenting they're able to do in this time period, I suspect being fully dead would likely involve not being recoverable or having enough material to work with. I definitely imagined more of a vat growth around a tech/bone skeleton, but there is something in the wiki that says it's cloned human tissue, that doesn't mean entire bodies aren't involved or that far more unethical methods (more unethical than construct slavery) have been used given the Corporate Rim's policies. Given how quick they heal though it seems like growing tissue wouldn't be a problem and might be easier if all your SecUnits are the the same gene line.
Other than a certain asshole spaceship (and a few other ships) most bots seem not quite up to personhood - though that line is so very fuzzy as they definitely have emotions - or at least it's rarely attributed to them without a human-shape. But that makes the whole question of freedom v slavery even more complex imo too.
I just started a reread, and huh, it says "cloned human tissue" multiple times. I wonder where I got that other theory? The only thing I can think of is that Murderbot says multiple times it's not...
I just started a reread, and huh, it says "cloned human tissue" multiple times. I wonder where I got that other theory? The only thing I can think of is that Murderbot says multiple times it's not necessarily a reliable narrator when it comes to facts about the world or things outside itself.
That's fair, it isn't reliable in some senses but I think that's more about its past and the memory issues it has due to at least one past wipe. Of course, it's entirely possible the Corporation...
That's fair, it isn't reliable in some senses but I think that's more about its past and the memory issues it has due to at least one past wipe.
Of course, it's entirely possible the Corporation Rim, already engaging in company town style perpetual and hereditary indentured servitude would purchase/claim corpses for that purpose too. A lot of that is just starting to unwind as the plot has moved forward.
I'm cautiously optimistic of this, but I'm liking what I see so far. 10 episodes does seem a little long for the first book though. Also, its (their?) inner voice (the narration) seems a bit too...
I'm cautiously optimistic of this, but I'm liking what I see so far. 10 episodes does seem a little long for the first book though.
Also, its (their?) inner voice (the narration) seems a bit too cheery to me, I always imagined it to be more low and monotonous.
Those books are pretty thin, I was expecting a shorter season for each. Granted, showing and describing what would normally be an inner voice takes longer, and it seems that we'll get more...
Those books are pretty thin, I was expecting a shorter season for each. Granted, showing and describing what would normally be an inner voice takes longer, and it seems that we'll get more backstory as a result, so I'm also cautiously optimistic about this turning out well.
sorry, it was just my own assumption from the trailer. Would love to see at least the first 2 books in the first season though, especially if we get an appearance from ART
sorry, it was just my own assumption from the trailer.
Would love to see at least the first 2 books in the first season though, especially if we get an appearance from ART
I'm hopeful based on this. I know the tone is coming off more comedic but it think that if it gets serious in the bigger plot moments and battles and let's Murderbot have its interior...
I'm hopeful based on this. I know the tone is coming off more comedic but it think that if it gets serious in the bigger plot moments and battles and let's Murderbot have its interior contemplative moments, the quips work. I think its humans are, especially initially, sort of portrayed as comedic and naive polycule people because they're not from the Rim.
I'm still not thrilled about the Murderbot casting but I appreciate they did well with the humans. I'm wondering if they'll use the extra episodes to introduce more of the "what happened in my past" backstory or just show us more Sanctuary Moon because I'm here for either... Or both.
I had a hard time placing the tone, but then I placed it as Murderbot is JD from Scrubs, and that's an interesting take. They're both new to the group, a viewpoint character, expressive in their...
I had a hard time placing the tone, but then I placed it as Murderbot is JD from Scrubs, and that's an interesting take. They're both new to the group, a viewpoint character, expressive in their own ways with a rich internal life and learning how to person around others. That's probably the best way to translate the ensemble to television, and Scrubs had no trouble being irreverent and then bringing the emotion and tension when the situation called for it.
In Hollywood there’s a specific hierarchy of terms for stories that come from books. If it’s promoted as a faithful adaptation they say so. If it’s an adaptation they say it’s based on the books....
In Hollywood there’s a specific hierarchy of terms for stories that come from books.
If it’s promoted as a faithful adaptation they say so. If it’s an adaptation they say it’s based on the books. If it’s even looser then they say it’s inspired by the books.
This feels more like an “inspired by” rather than a “based on” production.
Yeah the trouble only arises when a property promotes itself as one thing but is really another. It is almost always the case that they begin development believing they will stay as close to the...
Yeah the trouble only arises when a property promotes itself as one thing but is really another. It is almost always the case that they begin development believing they will stay as close to the source material as possible but after it’s gone through a few hundred meetings and a couple dozen writers It’s more of a “takes place in Murderbot’s world…“
As you say, there’s nothing wrong with that, especially if the author remains happy. But they might make the current fan base less than happy by promising one thing and delivering another, which isn’t what you want at the premiere.
Based on the trailer they have multiple scenes and lines that are taken straight from All Systems Red. There have been some "based on" series and movies recently that don't even have that through...
Based on the trailer they have multiple scenes and lines that are taken straight from All Systems Red. There have been some "based on" series and movies recently that don't even have that through their whole runtime haha. Of course we need to actually see to judge but I'm optimistic that this was made by people who actually read and liked the books, which seems like a lot to ask these days.
It's always difficult to keep highly introspective stories perfectly true to the original when adapting to film, too, since film audiences don't just want to watch hours of monologues. The trailer...
It's always difficult to keep highly introspective stories perfectly true to the original when adapting to film, too, since film audiences don't just want to watch hours of monologues. The trailer seems like a good compromise.
I really enjoyed the books, so I'm actually pretty hyped for this. However, the tone of this trailer seems a LOT more comedic than I interpreted the books. Don't get me wrong, the books had plenty of funny moments, but they were generally pretty serious overall, IMO. Even if they do go with more action/comedy for the show I am cool with it though. It should still hopefully be a fun watch.
This is definitely a comedy. They even got Jack Mcbrayer.
I regret watching the trailer because it tells too much. It reminded me of why don't warch trailers anymore.
The trailer didn't really give that much away, IMO. There is a LOT more to the story than is shown in the trailer. The trailer only showed the basic premise and initial story setup... which you discover in the first few pages of the first novella, and will likely discover in the first 10 min of the show.
Jack Mcbrayer also isn't really a member of the show's regular cast either, AFAICT. He's just portraying an actor who is portraying a character in The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, one of the serials that Murderbot regularly watches. I doubt you will see all that much of him or John Cho, who is also portraying a character in the same serial.
Funny enough, it's this comment that's finally compelled me to try the series. I'm not sure why I've come away from past recommendations assuming the books to be overly comedic, so seeing an opinion tempering that expectation gave me the final push.
I really enjoyed the first novella!
Ah, nice. I'm glad my comment convinced you to finally check it out. It's a great series. Network Effect, the only full length novel in the series, is unfortunately the weakest of the bunch, IMHO. The story dragged on a bit too much for my taste, but it's still good and well worth reading.
I think I'd call them dryly sarcastic but not comedic, which I can see where you'd get the wrong impression. I'm glad you enjoyed, I think they're excellent
I was expecting a more gender-ambiguous face and voice for Murderbot, but I will still certainly give this series a try. Absolutely love the books, and if I need to think of this as separate material to enjoy it, so be it.
This is my biggest complaint so far, too. At the VERY least they could've done a more gender-neutral haircut
If they keep the character genderless and neutral in action and personal voice, I can see myself getting used to it. It WOULD be somehow more likely in my head canon that men would be turned into sec units in the corporation rim, and they did otherwise keep the body lean and trim (to save on bulk shipping costs of course). I'm bummed because an NB/agender/androgynous lead in ANY major media would be a huge win, but I also get where they must have felt they needed a major name in action to headline it. I'm cautiously optimistic even if it doesn't fit my imagination.
I had two thoughts after thinking about this some more.
I'm still not thrilled with the casting of Muderbot itself, but I do think they really accurately hit the other characters, so I'm more optimistic than I was before this.
Right, so as long as the character resists being called a "him" and honors the genderless identity in the show, I can roll with Skarsgard as the lead. The narration is certainly more "animated" than I got used to in the audio books but I understand the need to emote more because we will be losing a lot of its internal voice.
As far as the origins of cyborg-humans, they're vague and mysterious and not explicitly said to be one thing or another. We just know they're a combination of biological human bits and mechanical bits in varying proportions based on purpose. We also know that in that universe, memories can be directly manipulated, edited, deleted and implanted into cyborg humans. I suppose the way I imagined it is that if a human suffered a catastrophic event that otherwise killed their body, they could be "salvaged" by using cybernetics and have enough bits replaced to become functional again. Because the corporation rim has many, many opportunities for terrible things to happen to human bodies, this made sense to me because it could be "cheaper" to find "donors" than to grow needed parts in a lab. Any memories of a previous life could be deleted or overwritten to start with a clean slate and a governor module implanted. But again, it's never explicitly said, so it's all speculation on my part.
Re: non-binary stuff: agreed though I suspect if it is playing augmented human it'd probably roll with he/him pronouns (or maybe they/them) instead of the she/her that either Rin or the previous persona before that was perceived as. (I wasn't accusing you of not understanding in my previous post or anything btw just had been pondering it)
courtesy spoiler
I like the theorizing about what SecUnits and other bot/organic hybrids are made of. Given the amount of healing and augmenting they're able to do in this time period, I suspect being fully dead would likely involve not being recoverable or having enough material to work with. I definitely imagined more of a vat growth around a tech/bone skeleton, but there is something in the wiki that says it's cloned human tissue, that doesn't mean entire bodies aren't involved or that far more unethical methods (more unethical than construct slavery) have been used given the Corporate Rim's policies. Given how quick they heal though it seems like growing tissue wouldn't be a problem and might be easier if all your SecUnits are the the same gene line.
Other than a certain asshole spaceship (and a few other ships) most bots seem not quite up to personhood - though that line is so very fuzzy as they definitely have emotions - or at least it's rarely attributed to them without a human-shape. But that makes the whole question of freedom v slavery even more complex imo too.
I just started a reread, and huh, it says "cloned human tissue" multiple times. I wonder where I got that other theory? The only thing I can think of is that Murderbot says multiple times it's not necessarily a reliable narrator when it comes to facts about the world or things outside itself.
That's fair, it isn't reliable in some senses but I think that's more about its past and the memory issues it has due to at least one past wipe.
Of course, it's entirely possible the Corporation Rim, already engaging in company town style perpetual and hereditary indentured servitude would purchase/claim corpses for that purpose too. A lot of that is just starting to unwind as the plot has moved forward.
I'm cautiously optimistic of this, but I'm liking what I see so far. 10 episodes does seem a little long for the first book though.
Also, its (their?) inner voice (the narration) seems a bit too cheery to me, I always imagined it to be more low and monotonous.
Those books are pretty thin, I was expecting a shorter season for each. Granted, showing and describing what would normally be an inner voice takes longer, and it seems that we'll get more backstory as a result, so I'm also cautiously optimistic about this turning out well.
Where do you see that it's 10 episodes for just the first novella? My assumption would be 10 episodes for the first four novellas.
sorry, it was just my own assumption from the trailer.
Would love to see at least the first 2 books in the first season though, especially if we get an appearance from ART
I'm hopeful based on this. I know the tone is coming off more comedic but it think that if it gets serious in the bigger plot moments and battles and let's Murderbot have its interior contemplative moments, the quips work. I think its humans are, especially initially, sort of portrayed as comedic and naive
polyculepeople because they're not from the Rim.I'm still not thrilled about the Murderbot casting but I appreciate they did well with the humans. I'm wondering if they'll use the extra episodes to introduce more of the "what happened in my past" backstory or just show us more Sanctuary Moon because I'm here for either... Or both.
I had a hard time placing the tone, but then I placed it as Murderbot is JD from Scrubs, and that's an interesting take. They're both new to the group, a viewpoint character, expressive in their own ways with a rich internal life and learning how to person around others. That's probably the best way to translate the ensemble to television, and Scrubs had no trouble being irreverent and then bringing the emotion and tension when the situation called for it.
In Hollywood there’s a specific hierarchy of terms for stories that come from books.
If it’s promoted as a faithful adaptation they say so. If it’s an adaptation they say it’s based on the books. If it’s even looser then they say it’s inspired by the books.
This feels more like an “inspired by” rather than a “based on” production.
I don't think any of these three approaches are inherently bad. Some fantastic movies only vaguely resemble their source material.
Yeah the trouble only arises when a property promotes itself as one thing but is really another. It is almost always the case that they begin development believing they will stay as close to the source material as possible but after it’s gone through a few hundred meetings and a couple dozen writers It’s more of a “takes place in Murderbot’s world…“
As you say, there’s nothing wrong with that, especially if the author remains happy. But they might make the current fan base less than happy by promising one thing and delivering another, which isn’t what you want at the premiere.
Based on the trailer they have multiple scenes and lines that are taken straight from All Systems Red. There have been some "based on" series and movies recently that don't even have that through their whole runtime haha. Of course we need to actually see to judge but I'm optimistic that this was made by people who actually read and liked the books, which seems like a lot to ask these days.
It's always difficult to keep highly introspective stories perfectly true to the original when adapting to film, too, since film audiences don't just want to watch hours of monologues. The trailer seems like a good compromise.