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Re: Serial Reader: Popular Series Fiction
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From: Gawel, Richard <Richard.Gawel_at_penton.com>
Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:08:31 +0000
When I was a grade schooler back in the 1980s, I was a huge fan of the Thre e Investigators. I must have taken each volume out of the library five or six times. They made for great summer reading under the tree in the back yard.
Later, when I was in high school, there was an brief attempt to reboot the series and age the investigators to give them driver's licenses and girlfriends, and they were okay, but I think I had outgrown them by then.
Apparently, a European production company recently did direct to TV movies of a couple of the books, and they were aired on one of the Disney channels , but I didn't get to see them. But something tells me no matter how good the y were, I would have been disappointed, like most movie versions of favorite books.
I think I would give my left arm for a crack at "rebooting" the series for today's readers myself, though. When the books were written in the 1960s, 1970s, and even into the 1980s, the investigators had an electric typewrite r and a rotary phone tucked away in their hideout. Imagine what they could do now with an iPad at their disposal!
But even more than the technological advances, I always wondered what happened to Jupiter's parents. Why was he living with his aunt and uncle instead? It was never explored in the series, as far as I know, but it coul d be an incredible, overarching mystery for a new series. I think there's roo m to give Pete and Bob a little more character heft, too.
Decades later, I think the series still has appeal for the same reason it had appeal when I was a kid. They were pure escapism, as these otherwise normal kids got in over their heads book after book, but always got away to solve the mystery and save the day. Plus, once you know the series' basic "rules," you can jump right into the next one without speed bumps like worl d building and exposition. Series tend to build momentum like that, and befor e you know it, the characters are like invisible friends, you know them so well, and they're always great company, and always within reach.
So if there are any other Three Investigators fans out there, I'd love to hear from you!
Rich Gawel
Received on Thu 04 Aug 2011 08:08:31 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:08:31 +0000
When I was a grade schooler back in the 1980s, I was a huge fan of the Thre e Investigators. I must have taken each volume out of the library five or six times. They made for great summer reading under the tree in the back yard.
Later, when I was in high school, there was an brief attempt to reboot the series and age the investigators to give them driver's licenses and girlfriends, and they were okay, but I think I had outgrown them by then.
Apparently, a European production company recently did direct to TV movies of a couple of the books, and they were aired on one of the Disney channels , but I didn't get to see them. But something tells me no matter how good the y were, I would have been disappointed, like most movie versions of favorite books.
I think I would give my left arm for a crack at "rebooting" the series for today's readers myself, though. When the books were written in the 1960s, 1970s, and even into the 1980s, the investigators had an electric typewrite r and a rotary phone tucked away in their hideout. Imagine what they could do now with an iPad at their disposal!
But even more than the technological advances, I always wondered what happened to Jupiter's parents. Why was he living with his aunt and uncle instead? It was never explored in the series, as far as I know, but it coul d be an incredible, overarching mystery for a new series. I think there's roo m to give Pete and Bob a little more character heft, too.
Decades later, I think the series still has appeal for the same reason it had appeal when I was a kid. They were pure escapism, as these otherwise normal kids got in over their heads book after book, but always got away to solve the mystery and save the day. Plus, once you know the series' basic "rules," you can jump right into the next one without speed bumps like worl d building and exposition. Series tend to build momentum like that, and befor e you know it, the characters are like invisible friends, you know them so well, and they're always great company, and always within reach.
So if there are any other Three Investigators fans out there, I'd love to hear from you!
Rich Gawel
Received on Thu 04 Aug 2011 08:08:31 PM CDT
