5 Reasons Harry Potter Would've Been Better As A TV Show

4. Structured Storylines

harryonfloor (1) As is typical with long-running TV series (5+ series/seasons), each series/season finale often begins to be written as if it is the show's curtain call, as the possibility of renewal becomes less and less likely. As a result, many shows develop a pace which can become, somewhat, jarring as the writers struggle to out-do themselves every year. This has resulted in entire seasons becoming disconnected from the collective series, affecting the show€™s overall quality, known, in pop-culture parlance, as €˜jumping the shark€™ €“ Think Dallas€™ 9th €˜Dream Season€™. One could argue that fantasy-based series suffer from this problem more acutely. For example, Ghost Whisperer: when ghost-communicating Melinda€™s husband, Jim, dies tragically, only for his soul to take over another person€™s body (which looks the exact same) and which she later marries, Supernatural: even though the demon-fighting Winchester brothers worked tirelessly to defeat Lucifer, at the end of Season Four they conveniently managed to €˜reseal€™ Hell and, literally, trap him back €˜down-under€™ after four seasons of building up to his release in the first place, and also Charmed: after three and a half seasons of preparation for the battle between The Charmed Ones and the Source of All Evil, his defeat at the end of Season Four leaves the Halliwell sisters with little else to do for the next four years. So, we can say with some certainty that high-concept, fantasy shows often fall victim to the most grievous of €˜shark jumps€™. Therefore why should Harry Potter by any different? Well, quite simply, because it is thought out, obviously, as most novel series are. Not just that though: Harry Potter, in many ways, is the fantasy series par excellence. Its intricately-woven €˜character€™ stories, as well as its €˜magical€™ stories, are what has made it popular over such a large spectrum of age and culture. Admittedly, paper cannot simply be translated to screen without some teething problems. JK Rowling herself has admitted that certain sub-plots are inherently more novelistic than cinematic. So, whilst even a TV show still probably would not include absolutely EVERYTHING from the novels, the Powers That Be would still have a lot more leg-room. Above all, the series retains an element of truth, a realism that would, despite how much it would be €˜adapted€™, keep it from straying into the realms of the ridiculous.
Contributor
Contributor

Hey, I'm Deneo, I'm from Edinburgh, Scotland, in the UK, and have recently graduated from university as a student of sociology and culture. Over the course of my uni degree, I have become interested in socio-cultural discussion of just about anything and enjoy trying to apply it to pop culture topics, such as tv, film and music.