10 TV Shows You Were Ready To Hate

Prior to Peter Jackson’s seminal film series, many believed The Lord Of The Rings to be unfilmable. Sure, the movies were forced to make concessions from the original narrative, but most Tolkien fans came to accept these in the face of an overall wonderful adaptation. Then came The Hobbit films, which contrastingly received extremely mixed reviews, with a sense that the series had sold out. So, by the time Amazon Studios announced its acquisition of the television rights, fan opinion had ended up somewhere back at the beginning again.

A television series based on the appendices of The Lord Of The Rings should have seemed solid in theory, with a sign-off on the project from the Tolkien Estate, proposed involvement of film series director Peter Jackson, and a staggering budget of $1 BILLION thrown behind it. However, the mistakes of The Hobbit had many fans sceptical, and worries only increased as a series of departures, and halts were announced amid production. Jackson was out, with the series legally required to have no connection to the film series; foremost Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey would also no longer be involved. Filming was also halted in New Zealand for an extended period thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. All in all, despite being the most expensive show ever produced, The Rings Of Power’s prognosis wasn’t looking good.

Whether or not the show felt satisfying or stagnant upon release is largely a matter or personal perspective. While the vast budget was clear in the visual effects and production design, many criticised it as feeling soulless in its characterization and pacing. However, what certainly can be agreed upon is that pouring quite so much money into what is inherently a divisive medium is maybe not the best idea.