4. Target The Right Audience, Find The Right Tone For The Show...
Elves. Dwarves. Gnomes. Trolls. There are certainly many elements of high fantasy that we haven't really seen adapted for television before. Both Game of Thrones and Legend Of The Seeker dealt primarily with human characters, with a few magical / mythical elements thrown in. Shannara will be a little different, though that isn't to stay the themes make for child's viewing either. Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit Trilogies are much closer in style and this is where the audience for the TV show should more likely be targeted. An older family / adult show, with plenty of scares and action sequences that won't be suitable for younger viewers (imagine the Reaper in The Elfstones Of Shannara or the Skull Bearers from The Sword Of Shannara). But of course, the most important aspect of the show has to be the tone it's set. Something that isn't too gritty but treats the source material with reverence; for me Legend Of The Seeker sometimes bordered on hokey, almost as if it wanted to capture the silly charm of Hercules or Xena before it. Should Shannara try to go down the fun, light and entertaining route, I fear it would fail to match up to the darker story elements that run through each story. But then again, attracting a wider family audience might also be the key to the show's success. Just don't go too much down the 'young' route...