io9
I've watched this trailer for Scarlet, a new TV miniseries, three or four times without actually understanding what the show is. She's a fashion model and a movie star, and some old guy screams into the telephone that she's going to change television forever. And meanwhile, she beats up ninjas, does the Batman power-grapple thing, and has weirdly glowing red eyes. Oh, and a group of men follow her around while she tells them they're overlooking crucial evidence. But does this show have a plot, or just lots of posing and kicking? Click through for more details.
I've watched this trailer for Scarlet, a new TV miniseries, three or four times without actually understanding what the show is. She's a fashion model and a movie star, and some old guy screams into the telephone that she's going to change television forever. And meanwhile, she beats up ninjas, does the Batman power-grapple thing, and has weirdly glowing red eyes. Oh, and a group of men follow her around while she tells them they're overlooking crucial evidence. But does this show have a plot, or just lots of posing and kicking? Click through for more details.I would probably just ignore this show, or chalk it down to a spoof, it wasn't created by David Nutter, who directed the pilots of Smallville, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Supernatural, Dark Angel, Space: Above And Beyond, and various other shows. He's become known as the go-to guy for pilots, because his pilots have a higher-than-average batting average of getting a show to series. And he's worked on a lot of science fiction, including several episodes of the X-Files and M.A.N.T.I.S.
Scarlet stars Natassia Malthe, who appeared in such fine films as Bloodrayne II and Alone In The Dark II. The miniseries' official website refers to it as a "hit TV show" (which seems a bit optimistic) and says it's coming out at the end of the month... but no mention of which network it'll be on. Is it direct to DVD? Or online somewhere? I'm not sure. (As someone says on IMDB, "It seems a little off.") I actually spent a fair bit of time today trying to talk to Nutter's reps to find out the deal. But the trailer is so awesomely over-the-top and Alias-esque, I figured I should share it. [Scarlet: The Series]
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Video should be fixed any second now...
I have absolutely no comment on the series itself, but the director sounds awesome.
What a great little niche. The goto guy for pilots. Every year or so someone comes to you, gives you a bunch of money and tells you to knock yourself out setting the tone for a completely new world.
@Ryan H: Yeah, it sounds like the greatest job ever... and you don't have to worry about making episode #72 awesome AND consistent with the first 71 episodes. On the other hand, the pressure must be crazy.
Hot chick. Kickin' ass.
I'm in for at least one ep.
The voiceover voice has become such a caricature of itself that I was convinced it was a spoof/Revlon Commercial for the first 3/4 of it.
That said, I'm in for at least one episode for the red eyes alone. (Or, more accurately[?] "scarlet" eyes.)
uhm, is this some kind of parody? a joke of some sort?
A show about a director that is the goto guy for pilots sounds more interesting than Scarlet.
hey it's typhoid mary from elektra. yup i saw that movie and i didn't hate it either.
Are you sure that tis isn't a Geico commercial? She's a ninja because she saved a bunch of money on her car insurance? It's the same announcer dude. This can't be real, it looks horrible.
@saketini99: I wondered too... but it's on IMDB. And it's definitely David Nutter, so it might be better than it looks.
She's a Cylon. Did you see the red eyes?
@SuperSally: I was going to say it looked like a Degree Deodorant commercial when they were trying to do the action movie thing.
Alone in the Dark 2? They made another movie?
She looks a lil Jolie/Carrere-ish. Which ain't a bad thing. Nothing about that show really screams out to be watched though.
i like shows that are hits before anyone has seen them. that means it'll be a hit for sure!
i thought this was a commercial about 3/4s of the way thru, too.
one word: ass.
Oh great Painkiller Jane becomes famous, starring the chick who couldn't even get into the Uwe Boll movies she had to settle for the sequels. Snooze. Someone get me some exotic fish, cause this is gonna tank.
@Garrison Dean: Wait a sec... weren't you just lecturing me about the dangers of excessive negativity? I'm confused!
Scarlet must be a robot, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a droid.
Has to be fake, the dialogue doesn't sound like it was edited from larger scenes.
There's probably some hidden messages somewhere in the trailer for whatever it is they really are selling. "The truth is right in front of you." "Everything is now what it seems" yadda yadda.
If this were a real mini-series wouldn't a network be hyping it to heck and back by now? Especially with TV being in the post writer's strike situation it's in now.
She's a man? Vampire? ROBOT! That must be it. I'll probably watch. I'm sick of Flavor Flav anyway
Probably a commercial for AccuVue Colors colored contact lenses for models.
Looks like one of those pseudo-movie-mercials that BMW use to do.
@Charlie Jane Anders: Huh, it's almost like its annoying when someone is unnecessarily harsh without seeing something. I'm sick of being patient and understanding.. Bring on teh suk!!!
That's too confusing for normal people I think.
Oh hey! It's an actress that isn't really an actress! She does all her own stunts and she isn't Asian!!! She must be an alien!
Ugh, hopefully, they'll replace American Idol with this. I might actually watch this a few times.
This has got to be some viral thing. It looks just interesting enough to pass around, but doesn't look like a real trailer. I vote for some kind of twist/comercial/viral angle. I'd watch it though. Hell, I was watching bad VCDs of Space: Above and Beyond last weekend, so I am the target audience of this kind of crap.
This has all the hallmarks of a gag. Seriously. Deodorant commercials are more coherent.
The only other thing I've seen that dude in is Entourage, where he played Ana Faris's douchey boyfriend. So, obviously, this has GOT to be good.
Clearly, she's an Aries. I mean, HELLO.
She's not REAL! or something.
All the fancy action clips were TV shows she was in, and yet they're so real, so obviously the one guy running after her must be her only link to reality while she's in some fanciful dreaming coma!
Or something. Doesn't look like something I'd go out of my way to watch, but might be decent for an episode.
The Hit TV Series That Hasn't Aired Yet!
Um, yeah.
Also, thank you for helping me realize that I don't like David Nutter's work.
@bluewyvern: I thought the pilot for Sarah Connor Chronicles was amazing. That's the only pilot of his I've seen recently enough to have an opinion about.
@Charlie Jane Anders: Really? I've heard a lot of people enjoying that, but I was pretty bored about ten minutes in. Even River Tam wasn't enough to keep my interest.
I've always been really turned off by Smallville, and I realize now that the kind of shallowness that's always vaguely bothered me about Supernatural -- which I do watch and enjoy, but it doesn't rank anywhere among my beloved "good" shows -- is characteristic of Nutter's work. Something about his shows just strikes me as stagey, uncompelling, I don't know. It just screams "television show!" Like I can see every dramatic element, act break, plot twist, beat and trope hanging out there like they were subtitled on the screen. Nothing surprises or delights, it's just rote.
It also, obviously, absolutely defies my attempts to articulate it, for which I apologize. But there you go.
So I'm googling to find out more about this Scarlet rubbish, and I find this website - now I was thinking it was an advert, and im not rulining it out, but lets check the facts.
This picture was posted on a blog last week ->
[img329.imageshack.us]
(warning, large picture)
So we know david nutter IS the producer and I've heard the word fox mentioned a couple of times? Could it be a online only on demand series?
ARGH I don't know what to think! Ideas?
It is a Gilmore Girls remake.
I've always wondered* how a live-action Esurance commercial would look.
* has, in fact, not wondered this at all
Wait, isn't this the sequel to Gone with the Wind? I think they "updated" it.
@Oxfordian:
*voiceover guy*
"Watch out, Atlanta...
Scarlet's back.
And, as God is her witness...
This time
It's personal."
if it's a hit, i'm watching it?
wait, what??
@V.I.N.CENT: Ha!
Also, this totally going to air on the Sci-Fi Network.
The guy chasing her plays a lab geek on CSI:NY. I call BS.
The plot sounds almost as good as "Little Taco Boy," but the narrator didn't sell it as well as Pablo Fransico can.
@b-a-n-a-n-a-s: Did you just imply that a superpower for a woman would be being a man? XD
@bluewyvern: reminds me of dives and diners that have signs that say "world famous salad bar," but you get in side and there is half a wilted piece of brown lettuce, a tub of pudding, and some pickled herring from the days when Kirk Cameron was cool.
We all know their full of shit, but let them have their dreams.
This sounds like something no one should ever watch. That trailer was bad enough, but they made a whole miniseries like that?! Gods, save us from trite lines and overused plot machinations!
I know this one.
It's a little viral half-truth. This is a bunch of cut scenes from a forthcoming video game edited to look like a TV trail.
Ummm...you know I love genre stuff as much as the next guy, but it feels like a fake trailer. Sorta like a phone commercial or soemthing.
@zenpoet: I LOVE LITTLE TORTILLA BOY!!!!!
Oddly enough, this makes me wonder if producers aren't starting to assume that airing their series as mini-series' first isn't a good way to drum up hype, test the waters, gather a massive fan base, and then launch a series guaranteed to be successful. If the miniseries doesn't garner much attention, then eh, no love lost, right?
Scarlet is the name of a new prosumer HD camera from the people who brought you the red. It's to premiere at the NAB next week in Vegas.
[www.red.com]
she's a supermodel ninja-DUUHHH
Today's Wall St. Journal has the full story on this:
On Monday night, about 500 people planned to gather at the Pacific Design Center in Hollywood for a swanky screening of "Scarlet," a new TV series from director David Nutter that stars Natassia Malthe.
It looked like a standard new-show screening, right down to the 32-foot-long red carpet and Wolfgang Puck catering. But the event, part of a $100 million global advertising and marketing campaign for LG Electronics, was actually an elaborate ruse. Attendees were expecting a screening of a new TV series called "Scarlet," but "Scarlet" was in fact "a new series of TVs" with a red back panel.
...
The marketing hoax is an attempt by the South Korean electronics company to overcome the commoditization of the television business. TV manufacturers are under the gun to develop brands that stand for something, as a way to avoid consumers choosing their flat panels based on who has the lowest price....
@