Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events became a massive sensation amongst younger readers toward the back end of the 90s.
The books combined dark comedy with Gothic illustrations and told the tale of three wealthy orphans who find themselves subjected to the sociopathic schemes of the infamous conman Count Olaf, whose sights are set on the children’s inheritance.
NetflixMuch of the goodwill towards the series dissipated in 2004, when the first three books were adapted into a distinctly average film adaptation, in which Jim Carrey played Olaf as an nonthreatening pantomime baddie.
Netflix have pulled the books off their shelf once again for a television adaptation starring Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket and How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris in the role of Olaf.
NetflixThe second teaser trailer, which dropped earlier today, is fairly underwhelming and looks similar enough to the film in terms of it’s tone and visual style to unsettle fans who found the 2004 version tediously toothless.
We’re reserving our judgement for now, as Netflix has a pretty unbeatable track record for creating intelligent adaptations of films and books.
NetflixIf for no other reason than the brilliantly left-field casting of Neil Patrick Harris, we need to give this one a chance.
