As a long-time media consumer, I enjoy a good story – so naturally I drift towards books. In books, you can see the protagonist’s thoughts and worries, all their internal and external struggles that are not easily conveyed in video format. Yet almost every reader’s dream is to have their favorite stories become TV shows or movies.
Recently, two of my favorite book series were transformed into TV show adaptations: “Percy Jackson” and “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” (AGGGTM). Unfortunately, both stories fell to a terrible fate: being adapted in a time when TV shows are less than an hour long and only six to eight episodes per season. Both series were met with criticisms from fans, and although I am not a hater, I can see why fans were disappointed.
After being disappointed in 2010 and 2013 with less than accurate movies, Percy Jackson fans were excited for age-accurate characters and the book to screen accuracy that the movies lacked. However, the show faced criticisms from loyal fans.
One criticism of the Percy Jackson TV show was that the protagonists seemed to know everything. They knew which monster they were going to fight, already knowing the monsters’ weaknesses, and how defeat said monster. Another criticism is that the protagonists were told how to get of sticky situations instead of figuring it out themselves. Take the infamous Lotus Hotel & Casino scene, for example. In the show, Hermes was the one who told Annabeth and Percy that time was moving faster. In the book, Percy notices people dressed in various time period attire, and snaps out the lotus trance.
A lot of quippy and sassy moments adored by Percy Jackson readers were cut from the show to make room for exposition. I believe that is where the show lost a lot of fans.
In 2019, Holly Jackson debuted AGGGTM. The story follows 17-year-old Pip as she attempts to solve the murder of Andie Bell. However, most of the town believes that Andie’s boyfriend, Sal Singh, killed her and then killed himself. Pip enlists the help of Sal’s younger brother, Ravi, to help her prove Sal’s innocence.
I enjoyed the AGGGTM TV show. Created by Moonage Pictures, an independent production company based in London. It was released on BBCTHREE/BBC iPlayer before it was released on Netflix for US and other international fans. Because AGGGTM was produced by a smaller video company, it makes sense that there were some moments changed or left out of the show. Some argue that too many moments were left out or changed. For example, they left out a major character: Stanley Forbes. Although not as important in the first book, he plays a significant role in the second and third books.
A lot of relationship dynamics were changed in the show, too. Enemies were portrayed as best friends (Andie Bell and Nat da Silva). Instead of having a loving mixed family relationship, she thought her stepdad cheated on her mom.
Similar to the Percy Jackson show, lots of fan favorite quotes and scenes were missing.
As mentioned at the beginning, becoming a TV show that only lasts six to eight episodes is a tragedy. Shorter TV seasons likely began with the writers’ strike of 2007 because production was interrupted. This led to many seasons being reduced from over 20 episodes per season to less than 20 episodes per season.
Binging culture also caused TV seasons to shrink. I am not binge shaming. Who has not binged watched their favorite show at least once? However, this culture of binge watching has led TV companies to produce shorter seasons. The shorter the season, the easier it is to binge, and the more money is made. According to ScreenRant, “Another benefit to shorter seasons on streaming is the fact that streaming services don’t have to worry about qualifying for syndication, so the old 100-episode rule was made irrelevant. This removes a lot of the need for 20+ episode seasons since there’s no need for streaming services to lease their shows to other networks so they can air reruns.”
I fear what irks readers the most is that we know good page to screen adaptations are possible. The Hunger Games and Harry Potter movies were/are very popular adaptations that most fans love.
I am aware that no book-to-screen adaptation will be 100% accurate. However, the story of a book cannot fit into short TV seasons.
