Gotham EP Explains Showrunner's Comment About Superheroes Not Working Very Well On TV
When you run a comic book TV series, heads will turn if you say superheroes don’t work well on [...]
When you run a comic book TV series, heads will turn if you say superheroes don't work well on the small screen. However, that is exactly what Bruno Heller did earlier this year at the Edinburgh Television Festival. The Gotham showrunner told audiences, "I don't think superheroes work very well on TV. Probably because of the costume thing." And, now, another Gotham executive is clarifying the head-scratching comment.
Ken Woodruff, an executive producer on Gotham, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and addressed the confusing statement. "I think I can help clarify his statement," he started.
"There's a reason why he chose to develop a show that took place before the actual fully-realized Batman. He thought that that was the best way to tell stories on the medium of television. It was about the origins and it was about real people and how they evolved and became the villains and heroes that we know and we've seen in comics and in feature films. A lot of that is just pragmatic and TV is a much more intimate medium sometimes than film can be."
The producer's translation matches words which Bruno Heller also shred earlier this year. Shortly after giving his original critique, the showrunner explained that TV "is about real people and face" instead of "magic and supernatural things."
Ken Woodruff also said he believed that television provided fans with a more intimate view of extraordinary superheroes.
"You're living with these people, you're spending 22 hours with them over the course of a season as opposed to two hours. They're in your living room. They're part of your life in a much more intimate way than maybe film characters can be," he said. "When you have a cape on and you're a superhero, there's a level of attachment there. They're otherworldly and godlike in that way. That's what Bruno was talking about."
But, if you ask the producer whether he agrees with Bruno Heller, he will tell you no. In fact, Ken Woodruff thinks the superhero genre works just fine on the small screen.
"I think that the world for sure works really well on TV," he revealed. "There's so much success lately and so many shows that are on that have to deal with comic worlds and these superhero worlds and characters."
However, the executive producer did say he thinks some superheroes are best left to the silver screen because budgets.
"Some of these movies are so expensive to make it look real with the computer effects and not only that but the timeline. I mean, TV is on such a truncated schedule. Maybe some things are better executed in film and some things are better executed in TV," he explained.
Season 3 premiere of Gotham will air tonight at 8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT on FOX.
[H/T] The Hollywood Reporter
