Sandman (TV)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

It's difficult these days to discuss a television show when all of the episodes drop at once and everyone watches at his own pace, but the Paper Girls discussion (short as it was) went all right, so let's try one for Sandman... let's say an episode a day, clearly labeled. SPOILERs allowed, but please don't get ahead of the discussion.

EPISODE ONE:

I wasn't even planning to watch this one until one of Tracy's friends (who knows we read comics) texted her today and asked, "Have you guys read Sandman?" We recommended Paper Girls to her and she liked it, but she discovered Sandman on her own. She's already watched all the episodes. (I think there are ten.) We just watched the first.

So far, so good... very much like the first issue. What few changes they made were acceptable, and probably improved the story for a TV audience. My expectations for a Sandman TV show are high, but my expectations that they'd be able to pull it off were low. I show some photos of the guy playing Dream but he didn't look convincing to me. He played the part very well, but I would have preferred his skin to be alabaster white. Very well-done overall. 

[Richard Willis]

An interesting article, not the least of which is the statement that The Sandman had "high viewership, topping the charts as one of the streaming service’s most-watched new series." Sounds good for future seasons.

Holy cats! Netflix drops surprise Sandman bonus episode! (comicsbea...

[JD DeLuzio]

Although many people have been pleased with the handling of the diversity casting, among those who are not, are some who noted (I'll just quote myself here);

Typical of current American/British media, the diversity casting mostly ignores people of Pacific Asian background. If they're going to make a point of touting the greater diversity of the adaptation—and they did-- they might consider whom they're not including. Some people I know have been particularly galled by the fact that the one significant Pacific-Asian character strongly recalls the Dragon Lady stereotype.

Elsewhere in the series Sandra Oh gives a strong performance, but as the voice of an animated cat. A Siamese.

I really liked The Sandman, but I think it is a point to ponder.

[Richard Willis]

Tracy may appreciate this. After having cats for six decades, I recently learned two things they do to communicate.

If they trust you, they will demonstrate this by turning their backs to you.

If they love you or another cat, they will perform a slow blink of both eyes.

In the animated "Dream of a Thousand Cats, the Siamese cat and her boyfriend both did the slow blink.

[Richard Willis]

JD DeLuzio said:

Typical of current American/British media, the diversity casting mostly ignores people of Pacific Asian background.

This issue is starting to get more attention. We'll see what happens.

[Richard Willis]

Will The Sandman Season 2 Happen on Netflix? | Den of Geek

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

It's possible she and John have swapped places in history for the TV series. In episode 2, Dream mentions dealing with a Constantine in the past (who would have been Johanna in the comics; maybe it's John on the show).

We're up to episode 2 here. My main question on the changes the show has made so far is: why was Burgess afflicted with endless sleeping instead of endless waking? I really liked the EC-style twist of that in the comic.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

The same question occurred to me. 

[Captain Comics]

I fell into the category of binging the whole show in a day or two and not being able to discuss individual episodes in depth. So I've read more than participated. But I'm seeing some questions that are going without answers, so I'll do that.

Why was [Unity Kincaid] afflicted with endless sleeping instead of endless waking?

There was an actual sleeping sickness from 1916-1930 that, to this day, is unexplained. Gaiman, as thorough as ever, dovetailed that historical fact in his story.

There was a "Lady Johanna Constantine" in the comics, too, but at this point I'm not certain what (if any) relationship she has to that character.

The relationship between the 18th century Lady Johanna Constantine and the current Johanna Constantine is the same as it was in the comics: The modern character is a descendant of the earlier one.

And the reasons for the gender swap on John Constantine are many. In interviews, Gaiman has said that they wanted a big name for Lady Johanna, but if she was only a cameo that would be hard to get. So they cast the same actor for past and present, which attracted Jenna Coleman. Secondly, they wanted to distinguish from the Matt Ryan Constantine (which includes the different pronunciation -- ConstanTEEN is Ryan, ConstanTINE is Coleman). Finally, there is Constantine project in the works, which given Warner Bros. Discovery's ongoing cluster, may never happen. And if it does, will probably star a black or brown man. But either way, Gaiman & Co. didn't want to fool with rights/bureaucracy/studio meddling and just went their own way.

Coleman as Constantine slew three dragons at once.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Cap, Rob and I are referring to the curse of "Eternal Waking" (a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream... each nightmare more horrible than the last) which Morpheus placed upon Alex Burgess in the final three pages of Sandman #1. That was changed to "Endless Sleeping" in the TV version. It seems like an arbitrary change, seeing as the historical "sleepy sickness" was already a key plot point earlier in the comic book as well as the TV episode. This was in the present day, after Sandman was freed, not 1916-1930.

[Captain Comics]

Oh! That's a horse of a different color!

[Richard Willis]

I don't remember the last thing you said about the friend who wanted to read the Sandman series, but it is now available (the entire run) online at: 

The Sandman (dcuniverseinfinite.com)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Oh, thanks! We haven't been able to get together yet, but she might prefer to read it that way.