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. 

[Tracy of Moon-T]

https://deadline.com/2022/11/the-sandman-season-two-netflix-dc-comi...

[Richard Willis]

‘The Sandman’ Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix | TVLine

TVLine makes a point that Netflix is not calling it a second season.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

PoTAYto, poTAHto.

[Richard Willis]

As many movies and TV shows that have been ripped away from Netflix by the newer streaming services, they should be reluctant to cancel any of their own shows, let alone shows that will only increase in popularity.

It's a little troubling that Gaiman doesn't say if the renewal is another 10+ episodes of something less.

[Richard Willis]

Neil Gaiman Says The Sandman Casting Backlash Came From People Who Clearly Hadn't Read The Comics

Story

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Over the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the adults (three couples) usually "binge" a TV show. (Last year it was squid games.) This year it was Sandman, but the results were mixed. Tracy and I are fans, of course, and it was our suggestion. The husband of the other guest couple was enthusiastic, but his wife was noncommittal. The host said he liked it, but wasn't enthusiastic. The hostess hated it. We watched only the first five episodes, which is the end of Preludes & Nocturnes. The first episode bored her to tears; she complained about how slow-moving it was. At one point she asked if the "moral" was for him to regain his items of power and rebuild his kingdom. I said, "Yes, that's the plot," and she complained that wasn't much of a motive. She walked out of the room ten minutes before the end of "24/7" (a.k.a. "24 Hours"). 

I suggested she might enjoy She-Hulk more, but she refused on the grounds that she didn't like super-heroes. Before we watched the first episode of Sandman, she invited her kids into the room, saying, "Jeff says it's a super-hero show," which I certainly did not. If anything, I would have said "comic book show," but I didn't say that, either. Their kids are older now and opted to watch TV in the bedroom. She watched Squid Game last year and The Walking Dead all along, so I thought Sandman might have appealed to her, too. When Tracy pointed out some of the themes she missed, she admitted to not paying as close attention as Tracy, and when Tracy said she read it, too, out friend concluded, "Well, there you go" (as if no one who hadn't read the comic book could have followed it). Each time she pointed out how "slow-moving" it was, I held myself back from admitting that it is a bit more "cerebral" that some of the other shows she watches.