Winona signs to a new Netflix dramatic series

[Charles]

A few days ago Winona signed on as the lead in a new supernatural drama series on Netflix.

New Netflix Series

[Deleted]

Yeps. This is very promising, exciting news, indeed.

[bigdaddy]

At long last.

No more wondering 'what Winona would do' if she was in the cast of WALKING DEAD, GAME OF THRONES, THE VEEP, HOUSE OF CARDS, THE NEWSROOM, or a half dozen other cable series.


SPIN CITY saved Michael J Fox's career, and that was when there was still NETWORK t.v. For the last decade, mabye two, the bests writers have moved to the cahtode ray tube while the screen has gone over to comic books.

And...there is a very IMPORTANT demographic to think about...they're called soccer moms...ladies who have careers and kids and still have gas in the tank at the end of the day for intelligent entertainment. and made stuff like Nora Jones and SHADES OF GREY big bucks.

Let us rumble.

[imayne]

Netflix isn't exactly TV. It's beyond that. Even some films are moving to Netflix. You do know Sandler signed a deal with them too, right?

[imayne]

Jun 27, 2015 12:31:03 GMT -5 bigdaddy said:

GAME OF THRONES.

For some reason that show feels to me as though it was written by a teenager. I wonder why.

[bigdaddy]

Maybe the flavour of all the pulp that went before it in the author's career is what you're getting...don't know...I gave up after book one or so...I always figured it was just a coin toss that kept Asimov's FOUNDATION series from going the same "Knights in Armour" routine...or Harry Harrison's STAINLESS STEEL RAT from being the next MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. But both of them were saved by the humor...THRONES to me sort of became THE EDGE OF NIGHT with chain mail and dragons

[imayne]

I mean look at the teenager that wrote this thing. WHO is this guy?

[bigdaddy]

I seriously do not know why HBO has not given you some long green and gotten Pixar involved...

[Deleted]

[imayne]

I wrote sword-and-sandal/sorcery and superhero stories when I was a teen, Mike.

Anyway, am I the only one finding it amusingly ironic that Winona while making her comeback in a series aimed at soccer moms, is one of the few actresses of her generation that still hasn't become one herself? And not to pick on the personal lives of celebrities, but that I actually find that rather charming and even expected?

[Deleted]

Jul 5, 2015 22:54:36 GMT -5 imayne said:

I wrote sword-and-sandal/sorcery and superhero stories when I was a teen, Mike.

Anyway, am I the only one finding it amusingly ironic that Winona while making her comeback in a series aimed at soccer moms, is one of the few actresses of her generation that still hasn't become one herself? And not to pick on the personal lives of celebrities, but that I actually find that rather charming and even expected?

I suppose that's cool that you wrote stuff like that. I dabbled while upper young myself, despite severe self-criticism and a somewhat fallout from possibly being professional. Anyhow, I do like some of those type of films, imayne. Especially the popular medieval or fantasy genre (Escapism is way more interesting than our grave reality presents us) But I truly don't understand how you, or anyone, could think that Winona's new SUPERNATURAL Netflix series is/labeled "AIMED AT SOCCER MOMS" (How in heck do those two factors relate? I guess I missed/confused an arcane explanation. Actually the role 'Show Me A Hero' seems more apt for that group, the way I see it, but we haven't seen it yet, of course, I know) But I strongly agree that she would not seem to be the type (soccer mom extraordinaire and all) to go in that direction, anyhow. You know, given her many independent non-mainstream or popular interests. If that makes any sense (well, to me it does, I suppose). Who knows, maybe she has a strong deep-down desire to be a mother and do all the things most GOOD LOVING MOTHERS do (I never had a hug-loving, whisper-I-Love-You's kind of Mother). And, further ironically, I WOULD find it WAY more charming coming from her to finally go in that direction, actually. It would show a more honest to goodness change in the area of more personal happiness for her, on top of what she has had in her full, somewhat odd, professional film career, thus far.

By the way, I happen to like HBO's Game of Thrones very much. For the most part anyway. And Netflix is a great outlet for a film or T.V. Show fan. And Winona coming there is a Fantastic Guilty Pleasure that I will savor (when it arrives in the next thousand years, or whenever). And I wouldn't care less what anybody says about them (Netflix).

Be Good. And I may do the same.

 

[bigdaddy]

Okay, here's how it works.

"Soccer mom" is a demographic label. It's more complicated then this, but for our purposes, say they're married females, with kids, 30 to 50. They're responsible for making 50 SHADES OF GREY and the TWILIGHT and the HARRY POTTER books as big as they got IN THE LONG HAUL. (Yes, yes, yes, yes...both the last two series were aimed at the teen maket WHEN THEY CAME OUT OF THE GATE. But their bigger success was because both franchises were first crossed over to this larger audience. 50 SHADES was always called 'mommy porn' in the business)

The Food Network, and "W" The Women's Network owe their very lives to this group. So does ELLEN. BUT they are hard to track at times..The Oprah Network has had a tenuous relationship AT BEST with them, and NOBODY knows why. One theory I like goes something like this: The demographic group renews itself every ten to fiften years, give or take, and when that happens, the new group is SOMETIMES at war with the old guard. Martha Stewart is case in point. Her own daughter started up the site "Whatever, Martha". So, thus: is Lady Gaga a "liberating force for feminism" or a "sleaze who dresses weird"? Is Madonna a "visonary pioneering artist" or a "Fag Hag pushing 60 who has more plastic then your cel phone"?
Depends which side of the age divide you are on.
And depending on how you cut the pie or do the math, this age group has gone through two, three, changes of the guard.

GAME OF THRONES was originally AIMED at guys our age and younger. BUT this other demographic (30 to 50 year old females) picked up on it and the series went through the roof. Strong female roles, plots with lots of murder and intrigue and sex and dragons really helped..this is what I meant when I compared it to EDGE OF NIGHT. EDGE OF NIGHT was a soap opera that ran for YEARS on network t.v. by murdering people and having the rich family at the centre of the action screw folks over and get screwed over...Think for a monent...chnage the 20th century era EDGE OF NIGHT was put in, add some chain mail, gnarly special effects and give everyone who is hacked off their own army.
Pretty much, that's what THORNES is.

This same group digs their horror stories too. One of the few faves of this demographic over the years: Stephen King.
Now, think WALKING DEAD. AMERICAN HORROR STORY and TRUE BLOOD. Yes, yes...these series have general audiences, but their biggest largest pillars are females,30 to 50, give or take, who also dig WICKED when they go out for a play. Fun fact sort of proving my point..right now there's a HARRY POTTER parody on tour live that's packing this group in every night...NOT the kids who first bought the books home from school.

WALKING DEAD and AMERICAN HORROR STORY in particular have been licenses to make money. TRUE BLOOD was even bigger but folded it's tents..and was pretty much mommy porn when it ended it's run.

Now, some basic public perceptions.

Let's take two names. Jennifer Aniston, and Winona Ryder. Aniston is the 11th wealthiest woman in all of Hollywood. Ryder hasn't had a mega hit in years.

But...

Winona Ryder is 43. When REALITY BITES was huge, she was in her twenties and captured the hearts of a huge female demographic that STILL digs her. Jennifer Aniston, nearly the same age, might be wealthier, but Winona is more trusted.

Her fan base compares to Bill Murray's. BOTH have a loyal following and they do whatever the bloody hell they want to. BUT it cuts both ways. Bill can make a great money maker one year and then do a flick where he plays Franklin Roosevelt the next year that nobody sees. But the base still digs him. NOT necessarily go out and watch EVERY movie, but still dig him.

Same with Ryder. She pretty much carries over from the older members of the demographic to the younger ones...Everyone saw Ryder play a bitter ballet star, (more so on the small sceen), but no one stuck around to see her be a hired killer's wife.

THAT'S why my ears picked up when they announced she would make A HORROR SHOW for Netflicks. It's what I was talking about when I mentioned WALKING DEAD in my first post, along with the more contemporary titles like VEEP, HOUSE OF CARDS, or THE NEWSROOM. For instace, Julia Louis Dreyfus (VEEP) is the same age as Kudrow and Cox, Winona's peers when she was on FRIENDS. It very well COULD have been Ryder in that series, which was my point...for a while it's been hard not to watch a strong female performance on cable and NOT wonder what Ryder could have doen with it.

She doesn't have to BE a soccer mom...just get them to watch...

[Deleted]

Nothing new here to report, but for many in the past few years, Netflix has been showing them to be THE HERO, obviously. As you all know, with all the ADDICTIVE episodic binge-watching, and all. And you have to wonder if HBO, and other networks, will ever contract-release their content to said hero of today's outlet-entertainment industry. Probably not for a while, we all may agree. But maybe SELECTIVE programming may be more acceptable in the near future (if there is one, save hope) like Ryder's Show Me A Hero (which I finally viewed some time ago), Game of Thrones and True Detective.

Below is a list of selective films and shows I'd like for them to bring to Netflix (I will add/edit more to below list later):

All Alan Ladd films (esp. w/ Veronica Lake)
All Elvis Presley films
A Boy and His Dog
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Marco Polo (NBC 1982 miniseries)
Streets of Fire
Career Opportunities


Winona's Films:

1969
Night on Earh
The Age of Innocence
How To Make An American Quilt
Celebrity
Darwin Awards
A Scanner, Darkly
When Love Is Not Enough
Turks and Caicos

[nonifan]

We finally have a premiere date:  July 15.

[imayne]

More screenshots from Stranger Things. Looks like a vintage Spielberg/Carpenter tribute all right.