Web Series: Summer 2016 Edition

It has been a long time since I last wrote a post, and for that I want to apologize. Then again, while I need and want to write more consistently, it is still my blog, and I can work on any timeline that I see fit. With that being said, I do have some posts that are works-in progress, and I hope to finish and post them soon. In the meantime, I wanted to give my preemptive recommendation for two new literary web series that both start today (July 7th or 8th depending on what time zone you are in). As is evident from many of my previous posts, I am really passionate about literary web series. This year has been LIW light so far, but things are starting to pick up a bit now that it is summer. The two shows that I am most excited for this year are The Cate Morland Chronicles and Bright Summer Night. Since the shows have yet to air, I cannot provide a whole lot of commentary on plot or characterizations, but I plan to write extensively on both shows as they unfold.


The Cate Morland Chronicles: As an ardent fan of all things Austen, (and Northanger Abbey in particular) I am looking forward to what this adaptation can do. I really enjoyed Northbound last year, but it looks like this adaptation will be taking things in a very different direction than its predecessor. In this version, Catherine has been aged up, and is now a twenty-four year old, with a recently obtained Master's degree, in search of her first post-Grad  job. She aspires to work in entertainment journalism, because of her love of television and movies, and of course she identifies as a fangirl.


I am excited for this show, because I have always identified with Catherine Morland, (and in many ways I see her as the original fangirl), and I look forward to seeing what this version of her is capable of. Additionally, I like the creative direction that this show seems to be taking based on the trailer. The production value seems high, and the writing is in a witty conversational tone that is not only perfect for Cate, but also necessary for a vlog style adaptation. I will put a link to the trailer down below, and I will post my initial thoughts once the first episode is released.

Bright Summer Night: I am extremely excited for BSN, because it is written by The Candle Wasters, who created my two favorite shows Nothing Much To Do (2014) and Lovely Little Losers (2015). They have set a precedent for doing phenomenal work, and based on the promotional material that I have seen, BSN will also be incredible. Bright Summer Night is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream, and is set at a party during an environmental crisis. I do not know much more than that, because The Candle Wasters are notorious for being tight lipped about any details regarding their shows, and pretty much create a spoiler free zone surrounding their work. In many ways this is a good thing, because it allows the anticipation to grow even more than it would if I did know what to expect.

What I do know, is that the series will only contain ten episodes, as opposed to the usual eighty, but each episode will be longer in length. The show itself has an added layer of meta, because it exists as a fictional web series inside the NMTD/Lolilo universe, and is created by a fictional version of The Candle Wasters. I do not fully know what this will mean for the show as a whole, but is does make me excited to know that it takes place in-world. Since I do not know what to fully expect from the show, I will refrain from further commentary until I have seen the first episode. I will put a link to the trailer down below.

Soon I will have other posts up, that include commentary on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Which was just added to the U.S. and U.K. Netflix, so please go watch) as well as commentary on Season four of The Mindy Project, once I actually catch up on the second half of the season. Until then, I hope that you are all having a lovely day.