I have some interesting news this week. Chew, Eisner award winner and all around awesome comic series, is now in development to be a half-hour comedy show on Showtime. Now, in an age where comic franchises seem to be perpetually up for grabs for TV and movie deals, it may have only been a matter of time until Chew was picked up, but still this is something that I think warrants more study.

The article that I read said that the scripts being written by Terri Hughes Burton and Ron Milbauer, the same people responsible for Supernatural and Eureka. I’ll admit to never seeing the former, but I’ve so far been impressed with the writing of the ladder. I’ve also heard that the production company in charge of Chew, Circle of Confusion, is run by the same upstanding gents that brought us AMC’s Walking Dead, and if that’s the standard for all the shows they produce, than that gives me reason to have high expectations.

Despite all these good signs, for some reason I just can’t muster up the confidence to say this is a good idea. Anyone whose read my blog on the subject knows that Chew is the one series I feel comfortable recommending to absolutely anyone. It’s darkly comic, uniquely quirky, and has that faint air of mystery that keeps you coming back for more. Without a doubt, Chew is a really great story (I think the Eisner proved that), but the question I have to ask myself is: is Chew “TV great”?

The problem with many book-to-film adaptations is that often they aren’t able to make the transition as well as the fans would like. It’s easy to blame this on whoever writes the script, but sometimes stories inevitably lose something in the translation from paper to film. In Chew’s case it might be the art.

One of Chew’s strongest points is how Rob Guillory’s art style works in such perfect harmony with John Layman’s writing. The story is gross, gritty and bizarre, qualities that the art both alleviates and enhances at the same time. If they try and make this into a live action series, obviously the graphic aspect of the story would have to go. Maybe if they decided to turn this into a cartoon with Guillory as the lead illustrator they could keep everything intact, but somehow I doubt that will be the case.

Maybe this is just me not wanting some other writer to ruin a good thing, but out of all the things that the movie and television industry has adopted from the graphic novel community, this might not be their best move. However, let it not be said that I’m unwilling to be proven wrong. If any of you out there think that Circle of Confusion can pull out another hit series from Image, then give me some food for thought (heh, food pun).

If not, then let this be something you can just chew on for a while. Good, bad, or otherwise, this is one Showtime series I’m definitely not going to miss.

-Brent

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