Wednesday 6 October 2010

Examiner article - a SOS interview

Our very own Karen Mendez of the SOS team gave an interview to the Examiner!

When news broke that Legend of the Seeker was canceled after just two seasons, fans like Karen Mendez came together for the purpose of one mission: to Save Our Seeker, dedicated to not only keep hope of the series alive for another season, but also continue Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, and Cara's good fight against tyranny, oppression, and other dark forces in the Midlands.


Were you a fan of The Sword of Truth series before watching Legend of the Seeker?

Karen Mendez: I actually became a fan of The Sword of Truth book series because of Legend of the Seeker. It has now become my favorite book series. It's a win-win for me since with the show we can see the story play out to an extent and within the realm and capability of television. The books gives us that wonderful back story and full extent of who the characters are and a deeper sense of their endeavor. We are also introduced to the wonderful world of Terry Goodkind, which is fantastic. I love both the show and the books and view them as its own wonderful intertwined entity.

What were your likes and dislikes of the second season and why?

KM: I feel the second season was absolutely great. It just kept getting better and better all around: story-wise, acting [Bridget Regan, Craig Horner, Tabrett Bethell and Bruce Spence outdid themselves], not to mention the gorgeous New Zealand backdrop and exquisite score making for splendid tv watching. I also liked that while still different from The Stone of Tears, the second season seems to be more in tune with The Sword of Truth books in general. It's darker since the Keeper of the Underworld is the 'chief baddie' and also the character of Richard looks and behaves more like the Richard leader of the first book Wizard's First Rule. The second season also introduced the Mord-Sith Cara, who's beautifully played by the talented Tabrett Bethell. I loved all the nods to the books in the second season, primarily to The Stone of Tears. The episode titled "Bound" is yet another nod to the books [Faith of the Fallen]. As for my dislike, I would have to say it's having season two be the end of the story [for now]. Though season two was an excellent season finale, there is still much story to be told and the fans are hopeful, awaiting and striving for more Seeker.

What do you believe were the main factors behind the surprise cancellation of Seeker -- despite having such a fervent fan base?

KM: The fact is the syndication model was really the main culprit. With Tribune going bankrupt, ABC Studios ended up without one of the key distributors. And a fantasy show isn't exactly cheap to produce. I'm convinced that if this show aired on a main channel (i.e. NBC, CBS, CW), we would have been spared all this pain, and the show would have been a wild success. Poor marketing, as well as not having it on a set schedule, was another factor. It jumped around depending on region. I, myself being an avid tv watcher, had not heard of the show until a friend of mine told me about it. I began watching it when it was in its fifth episode. I did begin with the pilot and the rest just to catch up, but wow, from the pilot episode I was hooked...actually from the first scene! All this is a shame because it does have such a fervent and diverse fan base which, despite Legend of the Seeker not being back this season, has remained just as passionate if not more.


Great interview and thanks to Karen and Garrett Godwin of the Examiner.

Read the rest of the article here

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting the article, but you really shouldn't post the article text like that. It's a violation of copyright law that could get you into trouble. Instead you should just post the link to the article and a 1-2 line blurb on what it's about.

Hellsbells said...

I haven't posted the whole article and have posted a link to the original article for people to read it all.

Anonymous said...

I know, but as someone who works on a library digitization project, I'm just saying that it'll be safer for you if you only post the link and a citation of the article. Unless you have permission from the publisher, you could get in trouble for the portion that you posted (it is a large portion of the article, after all). I wouldn't want them to take down your blog because I love reading it!

Hellsbells said...

Thanks, it nice of you to be concerned. And I'm glad that you love the blog!
I've adjusted it so there is less of the article up and will bear it in mind for the future. Thanks :)