Paramount has recently announced plans to develop several new TV shows but one show in particular stood out. Among their shows now in development is a series based on the 1998 Jim Carrey film The Truman Show. No specific details about the show were given but this is nevertheless surprising news.
For those of you not familiar with The Truman Show, it centers around Truman Burbank (Carrey) who is the unwitting star of an elaborate reality TV show. Eventually however, he begins to notice subtle cracks in the facade and begins to question the meaning of his life. The Truman Show has easily my favorite performance from Jim Carrey and the film itself is a cleverly written satire about the failures of reality TV.
As much as I love the film though, I’m not really sure how a series can be made from this. The film had a pretty definitive ending so the prospects of making a sequel series is rather questionable. Maybe the show could revolve around Truman’s life after reality TV. Considering that in the film Truman had pretty much become the most famous person in the world during the shows’s run, it seems highly unlikely he would be able to live a normal life after the shows ends. He would likely have his every move followed by paparazzi so the show could possibly serve as a way to satirize the public obsession with celebrity gossip. Other possibilities could be a TV series remake of the film or maybe a prequel series similar to The Bates Motel.
Honestly though, if the show does end up seeing the light of day, I don’t really see how it can really keep going for longer than a couple of seasons and there’s only so many jokes you can make about TMZ and reality TV before it starts getting old.
Can The Truman Show work as an actual show? Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
Source: Film School Rejects