Men In Black The Series would work as a Live Action show today...

[DudeistBelieve]

I've been binging the cartoon series from the 90s, I swear to God this franchise should be borught back as live action fodder.

Weird aliens and sci-fi stories in the vien of doctor who? check.

it's also a procedural cop show like Gotham.

and the Agent J character is just the perfect audience surrogate. You got this soul-less government institution, so jaded after seeing the size of the galaxy and humanities role in it they barely even emote, and heres this everyman bringing humanity back to it.

 

[Hawki]

That isn't a bad idea actually...

 

[DudeistBelieve]

That isn't a bad idea actually...

Right?

It just strikes me cause the Cartoon series really holds up, and it always feels like the more childish aspects it occasionally uses is so forced... I feel like you could drop them and it wouldn't change the show at all.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Sounds like it'd be Deadpool interns at the X-Files and I'm not sure that's a sustainable tv show.

 

[Fox12]

An X-files style cop show sounds wonderful, actually.

 

[runic knight]

I like the general concept, taking the MiB ideal and applying it to a tv show format, though I think some changes would need to be made. For one, no J. Use another agent from somewhere else and cut off any immediate concerns about characterization and actor replacements and the like. Hell, could distance itself from some of the sillier and nonsensical elements of the movie franchise and be its own cannon instead of using pre-existing. Last thing you'd want is a hall of callbacks being relied upon in a shallow experience, so distance between the two would probably be the wiser course. You could also better capture the ideal sought of conflict between an everyman and a soulless jaded bureaucracy then a beat-cop who himself shwould come off as pretty jaded from that profession alone. Could go the direction of someone like the morgue assistant from the first movie and have her be introduced and pulled into the job by odd circumstances, and then trying to hold humanity together in light of both mind-blowing reveals about the universe and the cold calculating decisions made to maintain mankind's fragile balance within it. I guess sort of like the experiences of the companions in Doctor Who, only more concentrated on them instead of the doctor himself.

Still, as someone who regularly scorns any sort of remake as intellectually void cash-grabs, I think changing a franchise's format and audience reach while still capturing the style and heart of the origional could work well i nthis case.

 

[Scarim Coral]

You know, I gotta agreed with you with that just as long they don't retracing their step like they did with the sequel.

 

[baddude1337]

Now I think about it, it's quite surprising there hasn't been one already. Just like the cartoon it's the perfect format for a "Monster of the week" type show. I would agree with the above poster though and say have it focus on new agents instead of J and K.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I like the general concept, taking the MiB ideal and applying it to a tv show format, though I think some changes would need to be made. For one, no J. Use another agent from somewhere else and cut off any immediate concerns about characterization and actor replacements and the like. Hell, could distance itself from some of the sillier and nonsensical elements of the movie franchise and be its own cannon instead of using pre-existing. Last thing you'd want is a hall of callbacks being relied upon in a shallow experience, so distance between the two would probably be the wiser course. You could also better capture the ideal sought of conflict between an everyman and a soulless jaded bureaucracy then a beat-cop who himself shwould come off as pretty jaded from that profession alone. Could go the direction of someone like the morgue assistant from the first movie and have her be introduced and pulled into the job by odd circumstances, and then trying to hold humanity together in light of both mind-blowing reveals about the universe and the cold calculating decisions made to maintain mankind's fragile balance within it. I guess sort of like the experiences of the companions in Doctor Who, only more concentrated on them instead of the doctor himself.

Still, as someone who regularly scorns any sort of remake as intellectually void cash-grabs, I think changing a franchise's format and audience reach while still capturing the style and heart of the origional could work well i nthis case.

The thing is, if they went with the Agent J characterization from the cartoon show... I think it would work, because he's barely like the Agent J from the movies. Movie Agent J is basically just Will Smith.

Agent J in the cartoon is like this complete total dork TRYING to be Will Smith and failing to be anywhere near as cool... and frankly it works so much better.

 

[FalloutJack]

MIB has always been the more stylish and kick-ass sci-fi of the alien conspiracy on Earth genre. I'd watch.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

I had this idea months ago. It seems minds think alike.

There's so much alien conspiracy lore with reptilians, plaeadians, the greys, mkultra, majestic 12, etc. that there's a whole wealth of ufo folklore to use before making stuff up.

 

[runic knight]

The thing is, if they went with the Agent J characterization from the cartoon show... I think it would work, because he's barely like the Agent J from the movies. Movie Agent J is basically just Will Smith.

Agent J in the cartoon is like this complete total dork TRYING to be Will Smith and failing to be anywhere near as cool... and frankly it works so much better.

I barely remember that show, but if that is the case, you are probably right. As you put it, the movie J was just classic will smith, which while a cool and entertaining character, isn't much of an everyman. Though that does raise the question, who would be the K character and how would his personality work? Same as the movie version, or go with a different direction?

 

[Tanis]

I LOVE the cartoon, more so then any of the films, and could totally see this working.

Echoing the 'Replace J & K', but I'd still keep the general 'feel' or dynamic.

Young newbie full of hope, jaded elder full of nope.
A bit like 'Scrubs'.

 

[hermes]

Well, yeah... of course it would work.

A detective-like agency that works outside the government to regulate alien and supernatural activity is almost too ideal for "monster of the week" kind of serial TV. In fact, I think it already been done:

 

[Dragonlayer]

Well, yeah... of course it would work.

A detective-like agency that works outside the government to regulate alien and supernatural activity is almost too ideal for "monster of the week" kind of serial TV. In fact, I think it already been done:

I don't think the Men in Black's contingency plan for all xenos emergency situations is "Have sex with everything in sight" though.