# "Shannara Chronicles" - coming to MTV soon! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585 "2015-07-08T15:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/61 "2016-01-23T23:21:02Z")
I only ever read the first book, but I thought it was enjoyable. Apparently the show is based on the second book. Wha? Why’d they do that instead of the first book? ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/62 "2016-01-24T00:02:14Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I only ever read the first book, but I thought it was enjoyable. Apparently the show is based on the second book. Wha? Why’d they do that instead of the first book? The second book’s better IMO. Plus there’s more than one female character in it. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/63 "2016-01-24T00:44:00Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > The second book’s better IMO. Plus there’s more than one female character in it. They couldn’t just make up more like Peter Jackson did? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/64 "2016-01-24T04:07:56Z")
I’m digging this show so far. I did notice next week’s episode doesn’t seem to have the re airings the previous week’s did (I have been DVRing the late night re airings to avoid a conflict) which makes me wonder if the ratings are bad. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/65 "2016-01-24T04:26:10Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I’m digging this show so far. I did notice next week’s episode doesn’t seem to have the re airings the previous week’s did (I have been DVRing the late night re airings to avoid a conflict) which makes me wonder if the ratings are bad. Well, they [aren’t good](http://headlineplanet.com/home/2016/01/21/ratings-shannara-chronicles-falls-again-teen-wolf-sets-another-viewership-low/). ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/66 "2016-02-13T07:00:07Z")
That scene where the zombies were trapped on the roof for months if not years and we are now supposed to believe they just now found the dozens of weak spots to fall through? christ this show has taken a nose dive. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/67 "2016-02-14T04:52:15Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > That scene where the zombies were trapped on the roof for months if not years and we are now supposed to believe they just now found the dozens of weak spots to fall through? > christ this show has taken a nose dive. Taken a nose dive? I just binge watched them all this week. It’s been really terrible from the start. I’ll probably keep watching it as a guilty pleasure, but it’s really really bad. I think better stories have been written in crayon. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/68 "2016-02-14T13:08:13Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Taken a nose dive? I just binge watched them all this week. It’s been really terrible from the start. I’ll probably keep watching it as a guilty pleasure, but it’s really really bad. > > I think better stories have been written in crayon. Sounds about right. I lasted through two episodes, I think. Maybe three. About four minutes into the next episode I thought to myself “this is shit” and deleted it from my DVR. And I happily watch _terrible_ shows. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/69 "2016-02-14T15:42:25Z")
Wow, I thought it has been pretty good so far. It’s not great and has several problems (for example, the thief “Dad” character is awful but I think the show expects us to like him) but I have been entertained so far. The three leads seem to be improving as the show goes on. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/70 "2016-02-15T01:00:39Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Wow, I thought it has been pretty good so far. It’s not great and has several problems (for example, the thief “Dad” character is awful but I think the show expects us to like him) but I have been entertained so far. The three leads seem to be improving as the show goes on. He’s just your lovable serial rapist scoundrel. What’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/71 "2016-02-15T04:59:22Z")
I read fantasy literature voraciously in the seventies. I remember all of it pretty well, including the Thomas Covenant books, which I did not particularly like. But I couldn’t tell you what happened in the _Shannara_ books, or in _Urshurak_, aside from “buncha elves and dwarves all energetically ripping off Tolkien.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/72 "2016-02-15T05:35:49Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > They couldn’t just make up more like Peter Jackson did? Make up something _new_? For _Shannara_? I don’t think you get how this works. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/73 "2016-02-15T06:21:39Z")
“The Sword-” had a good basic premise: a magic sword that tells you how much of a jerk you are. It could give writers enough ideas for several seasons, much like the cosmology of immortals trying to decapitate each other. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/74 "2016-02-15T14:15:01Z")
Everything, to me, comes down to the fact that this MTV show is way too MTV. The actors are way, way, way, too young. Oh, they might even be the right age for the characters they play, but the actors are baby-looking to me. I feel like I am watching 16 year-olds have this adventure. They act nothing like kids at that age. They act, or are at least written, like 25 year-olds and should have been cast to look as such. I can not stop realizing how babyish everyone looks. The writing is also sub-par. I can not believe Sword of Truth has a better show made from it. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585/75 "2016-02-15T14:25:12Z")
TV Allanon is a lot less irritating than Book Allanon. That’s a point in the show’s favor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shannara-chronicles-coming-to-mtv-soon/724585.md?page=3)