SyFy To Make Booster Gold... What Could Go Wrong?

Show your
Booster Gold pride!

Last week, comic book fans were treated to the news that SyFy, the cable channel that used to be SciFi which stood for Science Fiction and made sense at some point, has ordered a pilot for a series based on the DC Comics hero, Booster Gold. I'm mostly torn on this news. While it's a good thing that comic characters are getting more exposure, it's still SyFy.

While SyFy (God, how I hate typing that) do have a real respect for their material, they don't always get things right. They have a few hit shows, like Ghost Hunters, which has rapidly declined in years, Alphas, an otiginal show about super-humans which has just been renewed for a second season, and a remake of the BBC show, Being Human, but most of what they air is trite and nonsensical.

Let's be honest though. SyFy is the channel that tried to ride the wave of popularity of the History Channel show, Ice Road Truckers, by developing a movie called Ice Road Terror. Pair this with Sharktopus, Monster Ark, and Alien Apocalypse (whose only saving grace is Bruce Campbell) and it's clear they have a terrible track record for original programming.

Now I'm willing to concede that their serial programming is far more tolerable than their films. Maybe this has something to do with the costs of producing long-standing shows versus one-off movies. It's easy to drop $200,000 and shit out a 2-hour movie that can make $75,000 on advertising in one showing. But they might be a little more cautious in producing a 13-episode serial drama. Or, at least, I'm hoping they are.
But SyFy's involvement not-with-standing, costumed superhero movies just may not be en vouge. Look at David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman pilot from a few months back. First, you have Kelley, who has a great track recors in television, with The Practice and Ally McBeal. Wonder Woman is a well-known superhero with a built-in fan base, yet NBC passed on the pilot. Why?

Theories maintain Lynda
Carter hexed Palicki before
filming.

Well, all reports said the Wonder Woman pilot was just balls-out terrible. Not having seen it, I can't comment. But with big-name stars like Adrianne Palicki, Elizabeth Hurley and Cary Elwes, I have to point my finger at Kelley's writing. Most often, writers feel that they "get" the character, take control, and place them into scenes or situations that they feel relate best to superheroes. They lose sight that these superheroes work best when they're not super at all, but when they're most vulnerable.

Which brings me to my main point. If the writers SyFy hires for Booster Gold are any good, then the show could be real fun. Booster Gold is an arrogant dick, but he's got a good heart. A character like that can make a real fun show, provided he's placed in the right situations. If all we get is a superhero show just for the sake of cashing in on superheroes, then it will surely tank at the outset.

Not only would the writers have to understand the character but the actor as well. Like I said, Booster is extremely arrogant, so the smugness would be the key. I'd hate to say it, but someone like Charlie Sheen would be perfect. It's just a shame Sheen is too old and crack-emaciated to fit the look.


In the right hands, Booster Gold could be a good show. While I don't think the fanbase is there right off, a well written, well produced, well acted serial dramedy could grow it's own fanbase, and hopefully its audience would eventually seek out the source material, which would be a major boon to the comics industry. My biggest fear, though, and what is most likely to happen, is SyFy will hire a few amateur writers who'll read a couple issues of 52 and think they have what it takes to write the ultimate Booster Gold pilot. Something in me believes that Booster Gold will make Wonder Woman look like Citizen Kane in comparison.