Robinson Crusoe TV Series Coming to NBC

Don’t necessarily consider NBC to be going through one of their 10 to 20-year stages of placing idiotic cancel-worthy programming on their 2008-09 fall schedule this year. Hopefully they won’t return to the days when shows such as late 1970’s “Supertrain” and the more recent “Journeyman” got the peacock’s axe and put big, gaping holes in NBC’s prime-time programming before Halloween even began. After a recent press conference for NBC’s new fall schedule and announcing they’re placing two classics-related series on the air, it had to have given critics instant pause and incredulous eyeball-rolling. While one of the new announced series of “Merlin” may sound like a return to “Supertrain” (heading toward a derailment)–the network’s series adaptation of “Robinson Crusoe” sounded a lot more interesting…albeit to those who didn’t automatically equate it as NBC’s answer to “Lost.

Give thanks maybe to Tom Hanks (or director Robert Zemeckis) who managed to show, in “Castaway” from the 1990’s, how much entertainment and exploration of issues can be had in a deserted island epic. And then “Lost” took it to such astounding and protracted levels for TV…it pretty much started living up to its title. But if NBC finds a middle ground there somewhere so they don’t have to spend a bundle or create quasi Sci-Fi plots that confuse people, the classic and more down-to-earth qualities of “Crusoe” itself should provide an interesting new perspective into more important (and real) issues than incredulous people probably can imagine.

There hasn’t been word yet whether they’ll make a modern-day version of Robinson Crusoe. Frankly, I hope they don’t so those who still have trouble perusing a world history book could maybe entertainingly explore some of the broad sociological issues that were covered thoroughly in Daniel Defoe’s book.

It may be a controversial thing (and I doubt NBC would have the guts to do it) when you consider that one of the leading issues in the original book of “Crusoe” was slavery. That topic itself could easily be dissected in different ways on a contemporary show to reveal a lot of uneasy truths about society and our history–plus provide a lot of other layers if not answers to race relations. Somehow I predict NBC will at least explore race relations in the show with either a mid-1600’s version of Friday (the slave Crusoe befriends for 20 years after being shipwrecked on the island) or a 2008 version. Slavery, though, still has a lot of untapped study in the annals of history. NBC, however, likely doesn’t want letters or movements to take the show off the air due to the automatic stigma applied to even the word slavery.

Nonetheless, adding that element and presenting it in an insightful way would give an opportunity for society to learn more about their past. As usual, most history that should be explored in entertainment never will, all based on misconceptions and ineffectual writers who don’t know how to make it interesting.

The issues that will always matter and likely explored on NBC’s “Crusoe”…

Back when Daniel Defoe first published “Robinson Crusoe” in 1719–most critics praised it because it represented the ultimate ideal of the British colonist. European men (and boys) mostly liked it, because it showed an individual conquering an unknown land and making it his own as he just tried to survive at the same time. It also had no shred of romance in it, which is precisely why woman probably didn’t care for it as much. Outside of that (and now I’m starting to picture NBC adding a woman on the island for lonely Robinson to give that romantic angle and turn the show into “The Blue Lagoon”)-there are plenty of other issues that are overwhelming enough.

If people see the Crusoe character creating a personal little colony on the island-they’ll probably call foul. Hopefully they’ll be reminded that Defoe did this concept for the first time in his “Crusoe” book. In a modern light, seeing a man on a deserted island creating his own sense of government, boundaries and ethics might just provide a fascinating mirror to society. Even the movie “Castaway” didn’t go quite that far…probably because it would be accused of directly copying “Crusoe.” Exploring this territory during a Presidential election and electing a new President would be perfect timing, too. The show would make us go inward and ask ourselves how we’d govern our own country or colony if we had the chance.

Maybe Barack Obama and John McCain will give one of those episodes a watch to get tips on how to run their own colony before the election next November…assuming the series lasts past six weeks.

For those who want to see religious issues explored on TV again, “Crusoe” would certainly have plenty. At least in the book, Crusoe has several epiphanies during the nearly three decades spent on the island. With only a bible, he’s able to gain a sense of spirituality with the nature around him. Hopefully NBC wouldn’t be afraid to also touch on this–and reflect the fact that Crusoe (in the book) always thinks that God has a special life plan for him in order to give more meaning to being stranded on an island for twenty years. If that doesn’t mirror those today in certain states of power, nothing does. Of course, it takes a brave network to go after issues like this.

Another apropos subject that could mean years of good material is an exploration of understanding other cultures–namely the cannibalistic natives Crusoe and Friday have to deal with on the island. This gets into the cultural relativism axiom that a lot of scientists who study other cultures have used for centuries. Isolationist American (and international) audiences could probably get some severe lessons about how we view other strange cultures in the show if the producers happen to address this issue without holding back.

Yes, all these touchy (and even graphic) issues might be more suitable for an HBO series rather than something on NBC. Since the main networks want to keep pushing the envelope to keep up with cable–why not get intelligent about it rather than blatant?

Series longevity based on ideas and not based on an outcome…

If this TV version of “Crusoe” goes the way I hope, it’ll bring back the idea of…well, ideas to TV again. “Lost” arguably is about profound ideas, even though it may be more of a personal definition rather than fact in the end. Also, “Lost” seems to be on an hourglass timetable now to wrap up all their multiple loose ends. It just turns into a process of getting answers rather than carefully examining a particular issue in a variety of either dramatic, comedic (or both) ways. We already know the end of “Robinson Crusoe.” It’s obviously all in what happens getting up to there.

I’m even brave enough to say that “Gilligan’s Island” at least focused on some interesting ideas in the mode of “Crusoe” (its obvious inspiration…based on a reference in the theme song)-however cloaked with goofy situations that made it look pedestrian. I hope NBC isn’t afraid to give at least some laughs to their “Crusoe” series. Sure, it’s a challenge without an ensemble, but Hanks and Zemeckis managed it with Wilson the volleyball.

___

Whoever gets the lead part as Crusoe will have his work cut out for him. It’s probably going to be one of the most-coveted parts in TV thanks to the star getting most of the screen time and having to show off their acting chops for either half-an-hour or hour (hopefully half-an-hour so plots don’t drag).

We probably shouldn’t get our hopes up too high, though, for a network TV series that addresses some of the most important issues beleaguering the world today. A lot of the fall schedule shows seem to be sacrificial lambs now of drivel in order to clear the path for the real hits in midseason. And just because a show is derived from classic literature…it probably means too much modernization that turns it into an ordinary desert isle drama with a character looking for the secret hatch…I mean raft…