Will Child’s Play Work As a TV Series?
** Contains Cult of Chucky Spoilers **
Recently we were all hit by the killer news that Don Mancini and long-time Child’s Play producer David Kirschner will be developing a TV series based on the Child’s Play franchise. Chucky on the small screen? I’m there.
But as enthusiastic as all of us here at Dread Central are, we are still seeing comments here and there that Child’s Play isn’t suited for the small screen and will be a bust before it airs a single episode. Bull. And shit.
The Child’s Play series has evolved like a xenomorph these past few entries and a TV series is the best – if only – place the franchise could go from here.
With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at why we think Child’s Play: The Series is going to be the best thing to hit horror since Tom McLoughlin brought Jason back from the dead in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.
One of the major reasons that Child’s Play is going to make a great TV series is how much writer-director Don Mancini stepped up the game in the latest entry Cult Of Chucky.
Not only do we now have multiple Chucky dolls running around, the rule has now been established that possessed dolls can move into other possessed dolls. So not only does this mean that Chucky can basically do as he damn well pleases, Tiffany, and the Seed of Chucky himself/herself Glenn/Glenda can do so as well. Pretty cool, huh?
The possibilities for just this new bit of info is enough to crowd the hell out of the next entry. Hell, it’s enough to overstuff the next 3 entries (if not more). A TV series will allow Mancini and company to dive into the possibilities presented with this new development with as much time as they need to make it sing.
And speaking of overstuffed, a TV series is the best place for the Child’s Play series to go next for another major reason: Don Mancini is circling the wagons. What I mean by that is Mancini has been – with the last two films – bringing more and more of his classic characters back into the fold that we haven’t seen since the original films.
Thus far we have seen the return of Alex Vincent’s Andy and in the post-credits scene of Cult of Chucky now we have Christine Elise’s Kyle from Child’s Play 2 back in action for some Chucky vengeance. A TV series will allow Mancini to really bring all of his classic characters back into the story in organic ways, and not just for cameos.
Imagine the return of Chris Sarandon’s Mike Norris and Catherine Hicks’ Karen Barclay (aka Andy’s mom) from the original film. That’d be awesome, right? Especially if they were still together and now formed a “Kick Chucky’s Ass” club with other parents whose children befell the wrath of Chucky and his family of killers.
How about the return of Perrey Reeves as De Silva from Child’s Play 3? We already saw in Cult of Chucky that Andy keeps his Kent Military Academy sweatshirt in a glass box, thus proving he still honors those days. Maybe De Silva can come back as a possible love interest for Andy. Lost love. Sigh. Sounds good to me!
Side Note: Jeremy Sylvers’ Tyler from Child’s Play 3 can just stay out of all of this, thank you very much.
Other characters who could see their return in “Child’s Play: The Series” are Bride of Chucky‘s Jade and Jesse played by Katherine Heigl and Nick Stabile. Would Heigl return? Doubtful, but you never know! Especially if it was for a bit part. We’ll see…
Hell, even Summer Howell could return as Alice from Curse of Chucky. I know it was heavily implied she was dead in Cult of Chucky but they never came out and said it and I didn’t see a body. Did you? Nope. She’s still alive, I promise.
So there we have returning cast members and characters from the Child’s Play series, and multiple killer dolls as our main reasons for the series to make a slick transition to the small screen. But how about the bigger issues? Like the scale of the story being told here.
Fiona Dourif is now possessed by Chucky, so this kicks things into a whole new gear. How is Chucky’s relationship going to go with Tiffany now that they are both females? What will Glenn/Glenda think of his daddy’s gender-swapping? The mind reels with possibilities; not only could the series be a blast, but Mancini could tackle some important current topics as well.
And not just that, but the series could finally give the story enough time to unfold more backstory of Charles Lee Ray (and Tiffany) before that fateful night at the toy store. Sure people always say that too much backstory takes away the fear of a character, but really, since when has Chucky been scary?
I think it’s time to delve into the history of these characters, specifically Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray. Plus – BOOM – didn’t even think about this until right this moment, but duh, this would give us the opportunity to see Papa Dourif “in-person” so to speak as he could/should play young Charles Lee Ray as well – and much more than the tidbits we got in Curse of Chucky.
In closing, personally, I feel that “Child’s Play: The Series” is going to work like gangbusters. Not only is Don Mancini well-versed in horror TV, with “Hannibal” and “Channel Zero” under his belt, but this series will afford new writers/directors the opportunity to bring their fresh perspectives to the world of Chucky.
I think it is officially time to get excited, ladies and gents!
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And that is why we think that Don Mancini’s Child’s Play will make an awesome TV series. What do you think? Let us know below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsw695EPIpA
Categorized:Editorials News
