As we all know, sexiness did not exist as a concept until at least 2005, and stylishness is a contemporary invention. So is it any wonder that any and all properties created before the millennium are in need of a ‘sexy, stylish update’? This is apparently true for hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe, created all the way back in 1939 (no one was ALIVE back then!) by novelist Raymond Chandler. Marlowe has been a staple of screen and television ever since, and now will return to the small screen at least in an update from Castle creator Andrew Marlowe (no relation).
The Marlowe show is in development at ABC under the guidance of Andrew Marlowe, Castle writer Terri Edda Miller, and producer Michael De Luca (Captain Phillips). The show will be an update of the wisecracking detective, bringing him into the modern era and avoiding all those nasty pitfalls of trying to recreate the LA noir vibe of the original character.
This is not the first time that Marlowe has been updated, of course. From his on-screen beginnings with the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Dick Powell, Marlowe was brought into the 1970s via Elliot Gould in The Long Goodbye. Less auspiciously, he was recreated in a late-70s version of The Big Sleep by Robert Mitchum. So updating Marlowe is not a far stretch; how successful it will be is another question.
One assumes that the Marlowe show will not actually deal with the books that Chandler wrote, but rather give the character some new adventures. I certainly hope that they’re not going to try to do The Big Sleep yet again. That just seems like courting disaster.
There’s no word yet on when this sexy and stylish update will premiere, except that it shall certainly at a sexy and stylish time with sexy and stylish actors. My cup runneth over.
What do you think of a Philip Marlowe TV series? Let us know in the comments.
