TMI TV: Weighing the Good and Bad of the ‘Shadowhunters’ TV montrer 

Last week, we got some pretty major news about 

. We learned that the show has finally landed at a network, which was revealed to be ABC Family. Also, production is set to get underway soon in May in Vancouver. Casting is also underway.

Amid all of the excitement, it’s easy to forget that we don’t know what to expect. But if the rumors we’ve heard are true, then I’m going to be one very pissed off fan, and you will be, too.

While we don’t know everything, we do know some things, some of which have been confirmed and some which are currently rumors. There are some good things, but honestly there are more bad things.

Let’s be real, we all had our doubts that we’d ever see this series on a screen again after the failure of

. But there’re giving it another chance. On a platform that isn’t so much based on profit as it is popularity and social media excitement.

The name of the show is perfect. It’s a great way to separate the TV show from the movie, and it captures what the show should be out: the world of the Shadowhunters. Plus, short and sweet is always best for TV.

This is the most reassuring thing. ABC Family is a fantastic network that has been cranking out hits like

It’s a network that not only encourages diversity but embraces it. Just look at

, where there are characters of all ethnicities and the main couple is same-sex. This is a perfect fit for the diverse world of

from our friends at Fangirlish, there are a lot of changes that are going to piss us and the fandom off.

Cassandra Clare isn’t (as of yet) involved with the show

Didn’t Constantin learn the hard way the first time around? To ensure to faithfulness and success of this show they

to involve Cassie. And as much as possible. Hell, let her run the show.

This is unnecessary and messes with the series’ mythology. Need I say more?

Whattt? This makes absolute zero sense. Cause nothing says “rock star” like an accountant.

If that’s not enough to terrify you about the direction this show might be headed then I don’t know what would.

is all about. Let’s hope they keep it that way.

As you can see, the bad far outweighs the good at this point. I hope that changes, I really do, because I know I speak for everyone when I say that I want

to be a success. And the success of this show won’t be measured by ratings alone; it will be measured by the product itself and its faithfulness – or lack thereof – to the source material.

Filed Under: Features, Shadowhunters TV, The Mortal Instruments, TV Tagged With: ABC Family, Constantin Film, Ed Decter, Shadowhunters TV, The Mortal Instruments, TMI TV, TV, TV news

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The Cold Hard Truth: There Will Be A New Cast For ‘Shadowhunters’ TV »

They can’t age up the Characters first of all, Simon in no way suits accountancy, they are not anything like CIA agents and honestly they should build on the romantic scenes like Cassandra did, not just go right into it, there are going to be children watching this seriously. (And by Children I mean anyone between the ages of 12 to 14, they shouldn’t be exposed to such)

1) First of all, aging the characters up is a good thing, especially if they wanne sex up the show. All they have to do is let the age – to be part of the council meetings – go up to 21 just like many of the other rules, and there is NO problem anymore.

2) Simon as an accountant isn’t really an issue either. He still has his band, but it seems logical that his mom wants him to get a more realistic education and would push him to go for someting as mundane as an accountant. Imagine the jokes Jace is gonn pull with that.

3) The Shadowhunters are already a bit like the CIA, they get missions and answer to the Clove (compare it to Langley.)

Stop closing yourself up and keep an open mind. From the synopsis and the character descriptions it seems like they will be mostly loyal to the original work and that is all that truly matters.

Do you know what we should worry about? The fact that it’s on ABC family and that network is way to bubbly for Shadowhunters. The TMI show needs to have an edge and a darkness, I also can’t imagine a network like ABC family coming up with a great stunt team to perform those amazing fights against demons I wanne see. The limited budget also means that the demons will mostly look like normal humans and that big action scenes like on the boat at the end of book 2 will get hard to pull off.

That you should worry about but age? Simon being an accountant?! WTF, that is just ridiculous and the least of our worries.

I can’t wait to read the character description of Alec and Isabelle.

I agree with you, unlike most of the fandom. I feel the same way, and I think more open-mindedness is necessary, but I don’t think these changes are that much of stretch if I’m being honest. I would have preferred it be on another station, because I can’t recall a dark and/or edgy show that had success on the channel…

I agree with everything you said, except the ABC Family thing. Do either of you actually watch any ABC Family shows??? If you honestly don’t think PLL has extremely dark moments or that the channel is too “bubbly”, you obviously haven’t watched the channel in a long time at least. They are one of the best channels for diversity and target to the age group the series is made for (teens) and I think they will pull off the edge and darkness of Shadowhunters just fine! the only real problem I have is them sexing up the show. And even in that case the only reason it would really be a problem is because I don’t want them to turn Izzy into someone she’s not and treat her like eye candy. But somehow I don’t feel like ABC Family will do that so it should be fine. Idk why the fandom is being so closed minded. I understand being nervous, especially given how the movie turned out, but they are picking apart every little detail when actually it seems like they will keep it pretty close to the books from what we know so far. Basically, it seems mostly fine and anyway we don’t know anything but character descriptions and rumors at this point so people need to calm down xD

I am not sure ABC Family should be considered a good thing…

They are notorious for cancelling shows after (usually) one season, badly promoting their shows (except PLL and Switched at Birth) and ending their shows on unresolved cliffhangers.

Examples are Chloe King, Jane by Design, The Lying Game (which hurt, I loved that show!), Twisted and Ravenswood.

If the show is on that channel and they feel like it’s not an immediate succes, they’ll cancel it without giving it another chance.

im excited about the show whatever the outcome is. I’m extremely happy that abc family got the show and not the cw though. 😃

The cw is an amazing network that usually doesn’t air a new TV show only to cancel it after a few episode where as abc family always does that quiet a lot. So we will never be sure if show would continue or not. The fact that abc family got this is not a quiet this and I believe that if cw got it they would do a better job on staying true to the books.

Good and Bad are completely subjective, let the producers and show runners do their job – they’re likely better at it that an author would be. It’s supposed to be an adaptation not a carbon copy of the book in visual form – just look at the success of Vampire Diaries – I’m just going to try and be happy they we get to see out favourite characters on screen XD

I think the point people are trying to make is that we all know you can’t make a carbon copy but as we saw from the film, changing stuff makes the TMI fandom against the film and that’s part of the shows publicity.

We know others are going to be interested but its fan base gives it leverage in publicity and getting viewers.

One of the things one learns as a screenwriter is that in order to write a really compelling screenplay, you have to elevate the meaning.

Look at some of the really popular shows on TV (and I can only speak for the ones I’m familiar with, unfortunately). Arrow is very action-oriented, but a lot of what makes it truly compelling is the focus on keeping secrets, the hurt and damage that causes, and what it means to be a hero when one is deeply flawed. The Flash is all about the excitement and naivete of youth and wanting to do good, but learning from one’s mistakes — whether those be in saving the world or in having a relationship with someone else.

NCIS, one of the most popular series on TV, spends a lot of time addressing modern issues like terrorism, Israeli issues, fundamentalists vs. moderates, homosexuality, etc.

The rumored changes above seem to be geared towards simply treating Shadowhunters like an action flick. That won’t last unless it has truly compelling dynamics between the characters. Although Alec fan is right that aging up the characters isn’t a show-stopper, it’s missing the point of having the characters be younger and having everything that happens be a more formative experience for them. True, this *can* still work with the characters being older, just not as well.

Because they’d be filming one book a season, it would still be a natural progression to have the characters age roughly one year per book. Maybe less over the course of the first two books, but still, *we can have the best of both worlds*. They can start out younger but be “aged up” within just a few seasons.

As far as the Clave being a bit like Langley…no, just no. This completely misses the point of the Clave. This isn’t just a secret organization, it’s a secret organization with roots in the mortal world, but separate from it because its origins are from a time when people were killing each other and there wasn’t a “government” that the Shadowhunters could align themselves to that they could trust. They might have contacts in the governments of various countries, but to truly elevate the concept of Shadowhunters, they should be separate from national governments to avoid issues with politics and such.

In general you make good points I just don’t think you understood me comparing the Clove to the HQ’s of the CIA in Langley. I’ve always seen the Shadowhunters as some type of secret agents working for the Clove and there are enough similarities in that concept to see why the creators would compare it to the CIA. Doesn’t mean it’s exactly the same or should be, but I think it’s interesting to approach it from that angle.

When you are pitching an idea to a company you always use some known ground to elaborate on that idea and in this case comparing it to the CIA to people who don’t know what the Clove is and how they work is the best way to make it understandable

I disagree so much, not with your point, but with your logistics. I don’t know how old you are, but in our real world, people do not come of age at 14, they do not find themselves at 16, or 18 even. I’m of an age where I know, looking back, that in my teenage years, no matter how much I would have disagreed at the time, I was still a child.

Most people do not come into their own until they are in their 20’s. They call college a time of exploration for a reason. Most 14 to 18 year olds that I meet, realistically, can’t handle a break up, or the responsibility of a car, and high school, yet alone the stuff that these kids, namely Clary and Simon, have thrust at them. I think that 18 and up is a perfect age to signify young people coming into their own, discovering themselves, what they want, and their potential.

I am of the opinion that a lot of times authors age their characters down to sell to a certain target audience, when in reality, the characters you are reading almost always seem older than their chronological age. Which is why I feel like aging the characters up is simply fitting them more to their portrayed age, therefore staying true to the tone.

I also think that if you haven’t read the books, comparing the Shadowhunters to the CIA is a pretty good analogy. I do not think this rumor refers to the Shadowhunters being part of or affiliated with the CIA, but rather that they are like the CIA. They are secretive and almost never get credit for what they do, it’s all behind the scenes. That said, they are cohesive and governmental in their ranks and ways. It’s a simple analogy that I think people are reading too much into.

Firstly, I’m plenty old enough to know that you’re right about people still being a child even when they turn 18. :)

We could go back and forth over the age thing, but imho, going into battle at an early age tends to mature a person beyond their years. That’s not to say that they *are* mature, but I think part of the reason you’re seeing a greater maturity in the books is because of that.

Clary and Simon, though, they’ve not had that experience. And one of the reasons why I’d like to see them be cast younger, as opposed to older, is to give them more opportunity to grow into themselves. And not only that, but because the college years DO open up a period of exploration, just like you said, and imho, Clary and Simon shouldn’t be ready for that just yet. They should be thrust into it before they’re ready.

If you’ve seen Dead Poets Society, compare Keating’s position on what high school kids should be ready for vs. the headmaster’s position. I see the same sort of parallel here.

I agree that this is something we could go back and forth on forever. I would expect those raised as Shadowhunters to be more prepared and mature than those not, Simon and Clary for instance. Still, I don’t think that is it as far as what I was reading, it was a compilation of things, and it isn’t just in TMI novels, it’s in a lot of YA novels that I see this pattern, not always though.

The Dead Poets Society is a good analogy, the difference is that we grow up knowing we have certain things in our future, and while we may not be ready for them at certain ages, we know they are in our future, and we are always mentally preparing for them, it’s a known.

In this case, I don’t really think it would matter what age you were, being thrust into a world completely unknown and different is something that anyone, 14 to 40, would probably have a hard time with. I don’t think anyone is prepared to battle demons. Taking that into consideration, I don’t really think aging the characters a bit is going to harm the coming of age story, or the diversity that should be an underlying force of the series.

Well, I think our one main difference comes down to a matter of personal preference, since we both seem to have done an excellent job making our respective cases. I really respect the fact that you’ve put as much thought into this as you obviously have. :-)

Here’s hoping that whatever happens, fan engagement helps to make Shadowhunters the best it can be. ^_^

To finish my point about elevating the meaning of a story, since Shadowhunters already has the seeds of a diversity theme, then elevate that. Make it even more about diversity, about forming one’s self-identity at a young age, and about some of the struggles and conflicts that naturally come about with a diverse group of people.

I am like sooooooooo stoked right now because I want this show to be really successful and amazing! I can’t wait to see all the fights and romance. I sure hope that they include Cassie Clare in on this because who knows it better than her? I also do NOT see Simon as an accountant at all and I think that aging up the characters is gonna create some conflict in some sciences and it may come back to bite them in the butt.

About the sexing up: I don´t see a problem with that unless they don´t exaggerate it. People at the age of 12-14 are not that naive or prude today than they were like fifty years ago, seriously they can take it. With 13 a lot of teenagers start having their first sexual experiences today, and when they see people on screen who are at their late teenage years or even adults it´s obvious that they do such things. Even a 12 year old knows that.

If it makes sense to sex the show up is up to the viewer. I think, if they follow the plot close enough, it´s okay. That means Clary and Jace don´t do anything other than kissing or making out until CoHF and Simon and Isabelle probably don´t do more than that either. As for Malec, it is completely up to the producers, since you don´t know how far they go from just the books, although it´s hinted.

I am freaking out right! When the hell did this all happen, was I living under a rock for the past week?!!

Sounds like they are setting it up to fail. IF these rumors are true, I wouldn’t bother watching.

That’s the spirit. Let us just all complain and be negative instead of keeping an open mind and actually giving the show a chance before deciding not to watch it.

There is not even a cast yet, we haven’t seen any footage or anything so can we please stop being so negative folks? (this is obviously not just directed at you wellsm8. I’m just getting really annoyed by people complaining all the time.)

The show isn´t even being produced yet and all the news we´ve got could as well be just rumors. You shouldn´t let yourself be bothered by such trivialities when it is way too early to judge.

I for one am going to give the show a try, as I am a huge TMI fan and I accept everything about TMI that is given to me gratefully.

Well, the thing is that at this point, these things are more than just mere rumors. Look up the “you reacted to my open letter to Ed Decter” on fangirlish. Whoever posted that, actually read the pilot script, and the rumors are apparently all true.

I am definitely going to give the show a chance. Let’s hope it’s nearly as good as the books!

Hopefully these rumors are false! But they’re not reassuring.

I think it’s best to just jump in and judge when the pilot is made or when the first characters are casted. I think not involving Cassie is their choice and I’m not sure I would’ve made a different call myself.

If you look at ex. producers you can see that they have a lot of experience not so much with the fantasy element, but they do have it when it comes to drama and action. So I think that is what you should expect. Drama first, action/fantasy second.

Especially if Isabelle, Alec and Magnus are bigger characters in the tvshow than in the books there is a lot of drama to explore.

If they change certain rules, the age doesn’t have to be an issue. And maybe they have a certain target group in mind that isn’t pre=teens and teens, but young adults and adults till 35.

Cutting the author out of a television show or movie is almost never a good idea. The author is generally the only person in the process advocating for any faithfulness to the source material. The shows I keep seeing people complaining about being very different from the books all don’t involve the author. And to deliberately cut the author out usually means you’re making changes so big that the author would freak out if they knew about them.

I don’t know why you would think Isabelle, Alec and Magnus would have bigger parts, or any parts at all, especially given that the most alarming thing that I’ve heard about the show is that Simon has a girlfriend and she has a big part. If the show runners are inventing characters then those characters take up screen time, and take it away from the characters Shadowhunter fans would be tuning in to see. While I don’t think it’s time yet to be negative or give up (Decter can still redeem himself) the assumption that Magnus will even be a character in the show at all is just an assumption.

The thing with cutting an author out of a movie or TV series based on their book is that authors don’t necessarily know what makes a good screenplay. They DO know what makes a good book (otherwise their book wouldn’t be up for an adaptation in the first place). And because certain changes *have* to be made in order to do an adaptation, many producers simply avoid the potential issues with prima donna authors, hurt feelings, etc., altogether, and don’t involve the author at all. It’s a precaution borne out by hard experience.

Not every author gets cut out of helping with an adaptation, of course. Terry Brooks was on set, helping with the adaptation of the Elfstones of Shannara for a 10-episode limited series on MTV. But even with that, they’re making some fairly significant changes from the book — changes that the author himself happens to be okay with.

It’s not for us to presume WHY Cassandra Clare is being cut out. It could simply be part of the business deal. The studio gets all of the rights for a fixed amount, and none of the obligations of needing to involve her. That doesn’t mean they can’t go back and ask her certain things (although they likely won’t). If I were in their position, I would. But then again, that’s me, and I would do a rather different adaptation than what I’m hearing from the rumors.

I’d like to be positive. Magnus and Alec are one of the massive reason most people read the books, their populairity matches clary’s and jace’s ( It even took Cassandra by surprise they had become so wildly loved).

I never would have read the books if not Alec. So I would not watch the show without him or his relationship with Magnus in it, treated with equality or the closest thing to it that most tvshows are comfortable with. Along with a larger part of the fandom, either. Plus it would be the worst type of publicity to receive as a show to be labelled homophobic by not giving Alec and Magnus their screentime. No show could ever recover from that amount of backlash by making a canon gay relationship disappear on screen. Surely, people will still watch the show but not as many as otherwise.

And Isabelle is a better female character than Clary will ever be and many reader agree on that as well. I hardly ever even meet people who prefer Clary over Isabelle.

So it’s not a matter of whether they want to add Magnus, or whether Alec and Isabelle are bigger characters or not. It’s knowning what will sell and if they want the show to be a success they have no other choice. The Lightwood’s will sell, they have all the elements too.

I think being positive is a good idea. Magnus and Alec are certainly popular. They are not, however, one of the massive reasons that people read the books. They are still a fictional gay couple in a largely homophobic world. As someone who works with hundreds of teen readers, I can tell you that Magnus and Alec’s popularity on the internet is not matched by their popularity in the “real world.” Yes, they are fan favorites. But these books are not read just by big fans. They are read widely by a ton of people. And I’ve had more experiences with people returning the books because they’re offended by the gay content than I have with people telling me they’re reading for Alec and Magnus. Sad but true.

Even among fans, Clary and Jace are far more popular as characters and as a couple. I am not saying this because of personal preference, but because it is true both from my experiences as a bookseller and librarian and what I’ve seen online. I’ve been to more than one signing that Clare has done, one for upwards of a thousand people. She asked them all their favorite characters. Clary and Jace (Jace specifically) probably took 90% of the votes. Magnus was popular, so was Simon. Isabelle barely got any votes at all. Not because people dislike her, I imagine, but because she’s not a “main” character or a cute boy.

I do not agree that Isabelle is a better female character than Clary, and there is no one in any of my book groups who thinks that, and no kid that I have ever shared a copy of the books with who thinks that. If you like Isabelle better, great, but she’s not the protagonist.

I am not saying this to be mean or disagree, but to caution against falling down the fandom rabbit hole in which you think that the things you and the people you know on tumblr think are what “everyone” thinks. They’re not. Fans online often obsess over minor characters and resent protagonists. It’s actually a thing about fandoms. It doesn’t mean anything in terms of how the books are perceved by the millions of people who read them and aren’t in the fandom. There’s a reason Clary and Jace have been on the covers of the books multiple times and Magnus, Isabelle and Alec never have.

I would agree that ABC Family would receive backlash if they got rid of Magnus and Alec or made them straight. But if they replace all the characters with different characters, and invent a new gay couple with different names, they won’t. And that is something they could do. They could make this show absolutely unrecognizable if they wanted.

Authors don’t necessarily know what makes a good screenplay. But that doesn’t preclude a good working relationship with an author. Not having one indicates changes the author wouldn’t be okay with. Like deleting the canon gay couples or whitewashing the characters. I don’t think it’s something to be cavalier about, but that’s just me.

I’m going to guess we have very different circles we live in. I know gay couples is still a thing. But not where I come from. So maybe my opinion is more based on my own country and neighbouring countries than America, which is of course the main market. I have to say I do think it’s worrying that Clary would be a more populair character than Isabelle if you look at them more closely and not as main character verses side characters this isn’t something to be happy about. I haven’t met a single person I couldn’t turn of Clary if I just sat with them and talked about her. Might be why in the end I don’t know a lot of people who prefer Clary.

Which is why it would be better to have Isabelle and the rest of supporting characters play a bigger role, (Just look at Elena, again she very loved but the older the person I talk to the more negative the reponse to her) if they are aiming at a more mature audience a lot of focus on Clary won’t do.

I do think a lot of people picked up the book because of magnus and alec though, especially the lgbtq community and it’s a growing community and one with a lot of money. The books are reviewed etc on major lgbtq websites. Sure more readers picked it up for the heterosexuel aspect, there are more straight people in the world after all. Plus I doubt people will tell their librarian that they are reading a book for the gay elements if they are teenager. Nobody outs themselves if not necessary, not even me and I’m pretty out and proud.

If they’re fan favourites they should be kept in the show, negative response from the exsisting fandom can turn people of from watching as well especially if they are vocal about it, which the TMI fandom is.

And if the crew is reading along to these comments, Can you cast Godrey Gao again as Magnus? He’s going to be in Canada for a while making a show anyway. Just something to think about.

I for one, am strongly in favour of recasting everyone for the show, especially Godfrey. Nothing against him personally but IMHO he did the fabulous and very complex character of Magnus no favours in the movie.

I think Magnus was butchered in the film, but not necessarily by Godrey. This whole thing just didn’t come together. But Godrey looked the part. I would be alright with a complete recast, but if I could pick some that I would like to see again Godfrey and Robert would be my first choices. Though I’d probably cast John again too, he is a brilliant actor. It’s not his fault that the writers wrote a crappy script and destroyed Valentine as a character. (Biy there was a lot from with that movie, really hope they do better this time round)

I would love it if they kept Godfrey Gao as Magnus and if they kept Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace. I actually really like all the actors they had in the movie. Except Valentine. They needed the character to have blond hair and suits, he needs to stand out, after all he is the manipulative bad guy.

I know you out a lot of effort into this and the first part is true. But what you’re forgetting is the Pretty Little Liars TV show is NOTHING like the books. They took the characters names and kind of started out with the story and then it just became ridiculous and completely unrealistic.

From ABC Family, I predict one 13 ep. season that’s heavily focused on sexual tension and not world-building or action.

I don’t actually mind aging up the characters, because that could mean better actors.

Now I truly want this to succeed, those books are some of my favorite but I also don’t want to get hopeful and then just have be terrible.

For those that are saying to just wait and see, rather than being negative, there’s another option. Making your voice heard. :)

I already sent an email to Ed Decter laying out my concerns politely and respectfully. Waiting to see if he replies. I also have a scene ready (in TV script form) for him, showing the origin of the Shadowhunters, something I’d really like to see used in the series as it seriously elevates the diversity theme. Hopefully that will show him that I’m capable of doing more than just giving my opinion.

I have to say, a lot of this doesn’t bother me. I’ve always been a fan of aging up for Television, so long as they find ways to come to the same ends, then I’m fine with it. What do I mean? Well the fact that Simon can’t drink from the cup if he is too old, does that really matter? Just don’t put the age restriction on the cup, the end. NOT that big of a deal.

What bothers me is the Shadowhunters being like CIA thing, BUT here is what I think that means… I don’t think it means that The Shadowhunters of our story work with the United States government, but rather that they are LIKE / similar to a CIA type of entity. If you were describing this show to someone who hasn’t read the books, I think it’s a good analogy. They have their own system, they work behind the scenes, and in a sense are their own type of government. I have a feeling that is what was meant with that comparison, that they are cohesively like the CIA, not that they are part of the CIA.

The age restriction is a big deal because of the ick factor of Valentine being willing to use the Mortal Cup *on children*, *without caring that most would die* if they drank of it, just to build up his army. Sure, they can remove the age restriction and not impact things that much, but then they’d need to find other ways to make Valentine’s views repulsive. That was a big one.

As far as the CIA thing goes, the rumor is that they’re like a *division* of the CIA, if you read the original article on fangirlish.

As to whether that’s more accurate or they’re simply “like” that (without actually being that), I couldn’t tell you.

There are ways to incorporate both. You could remove the age restriction with a caveat that it’s more successful on children, also that if you use it on a child, you have more time to groom them. I think if you left the age restriction off, and made the point that for those reasons Valentine still wanted to use it on children, when he had other options, that could make his actions even more vile.

I did read the article, and I’m just being optimistic that since it is a rumor at this time, a “I know this guy, who knows this girl, whose sister heard this” kind of thing, that something somewhere got confused and that it’s an analogy, not literal.

I am definitely a little upset about the aging up of the characters. Some of the reasons I loved the characters was their age. I mean, being a teen I can relate to them. Not so much with “early twenties”. Also, I loved how in the books, Alec was on the verge of adulthood and was kind of forced into a leadership role of protecting Izzy and have. If everyone is adults, we loose that. Also a lot of jace and simon’s wonderful sarcastic (immature) humor will seem out of place if they are older. I just don’t want to lose too much of who these characters are. Also, while the CIA thing isn’t specifically bad, it gives me an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. This show has an opportunity to be a huge hit, and I mean huge, but if it is too unfaithful to the characters, I think its going to crash like the movie.

I agree, with your comment about Alec. The whole point of them being the age they are in the book is because they are growing up into adults and learning and experiencing the hardships of life. And yes jaces and simoons humour will most probably be lost. I have to agree with all that you said but i’m going to give the tv show a chance.

Being a huge fan of the TMI book series, I am really excited to see my beloved characters come to life on the small screeen, and I really dont mind a few changes. They cant really do the exact same thing that is written in the book cause then everyone know whats going to happan, there will be giant spoiler alerts that will ruin the feel of the show. It will be the same as the vampire diaries, cause the books and the tv show is completly different. Even though I love the TMI book so much, I am glad they will not be sticking to the words on the pages but keeping the structure of the series and making their own world, that I hope the fan will still fall in love with.

I don’t mind changes, I actually encourage it. But there’s a difference between making changes and altering key elements of the story.

My very personal opinion on this matter is that aging the characters is not necessarily a bad decision. Of course I think that the coming of age is the most important part of The Mortal Instruments, and also what made the characters relatable for all of us, but I have discovered and learned so much more about myself, my abilities, what I wanted in life and overall everything about me in my 20s than I ever did as a teenager. Aging them up won’t take away their growth as long as they keep their personalities, because people grow and learn most in their 20s. Also they won’t age them up too much. Clary would go from 16 to 18 – 20, and the rest would go from 17 to 21 – 22 max; that’s not too much if you ask me, specially if you take in consideration that most kids that age still act like teenagers this days. I think that the biggest reason why the movie flopped the way it did (aside from completely changing the storyline) is that it was made for teenagers. All the decisions they made were thinking of what 15 year olds would like and completely forgetting about everyone else. I don’t think that the TMI fanbase is mostly teens, actually, every book written by Cassie are one of the YA franchises with the biggest adult followings. When I went to the CoHF release party last year in London, most of the people that went were adults, 20 somethings and older. It was an event clearly thought and planed for teenagers but they were outnumbered by adults, and also almost everyone dressed as Shadowhunters were also adults (including me). So doing the same with the T.V. show will have the same result. As far as all the other rumors go, they are big mistakes, TERRIBLE mistakes!!! I would be really pissed if any of them were true, but the aging up is not that bad, I even think it would contribute to the show, appealing to a bigger audience. All the other rumors better not be true!!!

UUUGGHHHH! Did they not learn anything from the flop of the movie? YOU CAN’T CHANGE VITAL PARTS OF THE STORY! Any true Shadowhunter(as I’m sure we all are) is not going to go for these ridiculous changes.Ok,so we obviously can’t expect them to be perfect when it comes to adaptation.but come on,can you atleast come close? Like Isabel Falabella said,may of the fans are NOT teens but I have to disagree with her on the aging up part. So maybe I have a subconscious wish to be a teen again or something,idk but I do know I like teen shows and I wouldn’t like it if they made them college age.I like the age they are now,not to say,if the show is a success I wouldn’t mind them ending up in college as they grow older like in OTH and TVD etc.

I really don’t like how they changed the ages of the characters. I feel as though adolescents won’t be able to connect with it as much if the characters are older. And Simon… an ACCOUNTANT!!!!!!!!! What are they thinking? Simon is supposed to be the geeky best friend who wants to be in a band with his friends and play video games.

And they should know from the way the movie went that Cassie should be apart of it. And there is also no reason why the show needs to be sexed up. Seriously, its about demons and angels and werewolves, and warlocks, fairies and vampires. NOT SEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope that they start using their brains and realise that its going to be a failure like the movie if they don’t fix it.

Anyway, i’m still looking forward to the tv show but it’s going to need a lot of work and help from Cassiie for them to get it right.

I wish I could go into this with fresh enthusiasm and positive attitude but I just know better. The very thought of the CoB Movie fiasco coupled with “the Bad” listed in this post is enough to fill me with doubt, frustration and very bad memories. It’s a case of “fool me once…”.

I will say this however: LOWER YOU EXPECTATIONS like crazy and save yourself a world of disappointment! After all, we’re talking a bunch of Hollywood idiots doing a YA book adaptation here – what are the real chances of them staying true to and respecting the source material?!

The main focus characters of the first three books where Clary, Jace and Simon. And while I do love them – I love the golden five :) – I still have a little preferrence for Alec and Izzy. So I really hope that the show will put the five at a main character level and give Alec and Izzy A LOT more to do than what they had in the first few books.

I also need to see the romance between Alec and Magnus develop. Most happened off page in the books so I need to see it happen step by step. That would be awesome.

1) Alec (FINALLY a writer gave me a compelling gay action hero with his own love story. So happy and the show needs to do the same.)

2) Clary (ever since book 5 Clary went above Izzy. She kicked ass against Sebastian and proved herself to be THE female lead I wanted to see all this time.)

Agreed on Clary, When I read CoHF I almost felt like Isabelle and Clary swapted personalities. But I wonder if it was done to make Clary be the hero. Writers often do this. Take a different character down so the main character levels up. I kept thinking “what happened to Isabelle, and why do I like Clary in this book more”. Over all I still prefer Isabelle, but I’m not liking the direction Cassie is taking her development in. It doesn’t feel like growing, more like reducing. And I know not all character development has to be positive, but this is such a shame, Isabelle has all the potential to outshine anyone.

There is a rumour that the writers plan to have Magnus and Alec more written out on screen en go deeply into their relationship. So here’s hoping this is true :-D

I don’t feel like Clary and Izzy swapted personalities at all. They where both still completly in character the only difference is that while Clary always had the best intentions, she didn’t have the skills to handle herself in combat. Her training that started in book 4 changed that and really proved itself ones we hit book 5.

Izzy still got to be the bad ass she always was and wasn’t being put down by Cassandra Clare to let Clary shine. That wasn’t needed cause Clary was shining all by herself. We just didn’t get to see Izzy have many fights ever since the finale against Sebastian in book 3. And Izzy her development was her being able to open up and have faith in love again, after what she knew from her mother about the affair. I liked how all characters ended up.

I totally agree with you about clary and isabelle!

I don’t agree with this article at all. Aging characters is a good thing, it means the show will be more mature, most of the time teen shows suck. Of course, it also mean it will have more sex but it’s not a big deal, the show won’t revolve around that. And who cares about Simon being an accounting student ? So if you’re an accounting student, you can’t play music ? It’s a little simplistic, don’t you think ? For now, I don’t see any reason to worry.

But have you forgotten that The Mortal Instruments is a coming-of-age story about teenagers becoming adults? It’ one of the things that made the book what it was and what made it YA. The thing is you never know what you’re going to get when it comes to television adaptations. They tend to be less faithful than movie adaptations. Still hoping for the best!

Well I really stopped caring and won’t watch it anyway. Obviously, they didn’t learn at all.

I feel the same way to be honest. I didn’t really know about the CIA Agents thing but I had the same kind of reaction on my blog. (http://wp.me/p4dh4j-Nw)

Un-fucking-believable. They should’ve just given the project to Peter fucking Jackson and let him work his Legendary cinematic Lord Of The Rings magic on it. I honestly believe Peter Jackson is the only person alive that can save us from repetitive shit. And ABC Family? HBO would’ve the best network to take charge of the show. Game Of Thrones…nuff said.

Peter Jackson changed A LOT of things in the Hobbit and that was for the better. I read the book and damn, that was bad, but the movies where great. Now with TMI we mostly have them being loyal to the books with a few changes, so you complain because they changed a few things? But that makes no sense considering you loved PJ his approach for The Hobbit and he changed a lot of stuff.

And HBO would never have taken on a show like Shadowhunters. This is a young adult novel directed, mostly at teens, HBO is known for adult content. Again, makes no sense that they would take this on.

I have a hard time following the logic of some people on this comment section.

Simon as an accountant ?!!! Okay well maybe if they just make it a small thing and they make the band more major and as everything else , if they can find a way to still be faithful . For all we know guys, some of these details could be rumours

Alyssa, you are being way too negative and closed minded. It is unprofessional and insulting.

Ending this article saying “as you can see, the bad far outweighs the good” and then saying you want this show to be a success is a contradiction of yourself.

If you want the show to be a success, stop advertising it as a failure before it even begins.

Okay, let’s just say that this article is Alyssa’s *opinion* on what the good and the bad is.

I happen to agree completely with her. A lot of other people who have commented do, too.

To translate what she means and give voice to others’ opinions, we hope that Ed Decter LISTENS to the fans when they say that they don’t want the Shadowhunters to be “a division of the CIA.” They don’t want the show sexed up. Etc. It will be a success *if he LISTENS*.

Now, some may disagree about some of her “bad” points, but we’re all hoping that Constantin learns something from what went wrong with the film. They tried to cram too much into too short a time — great, won’t be a problem this time around. But they also changed some characters and left out others, and changed a major plot point from the books (e.g., who had the Mortal Cup at the end).

We as fans don’t want a “loose” adaptation. We want one that’s more faithful to the books. It’s fine to add things on top of that, but please don’t change or take away major things that have big ramifications later on down the line.

I’m suddenly reminded of Jace’s line from the movie.

And the three-minute “humor” youtube video of the movie, with that scene in it. :)

I think you’re being pretty unfair to Alyssa and considering she has been among this franchise’s longest and biggest supporters, I think she is entitled to a little doubt and negativity! In fact, I’m surprised she’s been able to remain this gracious for so long!

There is nothing contradictory about her choosing to be cautiously optimistic for the time being considering that the bad does outweigh the good. If anything, I think it’s admirable.

Reblogged this on Living in a World of Book Quotes and commented:

I agree with everything here. I feel that one of the reasons the movie didn’t work was because they changed enough of it where it didn’t follow the book. Even if you didn’t read the book, there were parts that didn’t make sense. Honestly what is the point of calling it the mortal instruments if it’s being changed THIS much. It’s as though they’re trying to make into this new amazing and hip upcoming show. I really don’t think it’s going to last (sad to say). There’s a reason that movies like Divergent and The Hunger Games did very well. The Mortal Instruments series really had potential, but something just doesn’t seem to be clicking.

I completely agree. I was hoping this would be IT for The Mortal Instruments…but it’s looking good

when i first found out we were getting a TV show i screamed so loud because i love TMI.

i was overjoyed when i found out it would be on ABC Family.And i thought i would faint when i found out filming would be happening so soon.Then I got more news and had a meltdown.Such as when I found out they were aging up the characters. ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?!?! Or when they said the Shadow hunters were like CIA agents. The shadow hunters are not CIA agents ……….. THEY’RE NOT EVEN FULLY HUMAN!!!!!!!AND SINCE WHEN DOES SIMON HAVE A GIRLFRIEND. HE IS NOT AN ACCOUNTANT!! but what really killed me was when i found out that Cassie wasn’t involved. THIS IS HER STORY.HER OWN UNIQUE CREATION.In my opinion it should be her opinion on what happens.she should have a part in casting and in what happens in the show because with out her there would be no show at all.

Okay I’m done ranting now…….. sorry :/

Sexing up the show?!?!?! I’m sorry, but this story isn’t about sex. Come on, Jace and Clary didn’t even have sex until the final book. Their love story was stop and start. Sexing up the programme will ruin everything! The tv producers clearly haven’t learnt anything from the film, STOP CHANGING MAIN PARTS! Its all becoming ridiculous, their ruining what we know as a perfect world.

Firstly, the events of the book happen over a few days so it’s plausible that no one notices Clary’s mom’s disappearance. But the events of the TV show will probably happen over several MONTHS. It is just not remotely believable that no one would notice that Clary’s mom had vanished – a 15 year-old girl WOULD DEFINITELY NOT be allowed to live by herself if her only parent had disappeared. Child protection services would get involved and Clary would be put into foster care. But if Clary is 18, then she’s legally an adult – her mom’s abduction is still highly distressing but no law/government agencies will interfere with her life.

Secondly, the plotline of the book will only fill about one third of the series. The remaining episodes will have NEW storylines – probably a “freak-of-the-week” format where the team of Shadowhunters investigate a supernatural event/mysterious death. It’s not believable for a 15 year-old girl to be regularly wandering around a big city at night investigating strange occurrences (probably in dark alleyways, probably involving dead bodies, etc). Think about TV shows that did “freak-of-the-week” plots with teenagers successfully, eg, Smallville, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. They take place in small towns and the main characters have loving parents waiting for them at home – it’s like a safety net, something that Clary simply doesn’t have that.

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