THE WHEEL OF TIME PILOT SERIES

This leads us to 2017 when this version, developed by Rafe Judkins, finally started to take flight. It was sold in 2004 to a company called Red Eagle Entertainment, who produced a notoriously horrendous FXX pilot of the show with Billy Zane in 2015 just to hold onto the rights. NBC optioned the screen rights for the first time in 2000 but couldnвЂ™t get the project off the ground. вЂњThe Wheel of TimeвЂќ has been in the production pipeline for over two decades.

For that entire decade and much of the next one, JordanвЂ™s books were massive hits, creating a new world for fans of fantasy storytelling, which meant that Hollywood quickly came calling.

THE WHEEL OF TIME PILOT SERIES

The first volume of Robert JordanвЂ™s 14-book series came out in 1990.

READ MORE: вЂThe GreatвЂ™ Season 2 TV Review: The Chemistry Between The Two Leads Is Almost Derailed By Tedious Subplots And yet itвЂ™s almost as if no one involved here understood what made that show great. The truth is that this particular version of the show, one that mistakes slow pace for serious drama, doesnвЂ™t exist in this form without the HBO juggernaut. The narrative behind some of the pre-premiere buzz has been that JordanвЂ™s books really inspired вЂњGame of ThronesвЂќ and so this isnвЂ™t a copy as much as an ancestor to the HBO hit. Those fans may bring depth from the entire series that enriches this show, but everyone else is going to be lost. ItвЂ™s a death march through fantasy TV clichГ©s that likely worked splendidly on the page in Robert JordanвЂ™s books, wherein readers could imagine the exciting world that the people behind this show never bothered to create. Amazon PrimeвЂ™s вЂњ The Wheel of TimeвЂќ is a ponderous slog, a show that wants so badly to be the next вЂњ Game of ThronesвЂќ or even вЂњ The WitcherвЂќ that it telegraphs its pretentious self-seriousness with every line of dialogue and slow turn in the plot.

The wheel of time pilot