IT’S BEEN DONE. That’s one of the reasons why a Groundhog Day TV show really shouldn’t even be a consideration. Another is that Ned, Ned the Head, Needlenose Ned, shouldn’t be the main character in this show is that a lot of people might have thought he was funny but he wasn’t a big deal after the few minutes his role took to air out each day. Eventually he ended up being kind of a kick at the end since Phil finally settled down and bought everything Ned was offering as an insurance salesman. But after thirty years, do we really need a look at Ned’s life to see just where he’s at? Plus, without Bill Murray, who likely wouldn’t do more than a cameo for this show, is it even worth it? The whole idea of Groundhog Day was that a cynical news anchor had to learn how to be decent person after being an out and out creep to everyone just because he could be. But after that it feels as though the point was made and things were allowed to move on. In fact, it doesn’t feel that Ned was even that bad of a character, so it might be kind of pointless to make him relive the same day over and over considering that it would be punishing an individual that didn’t have a mean bone in his body. It’s true we don’t know a lot about Ned other than he’s kind of an annoyance, but at the same time he really appears to be a decent person.
The hope of course is that Phil and Rita did stay together after the movie was over and Phil would keep being a good person, but otherwise that was it, the story was over, it was time to move on. Plenty of other movies have taken this idea and run with it in other ways, such as The Butterfly Effect and Happy Death Day, but thankfully they’ve taken their own stories and done something with them, even if they wore out their welcome by producing sequels that in the case of Happy Death Day might still be going. This is why it’s frustrating for people that love the story, because anytime a studio sees that a story can make money it appears to be a signal to chase down the story and milk it for all that it’s worth, even if it takes a while to really come up with a reason as to why it should continue in the first place. There’s really no solid reason other than an attempt to revive something for money that shouldn’t be revived in the first place. Groundhog Day as it stands is great, it’s still great, and should be left to be great. Obviously a TV show wouldn’t diminish the movie in any way, that’s not the argument. The argument is about creating a TV show that is basically attempting to take off of a premise that was best as a one and done kind of thing, not a story that would see spinoffs and continuations as part of its continuing legend.
Personally I hate to say this about any story since every tale told is another that’s added to the culture of humanity that will be left when the lot of us are gone. But there are times when it feels necessary to simply hope that those creating these stories will take a second glance at times and think ‘oh no, this won’t work like I thought it would’. Obviously I can’t say that with utter confidence since it would be denying that there’s any chance at all. There is favoritism when it comes to talking about certain stories, and that’s what is at play right now. But honestly and truly, Groundhog Day is done, it’s over, it was and still is a great movie, so PUT THE SCRIPT DOWN. Unfortunately that’s not bound to work since it would sound as though the show is still being thought up at this time and the words of one writer won’t be heeded or even listened to, but oh well. The opinion stands since taking anything that Bill Murray has done, anything that was seen as something that helped define him as a great actor, and doing anything else with it just feels kind of wrong. Ghostbusters: Afterlife doesn’t feel this way since it’s continuing a story that a lot of people are wanting to see, a sequel that a lot of folks have been hoping for throughout the years. But Groundhog Day? A lot of us were happy to see it, laughed at it, and had a good time with it, but when it was all done and over with, it was time to move on. Seriously, Ned is the main character?
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