It's Just Movies

— by CAM SMITH —

When it comes to childhood nostalgia, my tastes tend to be a bit on the picky side. Obviously, I adore the high quality stuff, such as “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” the classic Schwarzenegger and Stallone oeuvre and the like, but I’m far less enamored with cultier fare like “Tron,” “Labyrinth” or “The Goonies.” I can dig the goofy innocence and technical skill behind them but, frankly, I find them a bit noisy and boring.

I have similar feelings towards 1985’s “Teen Wolf.” I vividly recall my fellow school-mates passionately waxing poetic over Michael J. Fox’s hairy antics on the basketball court while I quietly withdrew from the conversation. I had watched the film expecting comic gold and found it to be in woefully short supply. I never bothered checking out Jason Bateman’s crack at taking over the mantle in “Teen Wolf Too,” but I have my doubts that there was a noticeable leap in quality. Maybe I’m wrong, you tell me.

At any rate, Variety is reporting that MTV has officially given the go-ahead to the “Teen Wolf” television series, which will star Tyler Posey of “Maid in Manhattan” and “Lincoln Heights” fame in the be-fanged role. (See our previous story on the show here.)

However, before you grown-up ’80s kids get too excited about having a chance to plug back into the campy joys of your adolescence, you might want to consider the likely reasons behind this franchise resurrection. In case you’ve been living under a rock, you probably noticed that “Twilight” is mighty popular with them crazy teens these days, and Taylor Lautner’s Jacob character has caught on in a big bad way. Well, how better to exploit this rabid fandom than to create a show centered on a hot young teenage boy learning about life and love while dodging silver bullets and the moon?

Apparently the show will follow the adventures of Scott McCall, a high school outsider who has his uneventful existence turned topsy-turvy by a random wolf bite. This unholy act also results in our protagonist crossing paths with the dreamy Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin), who also bears the mark of the beast, and the smokin’ hot Allison (Crystal Reed), a mysterious new girl in town with vital secrets to discover. How fast can you say “High School love triangle?”

Given MTV’s demographic, it seems pretty safe to say that this probably won’t be anything like the goofy celebrated “Teen Wolf” of yore, but more in line with sexy youth-driven fare like “The Hills” (albeit honest about being scripted). So, sorry old guard “Teen Wolf” fans, I’m afraid you’re still going to be stuck reliving the original experience on DVD ad nauseum without fresh content on the way. Oh well, pointing out that genital-exposing background extra to friends never truly gets old now does it?

. . .

Follow Cam Smith on Twitter at http://twitter.com/camspcepisodes.