In 1996, the world was introduced to the strange, quirky and enduring world of Joel and Ethan Coen’s FARGO. While it was certainly not their first film, it may have be the one that made everyone pay attention to what they had to offer and anticipate what was next.
Now it seems that FX and the Coen brothers have closed a deal on an hour long series loosely based on FARGO for the channel. The Coens will serve as executive producers with Noah Hawley creator of such short lived series as MY GENERATION and THE UNUSUALS taking the job as scribe. This is a curious hire since the guy’s best work probably comes from his various duties on BONES.
For those who need a jog of the memory, the story of FARGO followed, “Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), a pregnant North Dakota police chief who follows the trail of two bumbling criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) hired by a car salesman (William H. Macy) to kidnap his wife.”
I’m definitely open to seeing how a loose adaptation of this goes. I wonder if the Coens will at least try to write/direct an episode, or at least the pilot. Interestingly enough, this is not the first time that FARGO has been adapted for the small screen. Back in 1997, the series was set in Brainerd, and starred Edie Falco as Marge Gunderson, and was directed by Kathy Bates. It never saw the light of day until Trio showed it in 2003 on BRILLIANT BUT CANCELLED.
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