Originally Posted by
Sharpandpointies
Yeah.
Named characters? Check.
Rings of Power? Check.
Rough setting in place? Check.
It's a 'Lord of the Rings Series'.
Fanbase, btw, seems rather divided on this, just as they were with Jackson's stuff. I'm not part of said fanbase, but it's not hard to whip up reddit and such and take a look (also Tumblr).
I would kill for a GOOD Silmarillion adaptation (the actual Silmarillion, not the full book with all of its parts) comprising of:
1. Pilot: The creation of the world, told with much brevity, some parts with some good details, lots of F/X, all leading up to the waking of the Eldar.
2. Season One: Opening with the war against Melkor, then the Time of the Trees, some bits about the lives of the Eldar (have some drama there with Finwë's family), release of Melkor, an aside for 'meanwhile, back in Beleriand' to explain about Menegroth and Thingol, corruption of the Eldar, the dying of the light, the rebellion of the Noldor, the great journey of the Noldor (including the nightmare of Alqualondë and the Helcaraxë), ending with the rising of the sun and moon and the arrival of the Noldor in Beleriand.
3. Season Two: Fëanor getting killed. The Siege of Angband. Founding of Nargothrond and Gondolin. Various battles and drama between the various Elf-lords. The coming of Men. Etc. Ends with the Dagor Bragollach.
4. Season Three: Beren and Lúthien. The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. The horrible story of Húrin. Tuor's arrival in Gondolin.
5. Season Four: The destruction of Menegroth. Dior and the Second Kinslaying. The Fall of Gondolin. All ending in the story of Eärendil and the War of Wrath.
There ARE some characters who live all the way through this mess, and get involved with EVERYTHING. And as much as I hate to say it, it's the Sons of Fëanor who make the best characters for this. We have Maedhros and Maglor who make great 'sympathetic' protagonists, even if they part of some of the worst deeds of the First Age. And then we have Celegrom and Cúrufin as their opposites. Everyone else is in for one season, maybe two, or as a background character through the entire thing. Finrod makes for a great character through the first half of the entire series as well. We can easily add more for the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost, as well.
And that's four seasons, without padding. Want to stuff in other things, drill down into greater detail? We could manage five.
Pretty heavy stuff, mind, and not for 'casual' watching. But that's not to say it would be good only for Tolkien purists - done this way, there would be easily enough for people who knew nothing about Tolkien to follow everything from the start.
Edit: *mad frothing*