Since I’m no longer under the legal drinking age limit, I don’t watch MTV anymore. Because of such, I had no idea that the network developed its own take on the “cops v. spooky” fad that’s hitting us soon. I knew about that ‘Teen Wolf’ remake but this ‘Death Valley’ show was under my radar. io9.com has a clip of a funny moment of this mockumentary-style show.
Meredith Woerner (which, I might add, is a great last name. She might be a supervillian or a mad scientist with that name. Dr. Meredith Woerner’s creature. Has a nice ring to it? Anway.) wrote “…[w]hile we might tune in to see the scene from the trailers where one of the cops punches a zombie through the skull (because that’s excellent) we may just watch reruns of Reno 911 instead.”
But, from the clip in her write-up, it seems that his is more serious than Reno 911. MTV is trying to blend sex, action and comedy in a moderately-budgeted production. It’s currently a “wait and see” situation but what I see ‘Death Valley’ facing some stiff (no pun intended) competition from the other cops v. corpses media coming. On top of the RiPD movie, there’s Zombie Hunters and ZEROs coming out. ‘Death Valley’ has the advantage of being on MTV (and having Viacom’s promotional juggernaut) but depends on what the audience wants (and what MTV wants.)
I think they want to make a quick buck before the spooky bubble bursts. I, and plenty others, have waited for the bottom to fall out of the supernatural market. Still. More undead cop shows. It’s like it’s taking the two more overused genres and mashing them together. Law and Order: SZU (Special Zombies Unit)
Good luck to everyone involved. It’ll make good Hulu/Netflix viewing in a few years.