Emerald City

Season 1 Tue Vuzu AMP (*103) 21:30 Repeat Wed Vuzu AMP 23:00 Sci-fi

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz was a beloved childrens book in 1900. But it’s TV re-imagining Emerald City (2016current) is anything but! It’s dark and twisted and a combination of L Frank Baum’s various Oz novels. Yes, there are favourite characters like Dorothy, Scarecrow and Toto the dog, but they are very different from how we know them. Dorothy’s a adult policewoman, Scarecrow is a human criminal who was tied to a crucifix and Toto isn’t the pooch’s name – “Toto” is the nowbarbarian Munchkins’ word for dog. Plus, he’s a German shepherd!

It’s a mix of good and bad, according to critics. “It’s got courage but it’s short on heart and brains,” says TVline.com, in reference to famous Oz characters The Lion, Tin Woodman and Scarecrow. Because it’s a mixture of lesser-known Oz books, there’s a lot of material that’s never been explored and that can be confusing and an overload of backstories that aren’t explored enough. Fans online have called it “a slog to watch” and asked “where’s the fun? Surely The Wizard Of Oz must be fun to watch?”

But while the 10-episode storyline may miss its mark with hardened fans, there are a lot of pluses. “It’s stupefyingly beautiful,” says director Tarsem Singh – and for good reason. He filmed it around the world and some locations will be familiar to fans of fantasy show Game Of Thrones (2011-current). Tarsem also made sure that his characters looked good, thanks to costume designer Trisha Biggar. She’s best known for her work on the three Star Wars prequel movies (1999-2005).

So who should watch Emerald City? Fans of dark fantasy series Supernatural (2005-current) for sure! But if Dorothy having red gloves instead of ruby slippers doesn’t feel right, maybe not…