It may be one of Netflix's most popular new shows, but Neil Patrick Harris reveals why A Series of Unfortunate Events is coming to a close after just three seasons.
Although the franchise got its own big screen outing thanks to Brad Silberling's A Series of Unfortunate Events, plans for a series of sequels were canceled due to a disappointing box office return. Netflix then bought the rights to Lemony Snicket's world and premiered the first season of the saga in 2017. Now as season 2 officially hits the streaming platform, Harris is looking ahead to the future.
Related: A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Recap Of Season 1’s Big Mysteries
Taking over from Jim Carrey in the movies, Harris has brought his own unique characterization to the villainous Count Olaf and has become the main character of the show. He is clearly very attached to the show, and speaking to Digital Spy, explained the logic behind rounding off the story before it goes on for too long:
"This is a big, big show. It's a beast. Every book is two episodes, and every episode is an hour long. So we're making a two-hour movie every book, and there's 13 books. So 26 feature films is essentially what we're making here."
"From the beginning, we wanted to honor the encyclopedic and brilliant work of [Lemony Snicket author] Daniel Handler – we had no real intention of it doing spin-offs or offshoots. It ends so operatically, and yet [the ending is] so heartfelt, and so grown-up. I don't know where else anyone would want to go with it."
Much like Breaking Bad, Lost, The Sopranos and so many other memorable pieces of TV, it is important to know when the right time is to quit. Harris also says that giving Events a definitive ending has given everyone something to work towards:
"I'm proud we're all doing something that's actually finite, and a piece of art. It's something that you can put on a bookshelf and appreciate for what it is, not just year after year hoping that people are still interested."
Based on the book series by Daniel Handler (under his alias of Lemony Snicket) that started in 1999, A Series of Unfortunate Events lends itself perfectly to Netflix's formulaic production. However, with the show including an all-star cast with the likes of Harris, Patrick Warburton, Joan Cusack, and Nathan Fillion, it is a shame that there will only be one more trip into the tragic lives of Baudelaire children.
Handler's final novel The End left more questions than answers and the stories have had several official spinoffs from A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Netflix version should be prime for adapting these or even carrying on the show beyond Handler's story, but it looks like it isn't meant to be. Either way, Netflix has so much faith in the work of Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld, it commissioned a third and final season of Events less than a month after it greenlit season 2.
Ultimately, it is thanks to Sonnenfeld's imagination and work on equally macabre projects like The Addams Family that has made A Series of Unfortunate Events such a popular piece of TV that isn't just aimed at kids. While it is sad that only a handful of episodes remain, fans can rest assured that it will be a suitably rotten ride to get there.
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Source: Digital Spy