Fargo The Series? Coen Brothers Coming To TV?

It looks like the Coen Brother’s 1996 film Fargo make be on its way to TV series, whether the brother’s themselves are involved is anybody’s guess.  Rumors on the street are that FX is in early discussions to bring Fargo to series.  FX has done very well with gritty drama like Sons of Anarchy and Justified, and found much success with the visceral American Horror Story, so it seems like the network would be the perfect place to properly represent the quirky tones of brutality and comedy that permeated Fargo.

Without a doubt the success of a Fargo series would hinge totally on having the brothers Coen involved in some capacity.  Having achieved icon status, it’s unlikely the duo behind True Grit, Burn After Reading, and, of course, Fargo, would drop their film career to be intimately involved with a TV series, but without even a verbal blessing from the Coens it would be difficult to shake the notion that Fargo the series was little more than a pastiche of their style.

The Coens film and story style has achieved genre status, which is to say you know a Coens film when you see it – AND, you know when someone is trying to rip off the Coen style.  It is likely the studio, MGM, owns the rights to do the Fargo series with or without the Coens, but to do so would invite scrutiny from the entertainment punditry for any sign of faux-Coen trademarks at play.  Without the Coens, they might as well change the name and go for a reboot if they are going to survive the shark dive that comparing the series to the movie would become.

Source:  Variety