Sometimes, my brain works at an exceptional rate. It keeps churning, turning, thinking, construe, construct, deconstruct, break and mold ideas.
After I heard that FOX was making a TV-show about Jim Gordon set in his early days as a police officer, my initial thought was "No." and then kept on with "It'll be the same as Agents of Shield. Sure we'll probably have some good drama and fun with tiny name drops. But in the end, we'll sit there and think "Where the frickety frack is Batman already? Superman? Green Arrow? Anything!?"
I'm afraid that it will probably go down as that. But my aforementioned brain started to work. For days it worked. "Well how can it work? What should be the best course of action? You tell yourself you're so damn clever, YOU figure it out then. Stupid."
My brain can be rude.
So, this is just a long intro for how I would make the upcoming TV-show GOTHAM.
A three way origin story.
- They way I see it, making Gordon the solo main character would be a mistake. Sure, there are some great aspect to the character, but in the end, we are in a Superhero-universe and getting stuck with a "normal" guy would in the end disappoint. No matter how awesome he is. Which he is. The way to go about it is to make this a three-person origin story. Gordon, Bruce Wayne and The Joker.
Gordon has his thing. He's a war hero, former football star and on the fast track to stardom in the police world. Have him rise in the ranks each(or maybe every two) season(s). Overall god guy. The optimist amongst the pessimists. Have him struggle, but in the end come out on top.
Bruce Wayne. At first we see that shocked 10 year old. His parents was killed in front of him. But little by little, with the help of his two surrogate fathers, Alfred the butler and Gordon(the guy hunting the killer of his parents), we see the future Batman come to life. Have little Brucie actually help Gordon. SHow of his detective skills. Show his intelligence and brilliance. Show that the future Batman won't be all muscle.
The Joker. What I would do here, that would piss off the comic fans(all live-action adaptions do), is to make the Robber/Killer of the Wayne parents the future Joker. Have him be a cop alongside Gordon. He will be a proper two-faced guy(pun intended). Bought by the Mafia/Or some DC related gang to execute the Waynes for purposes to be revealed later on. Going alongside Gordon. Have him go alongside Gordon, the same path, but do all the wrong choices.
Know where and when to end it.
- U.S. television is both great and bad. Great because we get to see A LOT of our favorite characters. Bad because it often gets bland, boring and we get too many filler episodes. Set the amount of episodes to about 10-12 episodes per season. (Breaking Bad-style). Fill the episodes with quality, not quantity. (Shows to learn from: Sherlock and Breaking Bad again.)
Also, don't do a "Smallville". Where we just have a high-ratings show and keep on doing it. Set the amount of seasons down. Here I would go with either 5 or 6 seasons at the max.
Know where it is going. Having an open ending isn't bad. I would have future-Joker have his face disfigured because Bruce Wayne in almost-Batman-mode push him into some chemicals or something in that direction. Gordon has become commissioner. Future Joker has donned his purple jacket. And Wayne has put together his Batsuit. We all see these three characters become the people we know from the comics/movies.
Also, don't cop out at showing the final reveals. Smallville did that. Didn't sit right with anyone.
Time skips: Doing an origin story is fine. But most of the time, the audience is just itching for us to get on with it. And with franchises were people KNOW where we're going, don't mess about. Between every season I would do a 2-year time skip. 3 reasons why:
1. Gordon. Between each time skip I would have him rise through the ranks of the police department. From rookie to esteemed private. To chief. To detective and the commissioner. (I'm probably getting the ranks wrong, but you get what I mean).
2. Bruce Wayne. I want this mostly because of child actors. Some are good. Some are really really bad. BUT, we also want to see him evolve. From child genius (I would have him be clever with gadgets, inventing stuff, detective skills and so on) to proficient martial arts performer. Make it believable. Make him count, Make him angry, but sympathetic. We need to see him change, both visually and physically.
3. The Joker. Important character. In the beginning he will be a rookie cop with Gordon. We need to see him forced into the mafia-game. See him get corrupted. Then little-by-little be the corrupter. As we see Gordon rise through the police, we see the Joker rise through the criminal chain. At the end of the show, he will be the big boss in some gang. I want him to be the guy the audience loves, then watch him become someone the audience hate. (I'm talking "love-to-hate" not "send-the-actor-death-threats-hate" though).
So, that is my outline. To stress, this is MY point of view of how the GOTHAM tv-show should be. Nothing I say has anything to do with the future GOTHAM TV-show, the Batman copyright or anything.
As usual. Sound of below in the comments!