In the few short years that Netflix has been producing original content, they have quickly built a remarkable reputation for the quality of their programming. By doing so, they have created not only a great deal of loyalty to existing series, but a great deal of built-in anticipation for upcoming projects. Nowhere is this more evident than in the build up to the streaming giant’s upcoming adaptation of ‘Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events’. Feeding into that anticipation, Netflix has released a teaser for the series today, and while it reveals little of the plot, it offers an excellent sample of the series’ tone.
The teaser (which is included below) features Patrick Warburton in character as Lemony Snicket, the series narrator and putative author, touring a deserted set while addressing the camera. As he does so, Snicket briefly introduces the series and explains that the set would ordinarily be a bustling hub of activity, but for the fact that the story is so upsetting that as a result the production crew has fallen victim to “low morale, a phrase which here means “currently under medical observation for melancholia, ennui, and acute wistfulness”. He then closes by imploring the viewer not to make the same mistake Netflix did, and “avoid the cruel whimsy and whimsical cruelty of what is to come”.
Based on the series of best-selling by Daniel Handler, ‘Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events’ follows the Baudelaire children (Violet, Klaus, and Sunny) as they find themselves in the custody of their eccentric (and criminal) relative Count Olaf following the death of their parents. As the story progresses, the children must outwit their guardian at every turn, thwarting Olaf’s schemes to deprive them of their inheritance, all the while seeking clues to the mysteries surrounding their parents’ death.
The series stars Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton, Joan Cusack, Malina Weissman, and Louis Hynes. The eight-episode season is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on January 13, 2017.
What did you think of the teaser? Let us know in the comments below!
