by Paul Costello
Veronica Mars was a relatively short-lived series that first aired in 2004 and lasted three seasons before being summarily cancelled in 2007. Despite high praise and very loyal fanbase, the show left the airwaves, never to be heard of again… That is until last year when creator Rob Thomas and the series’ cast launched a Kickstarter to fund a film project to carry on the story. Setting a $2million goal, the project shattered every record, ending with a final tally of $5,702,153, making it the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever.
Told you, very loyal fanbase.
Veronica Mars was a relatively short-lived series that first aired in 2004 and lasted three seasons before being summarily cancelled in 2007. Despite high praise and very loyal fanbase, the show left the airwaves, never to be heard of again… That is until last year when creator Rob Thomas and the series’ cast launched a Kickstarter to fund a film project to carry on the story. Setting a $2million goal, the project shattered every record, ending with a final tally of $5,702,153, making it the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever.
Told you, very loyal fanbase.
So, we are getting the movie, and the first official trailer landed just recently. However, a lot of people still might not be fully aware of the original series. As such, here is something of a retrospective on the series in the hopes that you’ll seek it out and give it a go before the movie arrives.
Rob Thomas had originally conceived of Veronica Mars as a book series for young adults. Much of the project was the same, being that it followed the adventures of smart, sarcastic teen detective in a rich California high school, adapting some degree of noir-ish tropes into the sleuthing, such as voice-over, flashbacks and moral ambiguity. One thing was different, though: the as-yet-untitled book series followed a male protagonist. As the concept evolved, however, Thomas decided that it would be far more original and interesting if this Sunkist high school noir were told from a female perspective. From here on, the smart, sassy, quick with a stun gun and a quip Veronica Mars was the centre of it all. Thomas also decided that it would be both easier and quicker to adapt the idea to a TV series. Come 2004, the titular teen detective first appeared on the UPN network.
The characters in the series were very well defined, both as individuals and within the context of their setting. Veronica (played by the pitch perfect Kristen Bell) was a sharp, mouthy high-schooler and accomplished detective, but a social pariah within her school thanks to rumours spread by the popular crowd. Around her, there were a mix of types, like Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), sheriff-turned-private investigator and Veronica’s father; the privileged but morally corrupt brat Logan Eccholls (Jason Dohring), the movie star’s son; working class sports star Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III), one of Veronica’s few friends; and local criminal Weevil (Francis Capra), whose relationship with Veronica regularly sliding between friend and enemy. The drama didn’t always surround Veronica, nor did it even limit itself to the confines of the high school classrooms. Local authority politics, class divides and the police force all provided further complications and twists throughout the series’ ongoing storylines. Despite being set within the relatively small town fictional community of Neptune, the world of the series still felt open enough to be affected by outside forces.
Rob Thomas had originally conceived of Veronica Mars as a book series for young adults. Much of the project was the same, being that it followed the adventures of smart, sarcastic teen detective in a rich California high school, adapting some degree of noir-ish tropes into the sleuthing, such as voice-over, flashbacks and moral ambiguity. One thing was different, though: the as-yet-untitled book series followed a male protagonist. As the concept evolved, however, Thomas decided that it would be far more original and interesting if this Sunkist high school noir were told from a female perspective. From here on, the smart, sassy, quick with a stun gun and a quip Veronica Mars was the centre of it all. Thomas also decided that it would be both easier and quicker to adapt the idea to a TV series. Come 2004, the titular teen detective first appeared on the UPN network.
The characters in the series were very well defined, both as individuals and within the context of their setting. Veronica (played by the pitch perfect Kristen Bell) was a sharp, mouthy high-schooler and accomplished detective, but a social pariah within her school thanks to rumours spread by the popular crowd. Around her, there were a mix of types, like Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), sheriff-turned-private investigator and Veronica’s father; the privileged but morally corrupt brat Logan Eccholls (Jason Dohring), the movie star’s son; working class sports star Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III), one of Veronica’s few friends; and local criminal Weevil (Francis Capra), whose relationship with Veronica regularly sliding between friend and enemy. The drama didn’t always surround Veronica, nor did it even limit itself to the confines of the high school classrooms. Local authority politics, class divides and the police force all provided further complications and twists throughout the series’ ongoing storylines. Despite being set within the relatively small town fictional community of Neptune, the world of the series still felt open enough to be affected by outside forces.
The structural format of the series was set early on. Each episode would see Veronica solve a new mystery every week, but with an arc that spanned the whole season. The weekly mysteries themselves ranged from a variety of types, from smaller things like unfaithful girlfriends and minor thefts to bigger deals like assault and missing persons (an early season one episode centres around a pre-fame Jessica Chastain). However, the main mystery for the first season was a very big deal: Veronica was trying to figure out who murdered her best friend (played in flashbacks by Amanda Seyfried). So, right from the beginning, the series set itself thematically apart from other fare on TV aimed at the older-young crowd. Though it did engage with a fair amount of soap opera-style types of storylines (pretty much unavoidable given the setting), it always managed to keep it within a perspective of more mature ways of telling those stories. Veronica Mars was a series that never shied away from some of the harder storylines, such as rape and sexual assault, and was careful not to use them as mere plot devices that were disposed of once the case was closed. Repercussions of these crimes could still be felt by the end of the series.
Even next to this point, the show could be, and was, incredibly funny. The sharpness of the dialogue was very deft with a one-liner or put down, occasionally knocking on the door of Shane Black territory, and delivered from a multitude of sources. Although, to be honest, the best lines are generally split between Veronica and Logan (check out YouTube complication videos for examples). The humour was great, sometimes darkly so, and that made the show endlessly quotable and very enjoyable indeed.
It should be noted that one of the most important aspects of the show’s popularity, and a great reason for its critical success, was the character of Veronica herself. She was a layered character: smart, sarcastic, tough, confident, defiant, misanthropic, vulnerable. She was also, and still is regarded as one of the best and most positive representations of a female character on TV ever. She was probably the only real character within that demographic outside of the Whedon canon to stand as a good female role model in contemporary measure. And Kristen Bell played her beautifully, hitting every point and nuance like it was the role she was born to play. Bell has struggled a little to hit the same heights in her subsequent film and TV work, but to see her as Veronica is to see what she can do with something really good. It was a real shame to lose Veronica Mars.
Even next to this point, the show could be, and was, incredibly funny. The sharpness of the dialogue was very deft with a one-liner or put down, occasionally knocking on the door of Shane Black territory, and delivered from a multitude of sources. Although, to be honest, the best lines are generally split between Veronica and Logan (check out YouTube complication videos for examples). The humour was great, sometimes darkly so, and that made the show endlessly quotable and very enjoyable indeed.
It should be noted that one of the most important aspects of the show’s popularity, and a great reason for its critical success, was the character of Veronica herself. She was a layered character: smart, sarcastic, tough, confident, defiant, misanthropic, vulnerable. She was also, and still is regarded as one of the best and most positive representations of a female character on TV ever. She was probably the only real character within that demographic outside of the Whedon canon to stand as a good female role model in contemporary measure. And Kristen Bell played her beautifully, hitting every point and nuance like it was the role she was born to play. Bell has struggled a little to hit the same heights in her subsequent film and TV work, but to see her as Veronica is to see what she can do with something really good. It was a real shame to lose Veronica Mars.
The cancellation was, in some way, tied to the birth of the new TV network, The CW. Veronica Mars was aired on UPN, which was itself owned by CBS. However, in 2006, UPN was merged with another network, The WB, owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment. When The CW was created, shows from both networks were moved in an attempt to boost the strength of the new network, along with all new original content created for The CW. Veronica Mars made the transition, being that it still pulled in a fair portion of the key demographic (specifically the young 18-34 crowd), however within the new network lineup, it was seen to be not as successful as hoped. In January 2007, it was announced the show was to be put on short hiatus, starting in late February. When the show returned in May, audience numbers had dwindled.
For folks that watched the show (like me), it did hurt to lose it like that, particularly that it seemed to be so poorly treated towards the end. Certainly, the hopes for its return was felt very profoundly by fans, but also clearly by Thomas, Bell et al. However, the upcoming movie will hopefully do much ease the pain of that loss. If we can get one solid last blast from Veronica, we can all be much happier with it.
For folks that watched the show (like me), it did hurt to lose it like that, particularly that it seemed to be so poorly treated towards the end. Certainly, the hopes for its return was felt very profoundly by fans, but also clearly by Thomas, Bell et al. However, the upcoming movie will hopefully do much ease the pain of that loss. If we can get one solid last blast from Veronica, we can all be much happier with it.
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