By KINNEY LITTLEFIELD, For The Associated Press Mon Nov 26, 8:44 AM ET
LOS ANGELES - No dancing down the yellow brick road for Zooey Deschanel, star of Sci Fi Channel's new Emerald City adaptation, "Tin Man." And no warbling "Over the Rainbow" a la Judy Garland, either.
"It's postmodern, more like Indiana Jones than a fairy tale," said Deschanel, whose Dorothy — the role immortalized by Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" — is a disaffected, motorcycle-riding waitress called DG.
Based on L. Frank Baum's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," which inspired the 1939 film classic, Sci Fi's six-hour "Tin Man" is not a musical but a brooding, special effects-driven fantasy.
"The book was written in 1900 and its story still lives," said Robert Halmi Sr., one the executive producers.
"It's a coming-of-age story," Deschanel said of the miniseries airing Dec. 2 through Dec. 4.
"Here's DG acting out in a teenage way before she gets swept up by the storm," the actress said of her character's ride to the alternate universe of the O.Z., or Outer Zone, on the tail of a Kansas tornado. "Then she's forced to grow up a little bit and find out how brave she is and how smart she is. On this journey, she becomes an adult."
Along the way DG meets creatures and crises that never crossed Garland's path.
Still, fans of the 1939 film will recognize the classic scarecrow in zipper-headed Glitch (Alan Cumming), the cowardly lion in the wolverine-human psychic, Raw (Raoul Trujillo), and Dorothy's little dog in the shape-shifter, Toto (Blu Mankuma).
There's a wizard of sorts in Richard Dreyfuss' vapor-sniffing Mystic Man.
There's also a yellow brick road, although — in keeping with the O.Z.'s shadowy, retro-futuristic look — it barely glimmers.
And the title character, ex-cop Wyatt Cain (Neal McDonough), called a tin man for his tin badge, is a far more embittered type than Jack Haley's metal man was in the movie musical.
Yes, Halmi said, "Tin Man" is a "bit darker. To make a classic understood by young people today you have to talk an entirely different language."
That language includes a wickedly witchy twist on family ties that "Oz" creator Baum never conjured.
And the evil sorceress Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson) gets far more screen time than her predecessor, Margaret Hamilton's cackling Wicked Witch of the West, did in the Garland film.
"It's a very daunting prospect when you're asked to play one of the most iconic film villainesses in history," Robertson said. "As opposed to playing Azkadellia archetypal and loud, I played her internal and psychological. She's narcissistic. She has every personality disorder that you can figure."
Although "Tin Man" is loaded with computer-generated creatures and settings, "most of the sets in Azkadellia's world were real," Robertson said.
"I didn't do a lot of green screen," she said of acting in front of plain backgrounds that are digitally completed in post-production. "I didn't have to imagine what her world was like."
Robertson also snagged the most glamorous wardrobe in "Tin Man," a clutch of sharply cut gowns with sinuous curves. Her necklines plunge to reveal chest tattoos that morph into flying Mobats, or monkey bats, which do Azkadellia's bidding.
"You can't be in those costumes and speak casually," Robertson said. "Something our director, Nick Willing, told us was that in the massive, epic world of `Tin Man,' you can't be quiet and small. There has to be ferocity or you'll disappear.
"So I deepened my voice a little. My performance was slightly stylized and elevated. Whereas Zooey's character is the opposite. She's the one character in the piece where you think, `Oh, that could be me.'"
It was this normal aura that clinched Deschanel's casting as DG. "I couldn't find anybody else who's so innocent, with eyes so wide open," Halmi said.
Wide-eyed or no, Deschanel didn't want to reprise Garland's pigtailed Dorothy in "Tin Man."
"That was such an incredible performance that there's no need to repeat it," she said. "I wanted to make this role my own."
Uschi said: I won't rape you, I'll just fuck you 'till it hurts and then not stop and you'll cry.
MisterJLA: RACKS so hard, he called Jim Rome "Chris Everett." In Him, all porn is possible. He is far above mentions in so-called "blogs." RACK him, lest ye be lost!
"I can't even brush my teeth without gagging!" - Tommy Tantillo: Wank & Cry, heckpuppy, and general laughingstock
Dear, sweet Harley Kwink...I'm madly in love with you. Marry me! We can go to Canadia. Or Boston or something. It'll be grand...You know the cookies are a given. They are ALWAYS a given. You could dump me tomorrow and you'd still get the cookies. Boston..shit, wherever dyke weddings were legalized. And where better to rub their little piggie noses in how bad they suck than right on their doorstep? What are they gonna do? Be jealous of you? Stare furiously at your tah-tahs? Not willingly give you cookies, but instead begrudgingly give you their cookies? Woman, time to wake up to the powers you wield - Uschi
Been seeing the adverts for this for months now. Looks like it could be interesting.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
I was lost at "post-modern" and "special effects-driven".
I'm going to read the books instead.
"Batman is only meaningful as an answer to a world which in its basics is chaotic and in the hands of the wrong people, where no justice can be found. I think it's very suitable to our perception of the world's condition today... Batman embodies the will to resist evil" -Frank Miller
"Conan, what's the meaning of life?" "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!" -Conan the Barbarian
"Well, yeah." -Jason E. Perkins
"If I had a dime for every time Pariah was right about something I'd owe twenty cents." -Ultimate Jaburg53
"Fair enough. I defer to your expertise." -Prometheus
He was a Ray Liotta wanna be ex cop who was stuck in a tin suit for years while he watched his family get beat over and over again by people dressed as rejects from the last sci-fi crap fest movie.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
I agree with the general consensus on the rumor sites... approve the Caprica prequel and keep the mini-series crap to a minimum. Not even an annual event. And don't be afraid to try original shit like The Lost Room.
Saw the replay. Too much emphasis on trying to be 'grown-up' and 'dark' rather than telling a good story. Munchkins turned into Indian-esque Ewoks. They had a good cast and a few good ideas, but the material just wasn't up to snuff. They should have realized that the original novel was pretty dark to begin with and stuck a lot closer to it.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
Saw the replay. Too much emphasis on trying to be 'grown-up' and 'dark' rather than telling a good story. Munchkins turned into Indian-esque Ewoks. They had a good cast and a few good ideas, but the material just wasn't up to snuff. They should have realized that the original novel was pretty dark to begin with and stuck a lot closer to it.
The Enterprise encounters a "living" ship in the Neutral Zone, and risks breaking the Romulan Federation alliance in order to bring it into contact with a Betazoid emissary.
That was a great episode.
I watched a little of the Sci Fi channel " Tin Man" thing and it sucked.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
![[Linked Image from i6.photobucket.com]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/JoeMama13/RedSoxBanner05.png)
) and a "meh" story. 
They had a good cast and a few good ideas, but the material just wasn't up to snuff. They should have realized that the original novel was pretty dark to begin with and stuck a lot closer to it.