Originality

Last year I started watching "Harry's Law" and couldn't wait for each new episode. This year, I watched the second episode and could less if I ever watch it again. Why? Because they took away the totally original idea of the first season and turned it into "Boston Legal".

I loved the character of Harry because she was a woman who wanted something more out of life than the same old boring legal practice. She stepped out of her safe life and into something entirely new to her. I loved the shoes, the neighbors walking in off the streets, and I especially loved when she pulled the gun on the street's protection guy. She embraced this new life.

The whole concept of the show was a cast of characters who were totally outside of their safety zone, there was room for them to grow, to experience a life that was totally unexpected. So why the change? Why throw away the complete originality of the first season to replay a tired, dead show with a different cast of characters?

What is wrong with originality? I know there is "nothing new under the sun" but when you can put an original spin on that old theme why shrug it off? Why do we feel the need to make our stories conform to the mold created by those who wrote the stories before us?

I'm working on a short story now with a fifty-something bag lady playing a superhero of sorts. And I keep asking myself is this going to fly? Will readers accept an old lady playing superhero or are they going to say that's impossible? I can hear the whispers in my ear, superheroes have muscles and form fitting costumes and the women are beautiful with big boobs. How is my character going to fit into this genre?

So, I wonder, does stepping away from an original idea have more to do with the writer's fear of actually writing that original piece or the fear that editors and readers won't accept the story because it doesn't fit into their perception of what the story should be?