Will vs. The Future
Once it’s prime time fall season, there are so many shows to watch, and its hard to choose one. Amazon takes it to another level and shares a few pilots to its viewers, and lets them vote to decide what will go on. When Will vs. The Future popped on to my radar I gave it a look and immediately knew it had my vote!
Will (Teo Briones) is a young man who lives with his Mom who is struggling to pay the bills. He’s got what seems to be an otherwise normal life: a quirky best friend, Hailey, (Ashlyn Faith Williams) who knows exactly how to “tweak” the rules, a school principal who really wants to be a “Pal” (Tom Wilson – and REALLY wants Will to win the Science Fair) and a school bully to stay clear of. Then there’s Athena, (Lexi Underwood) the new girl who is actually from the future. We find out that she’s there to “take care of” Will. He thinks that she’s there to save him, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. She’s there to save the future — however she can! What happens in the future, and how does Will play into all if it? Only time travel will tell!
I LIKE THIS SHOW!
I like that it’s diverse and that there are strong girl characters. There’s also a message of finding out who you are. One way that the show was described was “Like Terminator, but for kids.”
I had a chance to ask one of the co-creators of Will vs. The Future, Tim McKeon, about the show. When asked, Why this show? He replied:
I think there is a dearth of good TV for kids and parents to watch together and enjoy. It either appeals to one or the other watching. My son, like most 8 year olds, is obsessed with these worlds like star wars. Honestly, I wanted something for him to geek out about and come up with theories for. Also, something that blends genres and shows him that you can have mythology and jokes and everyone can be grey as opposed to black and white. That’s the awesome thing about fantastical worlds – you can actually explore real world problems. Again, we care so much about the show being funny and action packed but at the center is this very real dilemma of “Who is this kid? Who does he think he is vs. what people tell him he is and is going to be.” We see that in high school shows all the time (Buffy!), but I think it is even more relatable for middle school kids.
I agree with Tim. A lot of shows geared toward the middle school set are either way too juvenile or too mature… This one seems to be just right.
Silly Adults!
I also asked Tim about a pet peeve of mine – kid shows that make make the adults look either like idiots, or completely disrespected by the kids. I asked him if we would see this on Will vs. The Future. He answered:
Honestly, one of the reasons I am thrilled to be at Amazon is that they have shows with real 3 dimensional characters in them. No dumb dad or snarky teens. If anything, we tried to subvert the “goofball adult” character by almost making it seem like that’s what the principal is when we first meet him. But then revealing there is way, way more to his character.
As a geek, and the Mom of geeks, my suggestion is that if you have a kid… Watch this show with them. Vote for it if you like it – I am pretty sure you will!
Take a look and if you love it – Visit Amazon here to let them know they should keep it!