Fanboys Anonymous

In a very surprising and gutsy move, streaming service Netflix has picked up the rights to air upcoming DC-based Gotham for its inaugural season.This is right after the company picked up The Blacklist from NBC for a cool $2 million an episode, and it's looking as though Gotham will go for around the same cost.

Variety is reporting that this deal is happening and that Netflix has "proved its willing to take risks for what it perceives to be top-shelf content." The deal for Blacklist is only for domestic rights, but this new bit about Gotham will be global and thus far more lucrative if the show proves to be a success.

The problem is, I don't see the show being successful. Sorry to pee in the punch bowl, but hear me out.

Gotham is set up as prequel of sorts to the saga of Batman in the city from which he spawns. Well, who cares? Batman isn't Batman yet on the show, he's just some snot-nosed brat, Bruce Wayne. Who will these young super villains fight? Does anyone really care about a Jim Gordon origin story? I don't. Commissioner Gordon only matters when he teams up with Batman to fight the evil crimelords residing in the city of Gotham. To me, this show has a limited shelf life. It seems as though the point is to show us how bad things are getting in the city—how crime-riddled the streets are before Batman shows up to clean house—but what does this accomplish? 

"Oh, things are soooo bad in Gotham, we need Batman!" Sorry, folks, he ain't coming for decades, you'll just have to suffer and watch bad guys do bad things, helpless and ineffectual. Much like Jim Gordon will be. For real, I don't get the appeal of a Batman show without Batman. They plan on introducing early versions of Bats' enemies, but again, who wants to see these characters not fighting with Batman? Part of what makes him so great is the level of power his enemies have. That won't happen here. Instead, we get a young Catwoman who looks like a cat; her head is literally shaped like a cat's. Remember that teacher in The Monster Squad? Like that, but worse.

Will this die a fast death like Birds of Prey, or does it (and Netflix's gamble) have a future? Sound off below.