Illuminatus! being adapted for teevee

[Faust]

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/12/11/brian-taylor-robert-anton-wilson-robert-shea-the-illuminatus-trilogy-tv-show/

I'm not sure what an adaptation of this would look like, a lot of modern conspiracy could form a fresh way of dealing with the plot but all of RAWs psychedelic philosophy would be very difficult in that medium.
The  again it was already adapted to a musical and I that worked well

[Faust]

For me the the most important thing would be to get the sense of humor right, which is probably the most difficult task

My Prediction for this is that everything subversive is stripped out and we get a standard action drama.

I am interested on what way they will portray Discordianism, we will finally be able to scream about religious persecution, (we can probably do that even if they get it right).

"This show turned my religion into a JOKE"

[Eater of Clowns]

On the one hand, conspiracy theories are more mainstream than ever, are propagated by the President of the United States, and are a weaponized political tool. Illuminatus has never been a favorite of mine (it did, for example, lead me to you spags, for which I've never forgiven it), but I think the silliness it treats conspiracy theories with could take the piss out of some of that.

On the other, the chances of this being done well are pretty low and even if it's an exceptional show we're well beyond the point where TV is going to have an effect.

I think the best part of this is that we're going to be dealing with some real shitnecks finding this board.

[Faust]

Oh god, alt-right conspiracy theory, we will need to prepare a bunch to feed them:

Her emails - We're stored stored on her server because it is also her phylactery and is inscribed with a description of what will happen in the apocalypse.

Comet Pizza  were not only operating a child prostitution ring from their HIDDEN basement, but the children are then disposed of as pizza toppings on the Meat Feast

On September 20th 2019, 50,000 protestors stormed Area 51, most were killed outright by indoctrinated troops, but at least 20,000 were taken in for human experimentation or implantation from the hive mother.

Donald Trump Died Prior on the night of the 2016 win, However the republican party managed to repurposed the same AI that gave birth to Japans Pop Hologram Hatsune Miku, by re-skinning it and changing one or two of the operating variables.

[chaotic neutral observer]

Oh god, alt-right conspiracy theory, we will need to prepare a bunch to feed them:

The lie that "the Earth is round" is part of a Jewish plot to keep the ancient lands of the lizard people off the maps, for fear that the rich deposits of anti-oil below the surface there will be discovered.  This anti-oil could be used to stop climate change, which would thwart the Israeli Deep State's plans for global... er... planar domination.

[Cramulus]

I'm excited.

Yeah, if you were going to set it in the present and not do a 70s-period piece, you'd have to unite Pizzagate and Flat Earth ("In your heart, you know it's flat") and antivaxx, etc etc -- show that there is actually a singular force behind them, and that they are a means of social control.

And if they keep it as a 70s period piece, you can't get sucked too deep into the hippie idealism.

Video is actually a really good medium for the book's Joycean "5th person perspective", which zips from character to character in a chaotic, free-associative way. I could imagine doing scene transitions in mid-conversation so that you get a verbal cut-up between two sentences.

Difficult trick to pull off--but Discordianism needs a shock right now. I was just thinking about how there are no Wilsons out there right now, acting as "front man" for Her. Grant Morrison is the last high-profile "recruiter" I can recall, and that was the 90s.

I've been thinking about re-reading the series -- every so often I pick it up and thumb through it, and there really are some amazing passages in there. The Discordian initiation, for example, was incredible. And all the inner battles with The Robot -- you can probably tell those bits really left a mark on me.

[Faust]

Oh god, alt-right conspiracy theory, we will need to prepare a bunch to feed them:

The lie that "the Earth is round" is part of a Jewish plot to keep the ancient lands of the lizard people off the maps, for fear that the rich deposits of anti-oil below the surface there will be discovered.  This anti-oil could be used to stop climate change, which would thwart the Israeli Deep State's plans for global... er... planar domination.

Oh you believe in Climate Change. I see someone hasn't been clued in on the heat rays from the intergalactic war Space Force is currently engaged in

[Doktor Howl]

Oh god, alt-right conspiracy theory, we will need to prepare a bunch to feed them:

The lie that "the Earth is round" is part of a Jewish plot to keep the ancient lands of the lizard people off the maps, for fear that the rich deposits of anti-oil below the surface there will be discovered.  This anti-oil could be used to stop climate change, which would thwart the Israeli Deep State's plans for global... er... planar domination.

We had nothing to do with that.

[Doktor Howl]

I'm excited.

I would be, if someone actually wrote an ending for it.  He's really as bad as Grant Morrison.

[Faust]

I'm excited.

Yeah, if you were going to set it in the present and not do a 70s-period piece, you'd have to unite Pizzagate and Flat Earth ("In your heart, you know it's flat") and antivaxx, etc etc -- show that there is actually a singular force behind them, and that they are a means of social control.

And if they keep it as a 70s period piece, you can't get sucked too deep into the hippie idealism.

Video is actually a really good medium for the book's Joycean "5th person perspective", which zips from character to character in a chaotic, free-associative way. I could imagine doing scene transitions in mid-conversation so that you get a verbal cut-up between two sentences.

Difficult trick to pull off--but Discordianism needs a shock right now. I was just thinking about how there are no Wilsons out there right now, acting as "front man" for Her. Grant Morrison is the last high-profile "recruiter" I can recall, and that was the 90s.

I've been thinking about re-reading the series -- every so often I pick it up and thumb through it, and there really are some amazing passages in there. The Discordian initiation, for example, was incredible. And all the inner battles with The Robot -- you can probably tell those bits really left a mark on me.

"A verbal cut-up between two sentences" Archer does this frequently, for comedic effect, its not jarring at all. That confusion is one of the factors that drew me to Illuminatus! and I hope it is kept but would need to be portrayed in some other way.

It's interesting you mention Grant Morrison, and yes now with the two (Invisibles and Illuminatus!) side by side I loved both except for the dissatisfying shaggy dog story endings.
The director of this, who also did Crank, the best Jason Stateham film if you exclude In the name of the King: A dungeon siege tale, also directed Grant Morrison's Happy! which is pretty decent too and makes me think he would understand and be able to capture  the themes and concepts that made Illuminatus!

Discordianism hasn't had the same voice that's for sure, and part of that is cultural:
Me 2005: The government are tapping everything you do.
Friend scrolling aimlessly on 4chan: You're crazy a crazy person
Me in a post [Snowden  / Assange / Manning] 2019: The government are tapping everything you do.
Friend scrolling aimlessly on reddit: *Shrug*... Duh...

[Cain]

This will only work if Noah Hawley is the showrunner.

[Pergamos]

Oh god, alt-right conspiracy theory, we will need to prepare a bunch to feed them:

Her emails - We're stored stored on her server because it is also her phylactery and is inscribed with a description of what will happen in the apocalypse.

Comet Pizza  were not only operating a child prostitution ring from their HIDDEN basement, but the children are then disposed of as pizza toppings on the Meat Feast

On September 20th 2019, 50,000 protestors stormed Area 51, most were killed outright by indoctrinated troops, but at least 20,000 were taken in for human experimentation or implantation from the hive mother.

Donald Trump Died Prior on the night of the 2016 win, However the republican party managed to repurposed the same AI that gave birth to Japans Pop Hologram Hatsune Miku, by re-skinning it and changing one or two of the operating variables.

I'm one degree of separation from the guy who did the art at Comet.  I don't know him, but a close friend of mine is a close friend of his.

[metapunk]

I gave my copy of Illuminatus to someone I knew who was super into @lex Jones and I’m not sure he read it but he mentioned, yeah that was out dated cuz they didn’t know the real Illuminati in the 70s or something along those lines. I can hardly imagine this being great if they take it seriously in anyway at all, it’s probably important that the producers see the fnords if you know what I don’t mean.

[metapunk]

Ok so Brian Taylor as show runner could work, he wrote/directed Happy! which was based on a Grant Morrison comic and was quality enough, and definitely reminded me of the invisibles at some point with regards to the antagonists if having a hard boiled cop and imaginary kids cartoon unicorn as the heroes. This quote provides a better insight into it

“ILLUMINATUS! is a kind of mind-blowing literary miracle,” Taylor, who will be the showrunner, said in a statement. "It manages to be completely seminal while as relevant today – if not more so – than the day it was published. Wilson and Shea have created a fractal-like world of conspiracy inside conspiracy that completely anticipates today’s internet-fueled, Post-Truth culture.” from https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/284919/the-illuminatus-trilogy-tv-series

But yeah it’d be hard to do well, I’d prefer if they did a take like the watchmen series and set it after the events of the novels, maybe based upon the unfinished son of Illuminatus that Shea and Wilson said they were working on but I doubt that would really fly in terms of TV $.

[Odibex Grallspice]

Ok so Brian Taylor as show runner could work, he wrote/directed Happy!

I was about to say as much - the second season of Happy! got too gross for me, but the show definitely had it's own distinctive voice which wasn't like anything else on TV really. I think the guy actually paid attention to adapting the IP as a unique entity, and that could play out well. they could do worse at any rate.