hitchhickers-guide-to-the-galaxy
How will they ever top these effects?

new 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' series coming to Hulu from LOST co-creator

Douglas Adams‘ beloved Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novels are being turned into a new series for Hulu, reports Deadline. The series will be helmed by Carlton Cuse (Lost, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) and screenwriter Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, Ice Age: Continental Drift). If you’re unfamiliar, it tells the story of a man, Arthur Dent, who get whisked off Earth right before it is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. He’s saved by his best friend, Ford, who turns out to be an alien from somewhere near Betelgeuse. Eventually, Arthur learns of his role in learning the answer to the question of Life, the Universe and Everything. There’s also Marvin the paranoid android, a two headed president of the Galaxy named Zaphod and a rock band, Disaster Area, who are so loud you have to watch them play from a different planet. But it’s the asides — many of which are entries in the titular Guide — where most of the deep mines of humor lie.

This is not the first Hitchhiker’s series. Douglas Adams’ originally began as a 1978 radio play for BBC4, then he adapted it into a novel and, in turn, a BBC television miniseries in 1981 that used some of the same same talent (Simon Jones as Arthur, Peter Jones as the voice of the Guide). While the miniseries lacked much of a budget for special effects, it remains nonetheless a very funny show. Adams went on to write four more books in the series and tragically died in 2001 at age 49. A decent film adaptation, starring Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel and Stephen Fry as the voice of the book, was released in 2005. (There was also a popular 1984 Infocom text game which you can play online and is pretty funny). The film did well with in the special effects department and had its heart in the right place, but there was really too much to fit into one two-hour movie. Theoretically, a new Hitchhiker’s Guide show could be great. Don’t Panic! Watch some clips from the original BBC series below.

Carlton Cuse’s old LOST writing partner, Damon Lindelof, meanwhile, is adapting Alan Moore’s Watchmen for HBO.