T-shirt #240 - Veronica Mars - Kickstarter - shirt-1

T-shirt #240 - Veronica Mars - Kickstarter - shirt-1

I am excited about the impending Veronica Mars movie. I thank my intrepid step-daughter Piper for spotting the Kickstarter campaign and alerting me immediately to the fund-raising for the film. I jumped right into that band wagon.

For those looking for their next binge watching candidate, choose Veronica Mars. It's less of a commitment than many shows with only 64 episodes. And with the feature film due next year, it is the best time ever to binge watch this fantastic program in time to better understand the movie.

For those not "in the know," Veronica Mars was a television show on the UPN and then subsequently the CW network.

A modernization of the Nancy Drew model, the show featured a smart and sassy main character, Veronica Mars, daughter of the former Neptune county Sheriff, who, after being ousted from office in a recall election, opens his own private investigation firm, where Veronica works part time.

The show only lasted three seasons, but it was a hit with its fans. Given the fervor and intensity of the fan support, it is surprising that the show did not survive for a fourth season.

Creator Rob Thomas experimented with a variety of approaches for story telling in the episodic format. Like most hour-long dramas, the show featured a "case-of-the-week" for Veronica to solve as well as progress on the over-arching mystery, which in the first two years encompassed the entire season, but in the last year, Thomas broke up the larger mystery format and presented two extended mysteries and several stand alone episodes. For those who love episodic fiction, like me, the mixture of weekly mysteries and larger, season-long story lines was an addictive combination. Adding strong characterization and compelling subject matter (such as Veronica's muddled memory of a rape and her search for her mother), the series is arguably one of the best teen dramas of the more recent UPN, WB, and CW set.

Like many shows of its kind, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the main character, in this case Veronica Mars, played BRILLIANTLY by Kristin Bell, begins as a high school student (a junior in this show) and each year grows one year older. The third season of Veronica Mars takes place in the main character's first year of college. The proposed fourth season would have followed Veronica Mars to her first job at the F.B.I.

The show's writing was superb: witty, gritty, pathos-laden, dark, light, and endlessly inventive. The cast of characters surrounding Veronica were fresh and well-rounded. The introduction of new characters when she went to college added rather than detracted from the cast synergy. And the show dealt well with the classic love triangle between Veronica and two hunky males: Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn) and Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), both of whom figured in key ways into the ongoing and weekly stories and mysteries.

Without hyperbole, I would count this in my top ten favorite TV shows of all time. In an objective ranking, it would probably be demoted from being among the top ten best ever shows only due to its short run. I made a partial list of favorite shows in the entry for T-shirt #73, in which I discussed the merits of Battlestar Galactica. Though after my wife's recent experience with Breaking Bad, this list may have to be revised. After all, my list of favorite TV shows is quite obviously restricted by the TV shows I have actually seen.

Season Three cast

Veronica Mars set Kickstarter records when it launched the Kickstarter in March. I ordered TWO incentive T-shirts when I donated, and I have been waiting months for them to arrive. I may try to hold off on featuring the other one in the hopes I can use it when the movie is released.

VERONICA MARS KICKSTARTER PROJECT

The Kickstarter project page features all sorts of news and nifty and videos, such as the initial pitch and updates by Kristin Bell. The video at the top of the page will give you a GREAT idea of why the show is so hilarious and wonderful.

Did you click the link? Oh you mean THIS LINK BELOW???

VERONICA MARS KICKSTARTER PROJECT

Why didn't you click the link. CLICK IT  and watch the first video.

OMG.

Come on, CLICK AND VIEW: VERONICA MARS KICKSTARTER PROJECT.

Seriously.

I think you will understand why I funded this IMMEDIATELY with my hard earned dollars.

(BTW, I created a Kickstarter category, so you can see other Kickstarters I funded and one I wrote about but missed out on funding, though I would have funded it had I known. There's one Kickstarter that I have funded that I have not yet written about so STAY TUNED, Marshmallows.)

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

On March 13, 2013, Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell launched a Kickstarter fundraiser in an attempt to get the film made, with the help of fans to reach the goal of $2 million. The campaign offered various incentives to those who donated more than $10. Thomas and Bell stated that they approached Warner Bros. with the idea and they approved and will be distributing the finished title. Bell, Thomas, Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen, and Jason Dohring appeared in a video promoting the campaign that was shot in February 2012. The goal was met within 10 hours of the start of the campaign. The project broke several Kickstarter records, including being the largest successful film project on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter campaign ended on April 13, with 91,585 donors raising $5,702,153. Production began in June 2013, with a projected early 2014 release. 

On April 5, Thomas had completed the first draft of the script. Several casting announcements were made through April to June, with confirmation of several returning cast members, including Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Chris Lowell (Stosh "Piz" Piznarski), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas), and Tina Majorino (Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie), among several others (Veronica Mars, WIKIPEDIA, 2013).

I joined the Kickstarter in that early surge and added my money to the first wave, the original investment that funded the movie's goal in ten hours and set it on its way to breaking all KICKSTARTER and indie-Internet funding records. OH YEAH.

Also, this Kickstarter factors into my Blog Journey (which I just started writing about yesterday). The good crew of the good ship Veronica Mars launched their lovely Kickstarter the DAY I found out I had cancer. Dear readers of this blog will know that this diagnosis prompted me to start the blog eleven days later on March 22, 2013, beginning my T-shirt odyssey. If I remember correctly, Piper texted me the morning of my follow appointment, and shared a link on Facebook, and I banked my money into the Kickstarter immediately. Later that day, a very nice doctor told me as nicely as possible that I had prostate cancer. Good news and bad news in the same day. Really?

I guess that's how it happens. Good news, bad news. Then the bad news turns into good news? Sometimes.



Two hundred and fifty-one days later, I am on day #240 of my daily blog. Is that insane or what?

Did you click the link above? Want convenience? The video on the Kickstarter is the original viral video, but here's the San Diego Comic Con sneak peek with trailer. Oh yeah.

Veronica Mars Official Comic-Con Sneak Peek (2014) 

And I have another Veronica Mars T-shirt left to feature. Woot! Woot!

"Bring it now, Sugar. Bring it on, bring it on, yeah. Just remember me when"
- Dandy Warhols, Veronica Mars theme song "We Used to Be Friends"

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR: 125 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1311.16 - 18:15