The worst fucking thing about this flood of "adult" reboots of kids media is this idea that for something to be adult or dark, it has to be visually dark.
All these shows have the exact same character wardrobes, with bland colors and boring patterns and next to no actual contrast and ABSOLUTELY no pastels. The sets are boring and use flat, dark colors to the point where they're hard to see. Overcast skies and bare trees are the base for outdoor scenes.
That shit's boring and it's easy. It doesn't require work. You don't have to actively try to make your scene dark when your audience can barely fucking see it, when 98% of the tone is set by the bland set and costumes.
The real challenge is incorporating bright colors and interesting set designs and unique costumes into the tone of the show, and using them as a contrast to the darkness. Pushing Daisies was fucking AMAZING at this and that sort of show design could help create an incredible Winx adaption for adults.
But nah, we just get boring grays and blacks and more red plaid and characters that look like they're waiting for the fucking bus after a boring class and quietly hoping it won't rain.
Riverdale, Sabrina, Winx, every other generic edgy tv show: Our sets are DARK and our costumes are BLAND because this is a show for ADULTS. It's HARSH and GRITTY to reflect TRUE DARKNESS.
Pushing Daisies: Our show is about a guy who brings the dead back to life but only temporary and every episode includes extremely horrific scenes of a person's gruesome murder and their corpse. Also our main characters all live in a building shaped like a giant pie and they look like this :)
