Spyder Games
| Spyder Games | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Soap opera |
| Created by |
Valerie Ahern Christian McLaughlin |
| Starring |
Shawn Batten Christina Chambers Megalyn Echikunwoke Tori Falcon Enrique Murciano Jane Wiedlin Mink Stole Craig Robert Young |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 65 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Jason Shubb Darren Wadyko |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | MTV |
| Original release | June 18 – September 20, 2001 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Spyder Games is a television series that was broadcast on MTV from June 18, 2001, through September 20, 2001. MTV's second foray into the soap opera format following the run of the anthology series Undressed, the series was originally called Spyder Web in development.
Originally intended for a 3 pm time slot, Spyder Games ultimately debuted at 7 pm because of its racy content. The final episodes, originally scheduled to air during the week of September 10, 2001, were postponed by a week because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The last episode was written as cliffhanger, but MTV did not pick the series up for a second season. With the decline of the format, as of 2016, Spyder Games is the last new soap opera to debut on a traditional TV network.
In December 1998, MTV Series Development approached novelist and television writer Christian McLaughlin and his writing partner Valerie Ahern about developing a soap opera targeting the network's 12- to 24-year-old demographic. According to McLaughlin, "We wanted to do for soaps what Scream had done for horror films. That movie acknowledged and even spoofed the conventions and staples of slasher films while never forgetting it was one ... We wanted to distill everything people loved about soaps — the impossibly hot young characters and deliciously suspenseful melodrama — and eliminate all the things people hate: the glacial pace, the endless recaps and all that praying and crying." James Stanley and Diane Messina Stanley helped the show's creators by serving as Story Consultants before it debuted.
The show centers on a wealthy video game-producing family and the unexpected murder of the patriarch, Boris Carlisle, who is in control of the company. A widower with four children (Natalia, Dmitri, Ivan and Sasha), Carlisle exhibits an irrational and unconcealed hatred (for apparently misogynistic reasons) for daughter Natalia, the sole Carlisle child interested in the success of the family's video game business, the titular Spyder Games. Carlsle instead places all of his interest and value in Dmitri, the oldest son, while second son Ivan's sensitivity is rewarded with Carlisle's barely concealed contempt. Youngest son Sasha, a teen much younger than his siblings, is superficially indulged.
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