This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Coen Brothers classic film, “Fargo.” A film that has been reviewed here by The JOE-DOWN, and spawned a classic television series on FX that I have reviewed the heck out. So, there really isn’t much I can add to this from that perspective.
But I can add this little tidbit I found on YouTube: The full 1997 “Fargo” pilot starring Edie Falco (of “Oz,” “Nurse Jackie” and “The Sopranos” fame) as Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand played the character in the film). That’s right, before the FX juggernaut, there was another show based on the Coen’s Midwest masterpiece.
It was never picked up, but seeing how brilliant Noah Hawley’s TV adaptation has been, I don’t think we missed anything great here. This follows Marge investigating a murder of a Brainerd pharmacist. It hits the accents, uses the classic score and is a pretty decent pilot that stays fairly true to the style of the film. Perhaps the world wasn’t ready for a small screen version of “Fargo” in 1997. But hey, Officer Lou is in it, making him the only actor who played the same character in the film and elsewhere.
The JOE-DOWN 