Rob Thomas has a habit of creating television shows I love.
As habits go, that seems to be a good one, but for some reason, these shows that he creates that I love never seem to last long enough.
Take “Cupid,” for example. The first incarnation of the show ran for fifteen episodes in 1998, starring Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall, and it was charming and smart and featured a cast that had off-the-charts chemistry with each other.
Then there was “Veronica Mars,” which managed a full 64 episodes over three seasons, starring Kristen Bell, and it was charming and smart and featured a cast that had off-the-charts chemistry with each other.
Just to mix it up, he created “Party Down,” which broke the mold over the course of their 20 episodes starring Adam Scott and Lizzy Kaplan by being charming and smart and featuring a cast that had off-the-charts chemistry with each other.
Wait… I may be noticing a pattern.
When we sat down to talk about “Veronica Mars” and its resurrection as a big-screen feature film, it was a easy conversation to have. When you admire someone's work as much as I admire his, it's pure fun to talk about process and storytelling and characters and, in particular, the opportunity that he's created for himself as a storyteller with Neptune, California.
There's one moment in particular in the interview when he actually says that he doesn't feel like he successfully pulled off the film's version of Neptune, and he points out which moment was added late in the process. I was surprised by how frank he is, but it indicates to me that Thomas is incredibly honest with himself about his own work, and not precious about it.
I hope he gets many more opportunities to play with the television form, because he's got a major skill set that hasn't been fully harnessed by anyone. I look forward to whatever it is he decides to do next.
“Veronica Mars” is in theaters, on iTunes and VOD, and available via Ultraviolet this weekend.