'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' Release Date, Teaser and Updates: Netflix Series Releases First Trailer Promo; Tells Audiences 'Not To Watch'

By Krixia Zhienelle Subingsubing, Thursday, October 06, 2016

The new Netflix's "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" teaser trailer has finally been released. It's not made of the usual stuff of promos: no snippets from episodes, no colorful establishing shots. Instead, in true Lemony Snicket form, the trailer consisted of a drab, abandoned Netflix set, with Patrick Warburton (who plays the titular author), dejectedly telling its audiences "not to watch" the upcoming new series.

It's played ironically, but beautifully, an homage that Lemony Snicket fans would surely appreciate. Based on the 13 bestselling novels by Daniel Handler (pseudonym: Lemony Snicket), "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" recounts the tragic tale of the three Baudelaire orphans: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, whose parents died in a fire. They are then placed under the watch of their conniving guardian, Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"), who will stop at nothing to get the orphans' fortune.

Fans of the series would immediately recognize the distinctively self-deprecating, lugubrious tone from the books that the new Netflix show seems to have adopted as well. In the trailer, Lemony Snicket (Warburton) warned audiences that if they came to see stories where children enjoy pleasantries and colorful destinations, then "that story is streaming elsewhere." Similar sentiments were made in the book series as well in the 2004 film, "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

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What to expect from "Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events"

It's still unclear whether the show will stray from the books. But an overarching theme in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" is the Baudelaire children's constant reshuffling guardians as they attempt to get away from the clutches of Count Olaf. His schemes are all in the way of getting the Baudelaire fortune, which Violet will inherit when she is 18.

At one point, he had even tried to marry Violet in the guise of a play ("The Bad Beginning"). But the Baudelaires, who are smarter than average, always manage to one-up the evil Count Olaf. They've each got their distinct skill that allows them to escape his machinations: Violet is an inventor, Klaus is a wide reader, while Sunny is...a biter.

The first season of "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" will premiere with eight episodes, and is said to focus on the Baudelaires' adventures during the first four books. And Netflix couldn't have picked a better air date: Friday the 13th, January 2017, to emphasize the Baudelaire siblings' constant bad luck as well as to highlight the number of books in the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series.