'The Shannara Chronicles,' MTV's Promising Summer Show

There's a hesitancy about calling a non-reality show on MTV good. Even when the show proves to be quiet good, the stigma remains.

This new show will be looked at in the same lens. However, The Shannara Chronicles has the promise to be really good from the get-go.

Fantasy is Hot Right Now
On the heels of shows like "Game of Thrones" and movie franchises like "The Hobbit," the fantasy genre seems to be becoming more popular lately. MTV would be a full not to test the waters with "The Shannara Chronicles." It's the perfect time. The genre is popular but it isn't everywhere, like the superhero genre.

Of course, the station will have to make it stand out from the already existing shows and movies. The books themselves hold the key to that with a science fiction element.

Young Fresh Faces Of The Cast
Author of the books, Terry Brooks, was influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Ring trilogy. What better choice to make then two actors who have worked on the films based off of Tolkien's books. John-Rhys Davies, who played Gimli, is going to play the Elven King. Manu Bennett, played Azog and just recently Slade in Arrow, is playing the Druid Allanon.

The rest of the cast list has some equally impressive actors, like James Remar, who was in Django Unchained and Dexter, and relatively unknown actors, like Marcus Vanco who just debuted in Unbroken late last year. Signed up to write up the script are Smallville creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar.

Brad Turner, director of hit show 24, has apparently directed four episodes of the show so far. All three are producers of the show as well.

"Lord of The Rings" Inspired Story From Terry Brooks
With the Lord of the Rings feel, "The Shannara Chronicles" has already developed a large fanbase. The first book, The Sword of Shannara, was written in 1977. Fans of the book cross over generations and keep the source material relevant.

Brooks keeps it going with small installments every few years. In fact, The Defenders of Shannara is set to be released in 2015. It's the longest running book series in the world.

MTV Turns Old Into New
Lately, it seems like MTV has a thing for taking old time classics and putting a modern twist on them. MTV's "Teen Wolf" is based off the '80s movies of the same name. The show has the highest ratings of any current MTV show.

The horror of the Scream movies has been revamped and is waiting to air soon. It's not a bad thing, in fact MTV has done pretty well with the reworking, so that they're new but still have the same feel of the original.

The only differences is that they're adapting a book and fans can be less willing to divert from the source.