What should Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel series be about? Here are 13 ideas

The Tom Bombadil Show

Tom Bombadil is one of the biggest enigmas in Tolkien’s mythology. Described as neither human nor god, Bombadil nonetheless boasts vast powers. In the books, Elrond and Gandalf even consider giving him the One Ring, but they figure he’ll just lose it. And the best part is that Bombadil only speaks in a rhyming sing-song pattern. He belongs on TV. But What might this good-natured, all-powerful sprite get up to?

Bombadil resides with his wife, the river spirit Goldberry, on a river near the Shire. We’re not really sure what he gets up to when not saving hobbits from man-eating trees, but we’re betting it mostly involves singing and scampering throughout the forest talking to squirrels and stuff. So for his own show, let him do what he does best. The Tom Bombadil Show will be a musical variety hour, featuring merry songs, chats with forest critters, and each episode ending with a sweet duet between Bombadil and his wife.

That would be an unexpected choice for Amazon. Not many people know about Bombadil — he wasn’t in the movies — and those that do aren’t necessarily fans. Still, it would be worlds cheaper to produce that the other shows on this list, and there’s no reward without risk.