sandman

Many of Neil Gaiman's fictional creations have been brought to the small and big screens in recent years and now he's set to join them. He's been immortalized with a guest spot on 'The Simpsons' as ... himself.

As reported by the BBC, the 'Sandman' and 'Stardust' author announced via Twitter that he "went to the Marge Simpson Studios," where he "recorded my part as 'Neil Gaiman', a British author."

Gaiman's character in the episode -- entitled 'The Book Job' -- would "probably be yellow", he continued. "Probably this is all I shall be remembered for," he joked.

Battle stations, comic-book nerds: A possible TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' is in the works.

This is probably a bad idea.

Of course, this adaptation is still in the early stages, and as is the case with most properties being developed for television, it's entirely possible (if not probable) that the project will never get made.

Still, there are quite a few reasons to treat the idea of a TV version of 'Sandman,' which tells the story of the Dream (or Morpheus) and his similarly powerful siblings, with extreme caution. I say that despite reading that 'Supernatural' creator Eric Kripke may take the lead role in the development of the 'Sandman' series.

Those who've read my work in the past will know that I'm a serious 'Supernatural' fan, and whatever ups and downs that show may have had over the past five seasons, Kripke's ability to mine the moral and emotional potential of genre fare has proved to be exceptional.

So it's not that I think Kripke (who isn't officially on board yet) isn't the right guy for the job. It's just that I'm not sure the job can or should be done. After the jump are just five of the reasons why I think a 'Sandman' adaptation is probably a bad idea.