Fred Pohl's "Gateway" to get a TV show?

http://io9.com/frederik-pohls-dread-coated-gateway-to-get-a-tv-ser-1541426616

Seriously? Cool.

 

Never heard of it. The description sounds like not the most interesting thing ever. I'll watch it though, what with the complete lack of spaceshit on tv.

 

Really depressing book. I'd give it a shot, though. I mostly enjoyed it.

 

Mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, more space-based SF on television would be good. On the other, I've never been a fan of Pohl's writing, and I'm tired of all the dark and gritty shows these days.

 

Gateway was a Hugo & Nebula winner. 'Nuff said.

The subsequent novels, however, did seem to dilute the concept, imo.

I'll watch, but make no guarantees

 

Yea, "Dark, Dark" makes me apprehensive. I'm fine with something along the Tone of Space: Above and Beyond or Babylon 5 or DS9 but, I'd like a Space Opera that wasn't as heavy as NuBSG, go dark when appropriate, certainly, but, don't roll around it non-stop, never giving the audience a break from the hopelessness.

 

I liked Gateway well enough when I read it back in the 70s. Though I'd rather see Fred Saberhagen's Berserker stories.

 

I've never heard of the book, but the premise described in the article sounds interesting. I'll check it out.

 

Interesting. I think I'd rather have an adaptation of The Space Merchants though.

 

Space Merchants would be relevant, too.

 

Never read Gateway. The review makes it sound very much like a Lovercraft inspired work in both content and storytelling method.

 

I recall liking the book quite a bit when I read it. I didn't realize they still made TV shows where people fly around in spaceships though

 

It might be dark but the unknown they send out the heechee ships in might make for some mysterious adventures. Plus I think most scifi fans would consider Pohl one of the top 10 scifi writers of all time..and all we can ask for is better source material on tv.

 

Yeah, but we've had plenty of bad shows based on good source material.

 

Oh, I think the Writers and creative people can be counted on to brighten and jazz up the dark stuff, and gloss over the ships that do not turn back with enough time...I remember liking "Gateway" much better than the subsequent titles...I say! give it a chance and see what happens...

^^^agree with JD above, however, with his point about good source/bad shows...

 

It's Space Opera, of course we'll give it a chance, despite any reservations we may have with some of the words that have been used (We = Me, at least )

 

Whyever would you think that? We live in a time when dark, grim, depressing shows about amoral or downright evil protagonists are the height of fashion and the darlings of the critics. Look at Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones. The creative people probably selected this project because of "the dark stuff."

 

I'd like an adaptation of Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space series (also very dark -- we're all doooomed) but I'll take Gateway instead. I'm interested to see just how much tweaking the show runners actually do. Will they create an active antagonist other than a faceless corporation or state? Will they make Robinette into a she, more heroic, less flawed, or play up his flawed nature? Will they gloss over the negative aspects of rampant capitalism? Will the Heechee and the Foe show up and when?

 

Seeing how many of you haven't read or even heard of the book makes me feel older than usual ... The first is the best, and I think it has real possibility in a TV series format. The books are a classic illustration of the question-is-more-interesting-than-the-answer syndrome [for all you Lost fans], but that shouldn't come up in a series starting from the beginning. They'll never get far enough for that to be a problem.

 

Ah, but have any of you played the computer games?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_(video_game)

Available on abandonia.com and can be run under DOSBox, I believe.