sf/f TV development news - 2013

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Temis the Vorta, Oct 10, 2011.

  1. degra

    degra Fleet Captain Newbie

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    if a sff show adopts a lost type model for its format I pass,,,that convoluted mystery laden show based on history will not work and does nothing for me. How about establishing interesting characters first then throw in two or three limited arcs.

    nowadays all writers are interested in is throwing the audience into a web of multiple mysteries and going out of their way to confuse them with a bunch of convoluted storytelling with bland characters or worse treat them as plot devices starting off with what is a pretty limited premise they drag out. No one has attempted an old school tng or ds9 type show. I.e. Surface invasion threshold persons unknown the event v flash forward bsg revolution zero hour Alcatraz life on mars ouat revenge heroes lost fringe caprica Sarah Connor chronicles etc
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Nice idea in theory -- but on the other hand, a lot of shows lose viewers quickly if they're too episodic to start with, because many viewers today need to feel there's an arc, that the stories are really going somewhere. Threshold, for instance -- its arc started kicking in just 4-5 episodes in, but by then a lot of viewers had already tuned out on the assumption that it would be too much a formulaic case-of-the-week show, and the series was cancelled after about 9 episodes. (In fact, ironically, the arc really kicked into high gear in the very next episode.) Audiences these days just don't seem to have the patience for a show that takes its time to establish the world and characters before the story arcs kick in.
     
  3. degra

    degra Fleet Captain Newbie

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    I'm not necessarily saying they can't start out with an arc. Just don't start out with ten thousand mysteries and dozens of storylines.
     
  4. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    Syfy Picks Up Bryan Fuller's HIGH MOON Pilot


    http://m.bwwtvworld.com/article/Syfy-Picks-Up-Bryan-Fullers-HIGH-MOON-Pilot-20130410
     
  5. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    ^^ Good news. That was one of the more interesting premises.

    That occurred to me, but it seems to kind of defeat the purpose. Why not just have an hour-long anthology with multiple stories? Which would, in fact, be more in the EC vein.
     
  6. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    As to Threshold, this is incorrect. Threshold did not start with high ratings and lose an audience, it started with low ratings that held fairly steady, until the time slot was changed.

    The notion that viewers today need an arc more likely comes from the networks' belief that a serial can keep its audience more easily. The idea is that they keep tuning in to find out what happened. It is true that a striking cliff hanger or provocative event can attract attention. Heroes and Lost stand as striking successes in that regard, even though this determination ended up ruining the series' artistic integrity in the end.

    The real problem is neither cliffhangers/open ended serialization versus episodic/standalone. The real problem is getting people to tune in at al. I believe the record for those series that have a large audience on premiere, which they then lose does not strongly indicate the audience's desire for a story arc. Many series that start with an arc fail (e.g., Terranova) and many series that don't, succeed (e.g., Person of Interest.)
     
  7. Belbo

    Belbo Ensign Newbie

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    An update on Starz's Incursion from Stephen DeKnight (via Maureen Ryan at HuffPo)

    'Incursion,' Starz's Sci-Fi War Drama, Will Have A Female Lead

    Presumably the way has been smoothed a bit by the Sense8 greenlighting at Netflix, given that it (Incursion) was originally in competition with another JMS project Vlad Dracula on Starz's slate. So fingers crossed. :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2013
  8. degra

    degra Fleet Captain Newbie

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    I'm willing to stick with a show with a rocky start if I like the characters. In fact, most of my favorite shows started out weak but the casting and characters made me hold on until they found their footing and the writing got stronger.

    the problem with so much of these mystery epics is that they have poor casting, bland characters and more often than not use characters as nothing more than cogs in the larger plot. It also doesn't help that in their zeal to go overboard with mysteries and plots they don't take the effort to actually develop them into something with some meat on the bones. I miss the days when writers would tackle two or three linear parallel season long standalone arcs that got some room to breathe and have a nice build up and satisfying payoff rather than a string of twists cliffhangers and far too densely plotted stories.
     
  9. xortex

    xortex Commodore Commodore

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    What happened to Scalzi's 'Old Man's War'? Was that going to be a miniseries for NBC or a regular series. Just started watching tv again and ABC's lineup kicks ass.
     
  10. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Old Man's War is being developed as a movie, not as a TV series.
     
  11. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    AMC Developing Sci-Fi Drama From Joseph Kosinski

     
  12. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Interesting -- that's the second generation-ship concept to be announced in the past two weeks, the other being Syfy's Sojourn.
     
  13. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I actually quite liked Oblivion (although Walking Dead is... well, it exists) so I'll be sure to check it out.
     
  14. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

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    TVLine's Michael Ausiello reports that MSN is in talks to revive Heroes as original programming for Xbox. You can read the story here.
     
  15. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Rachel Rising, Terry Moore's horror comic book, is in development as a TV series. You can read about it here.
     
  16. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Johnny Mnemonic the series


     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Is it going to be a TV version of the movie, or of the original prose story?
     
  18. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    It says "revisits." Maybe it's a sequel or pilot.
     
  19. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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  20. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    He was pretty solid in House of Cards, so good news, I guess.

    As much as I love del Toro though I can't think of a single vampire TV series I've liked, so even while Strain seems to eschew romantic vampires, I'm kind of on the fence.