sf/f TV development news - 2013

[Temis the Vorta]

With Once Upon a Time the darling of the new broadcast season, the whole fantasy genre is going to be even more prevalent next year. Starting with...

Isabel (NBC) - centers on an otherwise normal angry middle-class family that wrestles with the challenges of everyday life while raising a daughter who has magical qualities.

[CorporalCaptain]

Temis the Bleeding Aorta wrote:

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Starting with...

[Temis the Vorta]

CarbonCopy wrote:

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Well, that's the first one to make the claim that it's part of the trend. Gotta be part of a trend!

Edit: and they're still rolling in...

RIP (NBC) - single-camera comedy about a reluctant angel, a “Kindness Guru” who happens to be an asshole who dies and in order to get to heaven is forced to return to earth and help people with the help of his simple minded brother.‬

Oh what the heck, that could be fun. If Breaking In doesn't make it (and it is being given a second chance), they could cast Christian Slater as the asshole and Michael Rosenbaum as the simpleminded brother.

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Another one reported by Deadline Hollywood:

The CW has bought Danny Hollywood, an hourlong project based on the successful Israeli half-hour series of the same name. Easy A writer Bert V Royal is writing the adaptation and is executive producing with Mark Harmon, Eric & Kim Tannenbaum and Martha Haight for CBS TV Studios. In the time travel fantasy-musical, a young documentary filmmaker travels back in time in order to prevent the death of her ’90s musical idol Danny Hollywood, and finds that the story is even more complicated than she thought. In the original, created and produced by Tmira Yardeni and Ori Gross, the 21st century documentary filmmaker travels back to 1968.

[Temis the Vorta]

"Time travel fantasy-musical"? Okay, I'm making an executive decision and booting that over to the sci fi category.

[Enterprise is Great]

Ghosts, Trans-Humans and KGB Agents on SyFy Development Slate

Ghost Projekt

Based on the Oni Press comic series, the drama revolves around a
female KGB agent and a male American weapons inspector who form an
unlikely partnership when a deadly force is unwittingly unleashed in
Siberia. The CBS Studios project counts Brett Matthews (Supernatural)
as a writer and executive producer, with Andy Bourne and Eric Gitter
on board as EPs.

Seeing Things

The Fox TV Studios project centers on a cop who becomes a ghost after
his violent death. The only person who can help close his last case is
a socially awkward man who realizes that the hallucinations he's had
all his life might not be a figment of his imagination. David Slack
(Person of Interest) will executive produce and pen the script with
Gabrielle Stanton (Haven). Scott Rosenberg and Robert Cort are
attached as EPs as well.

And on the space opera front:

Untitled Robert H. Wolfe Project

The drama from Universal Cable Productions is set in a postwar era in
which a newly formed Unity Democracy orders a volatile mix of humans
and trans-humans to lead the Starship Defender on an expedition in
search of lost worlds requiring law and order. The project hails from
Wolfe (Alphas), who is attached to write and executive produce.

I like this last one best of all. I need some outer space action!

[bullethead]

Wow, RHW is still in the business? Well, I hope his show does really well, although I'd prefer if he put more emphasis on the writing for the episodes instead of making tons of background info like he and his staff did for Andromeda.

[AviTrek]

Enterprise is Great wrote:

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Ghosts, Trans-Humans and KGB Agents on SyFy Development Slate

Ghost Projekt

Seeing Things

And on the space opera front:

Untitled Robert H. Wolfe Project

I like this last one best of all. I need some outer space action!

Wow, at least SyFy is making an attempt at a space opera. I hope they don't have this and Blood and Chrome compete for a single pickup.

[Christopher]

bullethead wrote:

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Wow, RHW is still in the business?

Sure, he never left. Since Andromeda, he's worked as a producer on The 4400, The Dresden Files, The Gates, and most recently (and currently?) Alphas, as well as creating and producing a failed paranormal-romance pilot called Scarlett (which was going to be shot in New Orleans, but Katrina hit on the very day they started filming so they had to move it, and then it didn't get picked up anyway) and writing a draft of Syfy's second attempt at a Riverworld adaptation (though RHW says the aired version is unrecognizably altered from what he wrote).

Well, I hope his show does really well, although I'd prefer if he put more emphasis on the writing for the episodes instead of making tons of background info like he and his staff did for Andromeda.

Why "instead of?" Why can't it be both? They had Allsystems.org up and running months before the show premiered, so it's not like it somehow prevented them from devoting their attention to the scripts. (And I think Allsystems was mostly Zack Stentz & Ashley Miller's work anyway.) There's no question that Robert was very hands-on when it came to Andromeda's writing, considering how quickly the show fell apart when he was fired as its showrunner. The problems with that show when Robert was around were never with its writing, only with the cruddy production values and shoestring budget.

[Temis the Vorta]

AH HAH! I knew if I was patient, a gen-ew-INE space opera would emerge from the morass of ghost cops. Even tho I didn't care for Andromeda, RHW did great work on DS9 and I have high hopes for his new show.

I dunno if we should hold our breaths regarding Blood & Chrome, though...might be DOA?

The problems with that show when Robert was around were never with its writing, only with the cruddy production values and shoestring budget.

And Kevin Sorbo.

[bullethead]

Christopher wrote:

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Sure, he never left. Since Andromeda, he's worked as a producer on The 4400, The Dresden Files, The Gates, and most recently (and currently?) Alphas, as well as creating and producing a failed paranormal-romance pilot called Scarlett (which was going to be shot in New Orleans, but Katrina hit on the very day they started filming so they had to move it, and then it didn't get picked up anyway) and writing a draft of Syfy's second attempt at a Riverworld adaptation (though RHW says the aired version is unrecognizably altered from what he wrote).

I see... most of that stuff was never on my radar beyond its existence and/or anything I saw about didn't mention Wolfe.

Why "instead of?" Why can't it be both? They had Allsystems.org up and running months before the show premiered, so it's not like it somehow prevented them from devoting their attention to the scripts. (And I think Allsystems was mostly Zack Stentz & Ashley Miller's work anyway.) There's no question that Robert was very hands-on when it came to Andromeda's writing, considering how quickly the show fell apart when he was fired as its showrunner. The problems with that show when Robert was around were never with its writing, only with the cruddy production values and shoestring budget.

My issue with stuff like the All-Systems University is that, for the most part, it's never actually integrated into the show itself. It's a peeve I have with a lot of media these days, regardless of where it comes from, because for the most part, these sorts of things tend to be tossed out the window anyway as the production grinds on or they are critical to the story in a way that can compromise the quality of the work for those in the audience who aren't aware that this stuff is out there.

As for Andromeda's writing, I can't really recall it being anything too spectacular, although that might have been more a result of the performances and/or direction.

[Kegg]

Enterprise is Great wrote:

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Untitled Robert H. Wolfe Project

I like this last one best of all. I need some outer space action!

I really like this premise. If there's one thing I'd like to see space opera TV do more (besides, you know, exist and be good) it's tackle transhumanism head on, as has of course been done in literature and elsewhere. Star Trek turned it into something criminal and Battlestar Galactica was more interested with its Cylons, so we don't often get space opera where humanity's medical and cybernetic technology is tinkering around the line of what human means.

Christopher wrote:

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The problems with that show when Robert was around were never with its writing, only with the cruddy production values and shoestring budget.

I'd say there were some problems with the writing. Andromeda had a lot of solid episodes during RHW's tenure ("Angel Dark, Demon Bright" comes to mind), but also a fair smattering of lousy ones and some pretty awkward attempts at humour - thinking mostly of Beka Valentine's quips. It was a pretty uneven first season.

But yeah, Allsystems.org was an impressive bit of pre-show marketing. Andromeda is actually the first series I was excited about before it aired thanks to the internet, and while it never lived up to those expectations I do have a soft spot for the first year.

[Christopher]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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And Kevin Sorbo.

Well, yes and no. If he had producers and directors strong enough to ride herd on him and keep his self-indulgences in check, he could do a really good job as an actor. The problems came when that ceased to be the case, when he was basically given free rein to do what he felt like and his ego pretty much took over the show.

(This is why I have so much respect for Eliza Dushku as a producer on Dollhouse. She could've made it a self-indulgent star vehicle for herself, but instead she was content to step back and let the ensemble flourish, to the point that her character didn't even play the pivotal role in the series finale.)

bullethead wrote:

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My issue with stuff like the All-Systems University is that, for the most part, it's never actually integrated into the show itself. It's a peeve I have with a lot of media these days, regardless of where it comes from, because for the most part, these sorts of things tend to be tossed out the window anyway as the production grinds on or they are critical to the story in a way that can compromise the quality of the work for those in the audience who aren't aware that this stuff is out there.

But again, the problem there isn't with the ASU content itself as with the show. When Robert, Zack, and Ash created all that backstory, I don't think they appreciated just how much their creativity would be hampered by the tiny budget and the production team's lack of experience. They created all these exotic aliens with the intent of using them in the show, but then what the inexperienced makeup artists produced was a cheap-looking mess, so they had to dial back on the aliens. It took them three years to figure out how to do a Vedran, and the end result was so lame that they never did it again. So it wasn't a writing problem, it was a cost/production problem. The show was doomed by the fact that Majel Roddenberry sold it to the skinflint Tribune Entertainment, whose priority was always to minimize costs in the short term no matter how much it damaged a show, rather than a production company that would actually nurture the show creatively.

[RJDiogenes]

Well, the RHW project sounds like it has possibilities. The first two seasons of Andromeda were great, and the show would probably be listed among the classic Space Operas if he had been able to continue till the end. I hope this gets picked up.

[bullethead]

Christopher wrote:

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But again, the problem there isn't with the ASU content itself as with the show. When Robert, Zack, and Ash created all that backstory, I don't think they appreciated just how much their creativity would be hampered by the tiny budget and the production team's lack of experience. They created all these exotic aliens with the intent of using them in the show, but then what the inexperienced makeup artists produced was a cheap-looking mess, so they had to dial back on the aliens. It took them three years to figure out how to do a Vedran, and the end result was so lame that they never did it again. So it wasn't a writing problem, it was a cost/production problem. The show was doomed by the fact that Majel Roddenberry sold it to the skinflint Tribune Entertainment, whose priority was always to minimize costs in the short term no matter how much it damaged a show, rather than a production company that would actually nurture the show creatively.

Hmmm.... does anyone know when exactly all the ASU stuff was hashed out? Because if it was made before Majel sold the rights to Tribune, the level of detail would make sense. If it was after, then that was a total lapse of judgment on their part if they knew anything about how cheap Tribune could be. Actually, in all honesty, it seems like they conceived Andromeda in such a way that it would've probably been better as a video game than a television series. I say that because I don't think they did enough to establish the Commonwealth itself and how things were fairly good before throwing everything into the terrible future where everything was fractured and all around bad for everyone, plus all the harder scifi staples like non-humanoid aliens that aren't really practical on TV budgets even today.

That said, since RHW's new show doesn't seem like it'll be too out there in terms of character design, it shouldn't have too many problems with budget even if it doesn't get as much money as SGU.