TV show producers should give us a new exciting space opera universe!

So, what you’re saying is... A Hawk spin off.

 

There is also Lost in Space right now which I really enjoyed the first season of. But it's still not a brand new idea. There's nothing new on the level of Babylon 5 in terms of world building, or Star Trek for longevity.

 

Killjoys has a lot of worldbuilding. They have done quite a bit without a lot of money.

Besides Doctor Who, what else has Star trek’s TV longevity? Law and Order? That sort of longevity is extremely rare.

 

Haven't watched Killjoys so I can't comment on it.

You're right that few things have similar longevity to Star Trek. I guess what I mean is that very few sci-fi series feel like they have a world with the potential to keep producing stories. Most of the sci-fi universes are built around one specific group of characters and their story and once done there's no reason to tell new stories in that world. I love Babylon 5 but I don't see a need for new B5 stories because everything important was resolved.

I guess the closest would be the Arrowverse. You can just keep adding new superheroes and because it's already established as a multiverse you don't need to worry much about continuity. However despite some space stories it's not a space-opera.

 

It's not bad. The first two seasons are great fun, it's when it began to develop it's "bigger" story that I think it's lost a little of what made it fun. I think next season is it's last.

Which is funny, because they tried, twice, to continue it. I really do wish Crusade had had a chance, I think it would've been great.

B5, which I just finished a rewatch, had a very full universe of possibilities. That felt like a very fleshed out universe. They couldn't tell an "Ultimate Evil" story again, post Shadows, that should've been all over. That's why I liked Crusade, it seemed, at least for awhile, to be about the larger history of the B5 world, with them trying to find the cure.

But to your larger point, most shows PERIOD are built around one specific group of characters. That's the nature of story telling. We're following these people. Certainly, in current TV, we are watching the story arc of a certain set of people. 30 years ago, it was more format based. Hell, Star Trek was episodic and mission based, Kirk could've gotten promoted and replaced, and the show's structure wouldn't change. (How the audience would respond to the new Captain is another question.)

Law and Order is fascinating because it's structure is so solid and focused on the guest characters and crimes of the week, they could replace the main characters pretty regularly. And go ON and ON and ON.

But, I think, most audiences, certainly now, come to shows because of the characters. And when those characters are done, it's hard to recreate the magic. Again, look at B5...

Yeah, but, for me, all of those characters, it sort of makes it bloated and I wonder why are there are ANY problems, couldn't Team Arrow call up a specific hero and say, "Hey, uh, could you take care of this guy?" Zip, zip, zip, the Flash, Kid Flash, XS or Super girl solve the problem.

 

I think their is a chance "Stargate" will come back but I don't know how well the web series went over. Plus I think we are going to be getting two live action "Star Wars" movies. Plus I think it's just a matter of time before "Firefly" gets to return.

Jason

 

From what I've seen I don't think SG: Origins was well received. If it had been I think there would have been an announcement of a second web series by now.

Only if it's a proper continuation and not a remake. Maybe some higher up at Disney is a Firefly fan and will make Fox bring it back. I wonder if Spielberg had given Serenity a bigger role in Ready Player One it would have stirred up more interest in a Firefly revival.

 

I didn't even know it was in "Ready Player One" at all. Was it in the background of one of the action scenes?

Jason

 

It's very briefly in the battle scene. The Gundam drops from it.

 

Ditto.

No, I wrote a space opera!

The problem with mine, of course (aside from it being an original concept and not a remake, reboot, re-imagining, or rehash), is that it is completely idea and character driven, with no spaceship battles or ray-gun fights or planets blowing up. Basically, I wrote it to my own taste with no eye toward commercial viability and therefore it would fail miserably. I'd love it, though.

 

I wrote a very silly space-opera parody for AMAZING STORIES back in the eighties. Does that count?

(Published under the pseudonym "Bryan G. Stephenson" for . . . reasons.)

 

If Ice Pirates can be made... there’s always hope.

 

That would be great. Orville has had trouble balancing the comedy, but a straight-up, Galavant-style comedy would be fantastic.

 

Not to mention Quark. (The sci-fi sitcom, not the Ferengi.)

 

That one I’ve never seen. Well, clips, yes.

 

I had a thought about this, a fact that probably fifty people on this board have a great idea for a space opera universe, but nobody has the professional clout to get it made.

Right now, CGI graphics are really advanced, and they're coming up with more and more programs to create it. It can't be that far off till somebody finds a way to make it user friendly, not high quality as if it were professional, but maybe passable for people's well moderated expectations. Kind of like there is an RPG Maker and a Mario Maker. Scifi Maker.

This would create an awesome esoteric but thriving subculture where creative nerds could translate their thoughts to video and show it to other people. Most of it would be trash, of course, but there'd be hidden gems and some truly unique ideas. In 30 years this might be real.

 

Technically, it's real now. An original Space Opera series could be made for the price of a Trek fan film, many of which are excellent and would sell briskly-- if they could be sold. There's also Kickstarter. People should put their time and effort into original material.

 

I liked Ice Pirates. It's horribly dated now, and the effects, while state of the art at the time, show their age in the worst way, but it was a fun romp. I wanted a sequel; I wanted to know what happened next.

Quark was commissioned from Buck Henry. As he was a big name TV (among other things) writer at the time, it was a given it would be made and shown. Unfortunately, he had only so many ideas of what to do with that cast of characters, so it didn't last long.

 

Some folks have. There were the Starship Polaris people who posted here at Trek BBS awhile back. Found their trailer over a youtube:

 

I forgot about that. I can't believe they actually finished it.

But, yeah, that's exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about.