Could "Inception" work as a TV series? (hypothetical)

[jefferiestubes8]

Let's discuss the Inception world as a TV series. Or could continuing this world only work on a feature film budget?

I think it would work as a Starz or USA Network 13-episode TV series.
I highly doubt it would work as a 22-episode series on SyFy.

Could the stories work without ALL the action we saw in the Nolan feature film?

This is a hypothetical idea thread.

 

[Joe Washington]

I think it could work as a one-season show. But any more than one season would be pushing it. And I think there should be a mixture of action and thought-provoking material.

 

[clint g]

I think it could be a good multi-season show, but only if its treated like dexter or some other premium network shows. Maybe give each season a theme or goal. If each season is planned out carefully it could be great.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

Well, the basic concept behind Inception isn't all that original (Dreamscape and The Cell covered similar territory), so I could easily see a show being pitched next year about people who fight crime or carry out acts of espionage by entering someone else's dreams.

 

[bigdaddy]

Could it be, sure why not? But the movie cost 160 million dollars, and a TV show would get about 5 cents to get made, it just won't be the same, or close to good.

 

[Samurai8472]

A client offers Cobb a job of the week to enter someone's mind and do something.

 

[zakkrusz]

Possibly. It could be pretty cool, but I wouldn't want it to go on for very long because there's a pretty high risk of the novelty of the concept wearing off and the show becoming boring after a while.

 

[crouteru]

I think a tv series would be a great idea. There's certainly many different directions they could go in. Theoretically, anything could happen in a persons mind.

There could be a cold war of sorts with different factions trying to manipulate powerful people in the world through inception.

 

[Pauln6]

It could work easily. It is essentially the Mission Impossible format but set within somebody's dreams.

 

[Lindley]

A client offers Cobb a job of the week to enter someone's mind and do something.

Well, I don't see Leo doing TV.

 

[Worfmonger]

I think the concept would lend itself well to serialized action/drama, especially if it were on HBO or another premium cable service that isn't afraid of adult content. Hell, you could spend an entire season on a single story if you wanted to (and had the writing to keep it going).

Peace

Worfmonger

 

[David cgc]

A client offers Cobb a job of the week to enter someone's mind and do something.

Well, I don't see Leo doing TV.

Recast him with, I don't know, the guy from "Chuck." That's reasonably MacGuyver-ish, right?

 

[JacksonArcher]

I can see it working as a TV show. I think what you would need to do in order for the show to remain fresh is to have the character working toward something during the show. For example, like how Richard Kimble was trying to determine the killer of his wife on The Fugitive.

The film worked because Cobb was essentially a fugitive and he was doing these "mind heists" because he was trying to get home to his kids. I only see a TV show working if the main character was trying to find out something or achieve something and that was the driving point of the show. It doesn't have to mimic Cobb's situation but something similar, or else I do expect the novelty of the concept would indeed wear off after a while.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Actually I wouldn't mind a season long prequel to Inception about the development of the PASIV device (the dream machine). It was mentioned by Arthur in the film that it was first created and used by the military (probably as a physical means to remote view others dreams and find out what enemy countries are plotting). I could see thirteen episodes showing the creation and first use of the PASIV. Other than that I think you'd have a hard time developing a sound concept to execute.

 

[JacksonArcher]

It was mentioned by Arthur in the film that it was first created and used by the military (probably as a physical means to remote view others dreams and find out what enemy countries are plotting).

Arthur said the military developed it so combat simulations felt more real for the soldiers so they would be better prepared for combat in real life situations.

 

[Admiral_Young]

There you go thanks for the correction...so then that renders my idea irreverent then.

 

[Kegg]

I definitely think the basic concept could work on TV.

I can see it working as a TV show. I think what you would need to do in order for the show to remain fresh is to have the character working toward something during the show. For example, like how Richard Kimble was trying to determine the killer of his wife on The Fugitive.

The film worked because Cobb was essentially a fugitive and he was doing these "mind heists" because he was trying to get home to his kids.

Or good old fashioned cold war hijinks. Getting inside the head of the rival spy to see what he knows to help the boys back home. Give our hero a rival who works for the other guys. And maybe some issues about a spy within his ranks. Since it's the future, maybe the cold war of season 1 goes hot in season two and the dream war with our rival agents of mind-stealers becomes a major focal point.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I thought about this after I saw the movie, and I agree that it would get pretty stale as an episodic mission of the week show. It needs to have an ongoing arc, and it would have to be really good to keep a show with Inception's premise going.

A client offers Cobb a job of the week to enter someone's mind and do something.

Well, I don't see Leo doing TV.

He will eventually just like every other movie star.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It could definitely work as one of those ever-popular police procedurals with sci fi window dressing. You'd have futuristic Dream Cops who enter people's minds to solve crimes. You could also have them fight criminals who do the same thing with nefarious purposes. I'm surprised there isn't a show like that already! (As noted above, this is an oooold idea - Dreamscape must be, what, 20 years old?)

The dreams themselves wouldn't be too wild & wooly so you could do it on a TV budget. Inception's dreams weren't nearly as wild as real dreams anyway, so there's no contradiction there.

The real question is whether re-making Inception as a cop show would suck all the fun out of it. Put it on HBO or AMC and maybe it could be psychologically deep and interesting. Put it on Skiffy or USA and it would be formulaic garbage.

Could the stories work without ALL the action we saw in the Nolan feature film?

I found it comical that dreams would follow the obvious tropes of a Hollywood movie - car chase/shoot out/fist fight/explosion/repeat. So if the show had less formulaic action like that, more power to it!

Imagine a dream in which the battle is entirely verbal and psychological, with nary a Humvee or package of C-4 in sight. A TV version of Inception could be better than the movie.

Recast him with, I don't know, the guy from "Chuck."

Yep, Zach Levi's my first choice, too. Either him or Christopher Gorham (who has a show that's doing well, but Chuck probably has one season left in it before it needs to bow out gracefully).

It was mentioned by Arthur in the film that it was first created and used by the military (probably as a physical means to remote view others dreams and find out what enemy countries are plotting).

Remote viewing is a separate concept but a parallel one that could form the basis of yet another sci fi/cop crossover. (And another one I'm surprised doesn't already exist.) It's not impossible that when the whole dream thing starts to wear out its welcome, the show could evolve the technology so that something like remote viewing is also part of the story mix.

One change from the movie I'd insist on: there shouldn't be so much confidence in the literal meaning of what they see in dreams. Just because someone says "I believe XYZ" in a dream in no way means they literally believe that in real life. XYZ probably stands for something completely unrelated to whatever the dream is literally presenting. To be honest about the dream scenario (and more complicated and interesting), the Dream Cops would need to interpret everything they discovered properly. "I believe XYZ" might actually mean the opposite, or they might have to ferret out the true meaning of XYZ.

Since it's the future, maybe the cold war of season 1 goes hot in season two and the dream war with our rival agents of mind-stealers becomes a major focal point.

This starts to remind me of the premise of The Stars My Destination, in which technology so greatly invades the privacy of people that it starts to have serious repercussions on society. Maybe the Dream Cops are dream defenders, keeping interlopers out of their clients' heads? Once it's know how to invade other people's dreams, everyone will be paranoid and afraid even to sleep.

 

[David cgc]

This starts to remind me of the premise of The Stars My Destination, in which technology so greatly invades the privacy of people that it starts to have serious repercussions on society.

That sounds more like "In the Light of Other Days." Normally, I wouldn't be so pedantic, but I just spent a minute looking it up because I couldn't remember the title, and wanted some commemoration of my effort.