2010-11 sf/f TV development

[D Man]

So whatever happened to SyFy's "Revolution"? I thought I'd read on here somewhere sometime that it'd been cast and they maybe even filmed a pilot? Or did that not happen? I thought the "American Revolution...in SPACE!" idea was great, but I guess it'll never see the light of day, given that I seem to first remember hearing about it something like two years ago.

 

[Harvey]

I believe they filmed the pilot, but didn't pick it up, since there's an IMDB entry for it.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

What happened with the show called "Ice Planet"? It was going to star Michael Ironside. I thought that it was supposed to be airing by now (at least in Canada).

Ice Planet with Michael Ironside sounds like it should be a SyFy Channel movie.

 

[Hermiod]

Ghost World - drama about a male ghost who helps an ambitious femme homicide detective in new york city crack her cases in the hopes of finding clues to his own life and death.

Right, so a Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) rip-off and a load of other derivative, boring ideas.

That "supermom" idea sounds like the sort of thing ITV would have come up with in the 70's, probably starring Mollie Sugden.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Wow they really do sound incredibly generic. I'd probably go with the same shows Temis listed for checking out, but if Being Human is anything like the British version it'll be worth checking out, but it's doubtful.

 

[Kegg]

I suppose the idea is that the worship of fertility is what's caused overpopulation to run amok, as in "The Mark of Gideon."

Still, most prized seems a trifle absurd. Even assuming it became a highly prized attribute, given the context of that contemporary world (it's using 'is' after all, not 'was') the idea fertility is highly prized seems sort of ridiculous.

Well, maybe the series if produced will explain it better - or not.

As for the Star Wars show, I see that devwatch doesn't have Lucasfilm as an option in its "Studios" dropdown menu. Seems like an oversight. Could it have anything to do with the fact that Lucasfilm is (presumably) producing this independently and then shopping it to networks, rather than getting a development deal with a network first? Maybe that's why a site specializing in development news doesn't cover it.

Are we even sure that's actually in production now? Lucasfilm has been teasing release dates and keeping pushing those dates back for something like a half-decade. I'll believe the live-action series is being filmed when I see it leaked images, a trailer, anything.

 

[Greg Cox]

Hmm. Whatever happened to BITCHES, that "Sex and the City with werewolves" show they were developing awhile back? Given the boom in paranormal romance, that would seem like a natural.

 

[Mistral]

I look at the list and shudder, certain that the few concepts listed that are of interest will be badly handled. Scared that some of the stupider ones may actually find air time. Saddened that, with so many amazing pieces of (science) fiction to trawl through this was the best the combined minds of multiple studios could come up with.

 

[Hermiod]

Hmm. Whatever happened to BITCHES, that "Sex and the City with werewolves" show they were developing awhile back? Given the boom in paranormal romance, that would seem like a natural.

The temptation to compare the cast of Sex and the City with a pack of dogs is far too great to ignore.

 

[tharpdevenport]

ABC

Untitled House & Sonnenfeld Project - comedy about a harried mom who finds a suit that turns her into a "supermom" when she puts it on.

Kind of sounds like it might be funny.

Untitled Harris Wilkinson Project - drama about a division of the cia that specializes in "remote viewing," the ability to gather information using paranormal means.

Sounds interesting.

Untitled Scott Rosenbaum Project - drama about a gunslinger caught between worlds that mixes the western and sci-fi genres.

Prediction: no Mal Reynolds.

HBO


Humanitas - medical drama set in a time when major advances in medicine have created dilemmas for doctors and fanned fears that a devastating pandemic is imminent.

Would need the right amount of drama and moral questions, but could it be pulled off? With HBO giving it a shot, maybe.

NBC

The Cape - drama about a former cop framed for a crime he didn't commit who becomes the cape, a masked hero, to clear his name and reunite with his son.

I have no belift in NBC to pull off superhero shows after "Heroes".

Midnighters - drama about the strange happenings in the town of bixby, oklahoma where every night time freezes for one hour, leaving the townsfolk prey to various dark creatures, except for four teen outcasts.

Can you sue over three fourths of a plot being ripped off? If so, the "Dark City" creators may want to look int othis.

Untitled Larry Charles Project - comedy a group of sci-fi fanboys in a small town who shoot their own version of a canceled tv show.

This is either a good idea, or "ultimate FAIL" waiting to happen.

SyFy

Alphas - Alphas follows a team of ordinary citizens who possess extraordinary and unusual mental skills. Using physical feats and mental trickery, this elite force of heroes take the law into their own hands and uncover what the CIA, FBI and Pentagon have not been able or willing to solve. Each possessing their unique and not always visible power, they alone solve the crime, stop the ticking time bomb and catch the enemy.

Now this sounds like a very, very good premise, but I don't know -- what with the Sci-Fi channels show picking of the past -- if it can be pulled off.

TNT

Untitled Alien Invasion Project - Noah Wyle will play the leader of a rag-tag group of soldiers and civilians as they struggle against an occupying alien force. Executive-produced by Stephen Spielberg.

TNT has had a fairly average track record, so I might be willing to give this a shot.

 

[Hermiod]

Can you sue over three fourths of a plot being ripped off? If so, the "Dark City" creators may want to look int othis

One of the other ideas is directly lifted from Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), as I said, so the lawyers will be busy.

 

[Christopher]

Can you sue over three fourths of a plot being ripped off? If so, the "Dark City" creators may want to look int othis.

Dark City is not the first or the only work of fiction to use the premise of time freezing at night and things happening in the "missing" time. Its creators have no claim of ownership to the idea. (There was an episode of one of the Twilight Zone remakes in the '80s, either the CBS version or the syndicated one, that used the idea, and I believe it was an adaptation of a prose story, possibly something by Philip K. Dick.)

And it's not a plot, just a premise. A plot is a series of events and character actions.

 

[tharpdevenport]

We've seen lawsuits over far, far less.

But anyway, I just hope we have some good shows out of all this. I'm tired of bland, and crappy shows.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

They would probably make it about two FBI agents with sexual tension who investigate the same hotel every week.

My favorite of the above premises is the one that stipulates the ghost must be MALE and the cop is FEMALE. Do they expect them to fall in luuuuvvvv? Pervs!

So whatever happened to SyFy's "Revolution"?

Sadly, given the good premise and casting, that one sounds dead.

Whatever happened to BITCHES, that "Sex and the City with werewolves" show they were developing awhile back?

The show is dead but now CW has taken up the title and improved it. Now it's Bitches in Britches - family soap set in the equestrian world of Millbrook, New York.

Dark City is not the first or the only work of fiction to use the premise of time freezing at night and things happening in the "missing" time.

Ditto for all the crime fighting ghost stories, which by now should just be its own sf/f sub-genre. None of these premises are anything anyone can sue over.

(There was an episode of one of the Twilight Zone remakes in the '80s, either the CBS version or the syndicated one, that used the idea, and I believe it was an adaptation of a prose story, possibly something by Philip K. Dick.)

Between The Twilight Zone and Philip K. Dick, every conceivable sf/f concept has been done. And they probably weren't the first.

But anyway, I just hope we have some good shows out of all this. I'm tired of bland, and crappy shows.

My philosophy is to worry less about the premise - which only gives you the barest notion of the show - and more about who's making them/where they'll end up. A "poor" concept on HBO or AMC has a better shot at being decent than a "good" concept on CBS or CW. I may not care much about zombies, but if AMC wants to make a zombie show, I'm willing to check it out.

 

[Hermiod]

They would probably make it about two FBI agents with sexual tension who investigate the same hotel every week.

My favorite of the above premises is the one that stipulates the ghost must be MALE and the cop is FEMALE. Do they expect them to fall in luuuuvvvv? Pervs!

Nah, they just expect that to make those of us who have this thing called a memory to ignore the fact that the whole idea is plagiarism.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I really doubt many people in the anticipated audience has heard of that show you mentioned, much less seen it. They will more likely think of Medium or Ghost Whisperer as the precedents, but why quibble about another crime-oriented ghost show when so many people seem to like them? There's a reason TV shows are the same crap over and over again. Apparently there are some things people just can't get enough of and other things, like actual SPACE OPERA!!! that everyone hates and runs away screaming from.
What we need is a spaceship where the crew is crime-fighting ghosts. And tragic sexy emo vampires. Maybe they could each have their own spaceships and the ghost spaceship can have space battles with the vampire spaceship? I'm really trying to find a workable compromise here.

 

[RobertScorpio]

God in heaven.

That's all painfully and ridiculously generic.

I agree...maybe this will bring back SOAP OPERAS!!!

Rob

 

[Temis the Vorta]

God in heaven.

That's all painfully and ridiculously generic.

I agree...maybe this will bring back SOAP OPERAS!!!

Rob

Why on EARTH would you want that?

Okay, the sexy emo vampire space cadets can have amnesia and evil twins. Then everyone wins.

 

[Hermiod]

I really doubt many people in the anticipated audience has heard of that show you mentioned, much less seen it. They will more likely think of Medium or Ghost Whisperer as the precedents, but why quibble about another crime-oriented ghost show when so many people seem to like them? There's a reason TV shows are the same crap over and over again. Apparently there are some things people just can't get enough of and other things, like actual SPACE OPERA!!! that everyone hates and runs away screaming from.
What we need is a space ship where the crew are crime-fighting ghosts. And sexy vampires. Maybe that would work!?!

Well, while it's entirely possible that Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) wasn't all that popular in the US, given that it was a late 60's British production, it was extremely popular in the UK to the point where it's still shown in one of the many channels buried somewhere in the Sky TV guide. It was also remade in the early 2000's.

Though, if such blatant copying is allowed, maybe I should pitch my idea about a renegade FBI agent who investigates supernatural cases along with his skeptical partner.

 

[Kegg]

Well, while it's entirely possible that Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) wasn't all that popular in the US, given that it was a late 60's British production, it was extremely popular in the UK

Randall and what?

I am very out of touch with the UK and unapologetically so.

Anyway, the premise itself sounds painfully generic. It's entirely possible it's similar to this British show entirely by accident.