2010-11 sf/f TV development

[darkwing_duck1]

The World Inside - drama about about a grim vision of the future where overpopulation has run amok, and people live in carefully controlled urban centers where frustration and anger are eliminated, sex is rampant and fertility is the most prized human attribute.

Wait wait wait.

Why would fertility be the most prized attribute in a world where overpopulation has run amok? Surely it'd be frowned on, a little like how China cracked down on its population problem. It's like prizing cocaine addiction during the war on drugs.

Sounds to me like an excuse for HBO to do more soft-core porn, only with a psuedo "sci fi" twist...

Here are my thoughts about the few proposals that stand out to me, good or bad:

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.

"Greatest American Heroine" anyone?

AMC

The Walking Dead - Based on the graphic novel of that name, "The Walking Dead" tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. The story follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home.

Zombies...yawn...

CW

Plymouth Rock - drama about young people on a ship traveling to a distant planet in order to colonize and save the human race.

"Earthstar Voyager" a la "Smallville"?

FOX

Fallen - drama about a group of vigilante "fallen" angels who take down the criminal and the corrupt in New York while falling in love, battling demons and seeking their own personal revenge.

This is somewhat interesting, but it's Fux...I mean Fox, so I expect it to be mercilessly interfered with and cancelled early.

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

Could this be the much talked about "Jonah Hex" project?

HBO

The World Inside - drama about about a grim vision of the future where overpopulation has run amok, and people live in carefully controlled urban centers where frustration and anger are eliminated, sex is rampant and fertility is the most prized human attribute.

See beginning of post...

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.

Formulaic, but could be good if well written and acted...

In general, lots and lots of "hybrid". Sci-fi/police procedural, sci-fi/spy drama, sci-fi/family comdedy, etc...

 

[Christopher]

The Jonah Hex project that I'm aware of is a feature film starring Josh Brolin, which is already in production and slated for a June 2010 release. I'm not aware of any TV project based on the character.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

The World Inside is an adaptation of the Robert Silverberg novel of the same name. You can read about the novel and its plot description here.

Is it any good?

I haven't read it yet.

As for Jonah Hex mentioned above, it was developed as a potential TV series some years back, but ended up being made as a feature film instead.

 

[FreezeC77]

Was Midnighters created while someone was playing Persona 3 on their PS2? It sounds damned similar to the plot of that. At Midnight in Persona 3 the 'Dark Hour' took place, everyone in the town fell asleep and the only ones awake were a handful of high school kids to battle the evil creatures that came out during that time.

 

[Greg Cox]

And Greg? I Googled "vampire mermaids" (exact phrase) and got 2500 hits, many referencing an (amateur?) film called Vampire Mermaids from Mars.

Damnit, they stole my brilliantly original idea! I'll sue them to the highest court in the land . . .

Believe it or not, we once got an angry phone call at Tor from someone claiming that one of our books had stolen her idea.

The book? Our Tor Classic edition of "The Secret Garden," a novel originally published in 1910!

We also got a letter from some guy who claimed to have written "Moby-Dick."

Really.

 

[RobertScorpio]

And Greg? I Googled "vampire mermaids" (exact phrase) and got 2500 hits, many referencing an (amateur?) film called Vampire Mermaids from Mars.

Damnit, they stole my brilliantly original idea! I'll sue them to the highest court in the land . . .

Believe it or not, we once got an angry phone call at Tor from someone claiming that one of our books had stolen her idea.

The book? Our Tor Classic edition of "The Secret Garden," a novel originally published in 1910!

We also got a letter from some guy who claimed to have written "Moby-Dick."

Really.

..well..I DID!

 

[Greg Cox]

We also got a letter from some guy who claimed to have written "Moby-Dick."

Really.

..well..I DID!

Your royalties are in the mail . . . NOT!

 

[RobertScorpio]

..well..I DID!

Your royalties are in the mail . . . NOT!

Damn!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

And Greg? I Googled "vampire mermaids" (exact phrase) and got 2500 hits, many referencing an (amateur?) film called Vampire Mermaids from Mars.

That is frakkin' depressing. Is there any random, insane notion that hasn't already been thought of?

Believe it or not, we once got an angry phone call at Tor from someone claiming that one of our books had stolen her idea.

That only happened once? I'd expect it to be a daily occurence.

 

[RobertScorpio]

And Greg? I Googled "vampire mermaids" (exact phrase) and got 2500 hits, many referencing an (amateur?) film called Vampire Mermaids from Mars.

That is frakkin' depressing. Is there any random, insane notion that hasn't already been thought of?

Barry Manilow singing christmas songs....oh wait a moment...scratch that from the list.

Rob

 

[Greg Cox]

And Greg? I Googled "vampire mermaids" (exact phrase) and got 2500 hits, many referencing an (amateur?) film called Vampire Mermaids from Mars.

That is frakkin' depressing. Is there any random, insane notion that hasn't already been thought of?

Believe it or not, we once got an angry phone call at Tor from someone claiming that one of our books had stolen her idea.

That only happened once? I'd expect it to be a daily occurence.

Oh, it happened more than once. It's just that they didn't often claim to have written a classic from 1910!

Then again, there was also the time I got a phone call from Accounting wanting to know where to send the author royalties for THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

I really should have given them my address . . . .

 

[Christopher]

Damnit, they stole my brilliantly original idea! I'll sue them to the highest court in the land . . .

Let's see... Alma, Colorado is 10,578 feet above sea level. Do they have a courthouse there?

 

[Greg Cox]

"Objection, your honor! The defendent has a nosebleed!"

 

[RJDiogenes]

Clive Barker's Hotel - drama about a series of ghoulish incidents at a haunted hotel.

Well, that's weird enough to be interesting, and it's Clive Barker; could be worth a look.

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.

Heh. The Ghost & Detective Muir. Could work.

The Walking Dead - Based on the graphic novel of that name, "The Walking Dead" tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. The story follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home.

I've wanted to see a Dawn Of The Dead series for 25 years, but I'd prefer to see an anthology of stories of how people all over the world are dealing with the uprising.

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

I love the idea of a Sci Fi Western, but they generally don't do too well; and there's not really a lot of info here.

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.

In the tradition of Shadow and Batman; could be good, depending on the execution.

Midnight, Mass - drama about a sophisticated, sexy, globe-trotting husband-and-wife team who solve mysteries and crimes of the supernatural.

Nick and Nora (or Jonathan and Jennifer) meet The Night Stalker; another concept that could be good depending on the execution. But if they're globe trotters, why is the show named after a town in Massachusetts?

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.

Again, depending on the execution, could be good.

Being Human - Being Human is a re-imagining of the acclaimed BBC original. Three 20-something roommates, a ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf, struggle to keep their dark secrets from the world, while helping each other navigate the complexities of living double lives.

Has possibilities.

None of the rest sound like they have potential, but I suppose anything can be good if done right.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Clive Barker's Hotel - drama about a series of ghoulish incidents at a haunted hotel.

Well, that's weird enough to be interesting, and it's Clive Barker; could be worth a look.

They should do a series about Clive Barker's Hotel, he could have wacky guests like Dean Koontz and Stephen King stop by.

 

[Snaploud]

AMC

The Walking Dead - Based on the graphic novel of that name, "The Walking Dead" tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. The story follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home.

The Walking Dead is actually an on-going comic series (not just a graphic novel). The series is quite decent, so I'm curious to see if AMC can make it work for tv.

HBO

Game of Thrones - drama based on george r.r. martin's bestselling fantasy series "a song of ice and fire".

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.

The World Inside - drama about about a grim vision of the future where overpopulation has run amok, and people live in carefully controlled urban centers where frustration and anger are eliminated, sex is rampant and fertility is the most prized human attribute.

HBO is always worth a look...

Otherwise, I'm not really interested (unless there's good buzz).

 

[Temis the Vorta]

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

I love the idea of a Sci Fi Western, but they generally don't do too well; and there's not really a lot of info here.

It's a mystery to me, too. I interpreted it as some kind of multi-dimensional thing, in which the character can move between the actual Wild West and some sci fi future, but it could be anything, really. Maybe Cowboys and Aliens?

AMC

The Walking Dead - Based on the graphic novel of that name, "The Walking Dead" tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. The story follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home.

The Walking Dead is actually an on-going comic series (not just a graphic novel). The series is quite decent, so I'm curious to see if AMC can make it work for tv.

Thanks - I just made that description up from what I could glean at thefutoncritic because there wasn't a good one-paragraph synopsis. I'm very curious what AMC would do with a zombie story since they seem to go for artsy and oblique material moreso than I'd expect from, say, TNT or (ugh) skiffy. I wouldn't be at all interested in that premise if I thought it was going to be just the usual thing.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

A Game of Thrones is the one I'm rooting for the hardest since I'm a big fan of the books. HBO will reportedly announce in March whether they're picking it up.

 

[RJDiogenes]

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

I love the idea of a Sci Fi Western, but they generally don't do too well; and there's not really a lot of info here.

It's a mystery to me, too. I interpreted it as some kind of multi-dimensional thing, in which the character can move between the actual Wild West and some sci fi future, but it could be anything, really. Maybe Cowboys and Aliens?

That's what I thought, too, since they specified sci fi; but they way people commonly define sci fi, he could just as easily be a ghost or something.

 

[stj]

Going by these snippets, the TNT alien invasion project with Noah Wyle is the best bet for production values and quality. Spielberg is competent, after all.

The Diane Ruggiero project has the best "premise." Dysfunctional siblings forced to live together are good for conflict, and conflict is the essence of comedy.