Has there ever been a Sci-Fi spy show?
- Thread starter Yevetha
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Yeah, there have been tons of spy shows with SF elements, especially in the 1960s. The Avengers often featured way-out sci-fi enemies like mad scientists and robots and such. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was pretty similar in its approach (including starting out more serious and getting more humorous and fanciful over time). The Wild Wild West was a proto-steampunk show; in order to do an Old West spy show that fit into the high-tech, gadget-driven spy conventions of the era, it had to include a lot of anachronistic Jules Verne-style tech, and even went further into things like parallel dimensions and time travel (IIRC). And of course The Prisoner was loaded with SF and surrealist elements.
Not to mention the whole subgenre of sci-fi shows about superpowered agents working in intelligence. Jake 2.0 and Chuck have been mentioned, but they're latecomers in a genre including such entries as The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, at least three shows involving invisible secret agents (the most successful being the Sci-Fi Channel's 2000 The Invisible Man), and no doubt others.
Not to mention the whole subgenre of sci-fi shows about superpowered agents working in intelligence. Jake 2.0 and Chuck have been mentioned, but they're latecomers in a genre including such entries as The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, at least three shows involving invisible secret agents (the most successful being the Sci-Fi Channel's 2000 The Invisible Man), and no doubt others.
Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)
Search (1973) with Burgess Meridith, Hugh O'Brian and Doug McClure
(I watched both when they were on....)
Search (1973) with Burgess Meridith, Hugh O'Brian and Doug McClure
(I watched both when they were on....)
Yeah, there have been tons of them, in one form or another.
Although I suspect the OP is referring more to a spy operating in some kind of futuristic, Trek-style world. That might be cool to see someday (and might even make for a good Trek series), but who knows if it'll ever happen.
Although I suspect the OP is referring more to a spy operating in some kind of futuristic, Trek-style world. That might be cool to see someday (and might even make for a good Trek series), but who knows if it'll ever happen.
Deep Space Nine had subplots with Bashir, Garak, the Obsidian Order and Section 31.
I wouldn't turn my nose up at one, but I'd be far more interested in the sf part of the equation than the spy element. For us to understand the spy element at the most basic level (do we root for the spies or not?), we first have to understand the politics of this brand-new world (unless it's actually Star Trek and we're talking Section 31 - even then, most of the audience would require some catching up on things) and that's a lot of explanation right when you're simply trying to get the audience interested and not changing the channel immediately because they're confused and don't understand the rules of the game.
Compare that with adding a cop-show element to the same futuristic world. The default assumption is that the cops represent law & order, and we root for them. That's an element that TOS had, and that RHW's planned space opera series probably will have, just going off the description. It requires a lot less up-front explanation that might be off-putting or confusing in those first crucial weeks, and complications can be worked in later, when the audience is already locked in.
And that's basically the reason why all Sci-Fi spy shows have been set in the present day.
Well, maybe you could get around that problem if you start with very simple stuff. Secret agents from a "good federation" fighting an "evil empire" or something like that. Basically Star Wars... with spies!! If the concept proves to be successful you could try to flesh out the universe later. It's still certainly a challenge to make it work.
I've often thought that Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry stories could've made a good TV series. Flandry was a dashing, womanizing agent of the Imperial Intelligence Corps of the Terran Empire in the 31st century -- kind of James Bond in space, though Flandry was created two years before Bond. I would've liked to see a Flandry series in the '90s with Bruce Campbell in the lead role.
As far as not knowing which side to root for, that could be a plus. A lot of spy fiction takes a deconstructionist approach and questions the morality of its protagonists' actions, or deliberately makes it ambiguous whether the protagonists are fighting for the right side. (And not just spy stories. You could say the same about Blade Runner or Moore's Battlestar Galactica, for instance.)
As far as not knowing which side to root for, that could be a plus. A lot of spy fiction takes a deconstructionist approach and questions the morality of its protagonists' actions, or deliberately makes it ambiguous whether the protagonists are fighting for the right side. (And not just spy stories. You could say the same about Blade Runner or Moore's Battlestar Galactica, for instance.)
If it were on cable, then having an anti-hero could work. Broadcast isn't as friendly to that (and not friendly to sf/f to start with). And even then, shows with anti-heroes do generally give the audience a reason to like them regardless. Walter White is trying to protect his family, Jax Teller cares about his family and his club, Dexter Morgan only kills bad guys, Al Swearengen is hilariously cynical, etc.
BSG didn't need that approach, because the characters were not really anti-heroes at all. The fact that they were victims of genocide and fighting for their lives from the start made them relatable enough. Any questionable shit they got up to could be chalked up to desperation. Ditto for The Walking Dead.
BSG didn't need that approach, because the characters were not really anti-heroes at all. The fact that they were victims of genocide and fighting for their lives from the start made them relatable enough. Any questionable shit they got up to could be chalked up to desperation. Ditto for The Walking Dead.
Dark Horse comics, actually just launched a Star Wars comic book spy series. It's called Agent of the Empire. The thing I find most intriguing is the fact that it's actually done from an Imperial perspective, which they don't seem to do very often.
Maybe take something like Burn Notice and set it a century in the future. You wouldn't need "the guy that everything has to be explained to," because Micheal Westons character does a running voice over during the episodes to keep the audience up to date on what's going on in his world.
Even in a future utopia, you're going to need a good guy spy, and in a dystopia you'll need one even more.
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Even in a future utopia, you're going to need a good guy spy, and in a dystopia you'll need one even more.
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Yeah, "one man against the system" is an evergreen trope. Just plunk the action down in some crazy world and let the main character explain it to us as we go.
There's also Peter Hamilton's "Greg Mandel" books which are set in the near future. And does the Stainless Steel Rat count, or is he more of a crook than a spy?
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Christopher's upcoming book, Only Superhuman, has the heroine going on an undercover spy mission out in the asteriod belt . . . .
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