sf/f TV development news - 2013

[degra]

if a sff show adopts a lost type model for its format I pass,,,that convoluted mystery laden show based on history will not work and does nothing for me. How about establishing interesting characters first then throw in two or three limited arcs.

nowadays all writers are interested in is throwing the audience into a web of multiple mysteries and going out of their way to confuse them with a bunch of convoluted storytelling with bland characters or worse treat them as plot devices starting off with what is a pretty limited premise they drag out. No one has attempted an old school tng or ds9 type show. I.e. Surface invasion threshold persons unknown the event v flash forward bsg revolution zero hour Alcatraz life on mars ouat revenge heroes lost fringe caprica Sarah Connor chronicles etc

 

[Christopher]

if a sff show adopts a lost type model for its format I pass,,,that convoluted mystery laden show based on history will not work and does nothing for me. How about establishing interesting characters first then throw in two or three limited arcs.

Nice idea in theory -- but on the other hand, a lot of shows lose viewers quickly if they're too episodic to start with, because many viewers today need to feel there's an arc, that the stories are really going somewhere. Threshold, for instance -- its arc started kicking in just 4-5 episodes in, but by then a lot of viewers had already tuned out on the assumption that it would be too much a formulaic case-of-the-week show, and the series was cancelled after about 9 episodes. (In fact, ironically, the arc really kicked into high gear in the very next episode.) Audiences these days just don't seem to have the patience for a show that takes its time to establish the world and characters before the story arcs kick in.

 

[degra]

I'm not necessarily saying they can't start out with an arc. Just don't start out with ten thousand mysteries and dozens of storylines.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

High Moon is an imaginative, out-of-this-world series exploring what happens when the countries of Earth establish colonies to mine the Moon's resources and discover a new form of life. Chaos erupts in a genuinely emotional, humorously thrilling and always unexpected fashion as the people of the Moon race to uncover this life form's powerful secrets.

Syfy Picks Up Bryan Fuller's HIGH MOON Pilot


http://m.bwwtvworld.com/article/Syfy-Picks-Up-Bryan-Fullers-HIGH-MOON-Pilot-20130410

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Good news. That was one of the more interesting premises.

I'm interested in the Crypt-style anthology, but it's nice to see a half-hour show for a change-- but won't they need another half-hour show to pair it with?

They could always just show two episodes back to back like they do with most syndicated sitcoms.

That occurred to me, but it seems to kind of defeat the purpose. Why not just have an hour-long anthology with multiple stories? Which would, in fact, be more in the EC vein.

 

[stj]

if a sff show adopts a lost type model for its format I pass,,,that convoluted mystery laden show based on history will not work and does nothing for me. How about establishing interesting characters first then throw in two or three limited arcs.

Nice idea in theory -- but on the other hand, a lot of shows lose viewers quickly if they're too episodic to start with, because many viewers today need to feel there's an arc, that the stories are really going somewhere. Threshold, for instance -- its arc started kicking in just 4-5 episodes in, but by then a lot of viewers had already tuned out on the assumption that it would be too much a formulaic case-of-the-week show, and the series was cancelled after about 9 episodes. (In fact, ironically, the arc really kicked into high gear in the very next episode.) Audiences these days just don't seem to have the patience for a show that takes its time to establish the world and characters before the story arcs kick in.

As to Threshold, this is incorrect. Threshold did not start with high ratings and lose an audience, it started with low ratings that held fairly steady, until the time slot was changed.

The notion that viewers today need an arc more likely comes from the networks' belief that a serial can keep its audience more easily. The idea is that they keep tuning in to find out what happened. It is true that a striking cliff hanger or provocative event can attract attention. Heroes and Lost stand as striking successes in that regard, even though this determination ended up ruining the series' artistic integrity in the end.

The real problem is neither cliffhangers/open ended serialization versus episodic/standalone. The real problem is getting people to tune in at al. I believe the record for those series that have a large audience on premiere, which they then lose does not strongly indicate the audience's desire for a story arc. Many series that start with an arc fail (e.g., Terranova) and many series that don't, succeed (e.g., Person of Interest.)

 

[Belbo]

An update on Starz's Incursion from Stephen DeKnight (via Maureen Ryan at HuffPo)

'Incursion,' Starz's Sci-Fi War Drama, Will Have A Female Lead

Though DeKnight has been working on the show since last year and scripts have been written, it hasn't been officially greenlit yet. But he said he is "hopeful" and "confident" that the show will get the go-ahead from Starz, and if it goes forward, it could be on the air next year.

Presumably the way has been smoothed a bit by the Sense8 greenlighting at Netflix, given that it (Incursion) was originally in competition with another JMS project Vlad Dracula on Starz's slate. So fingers crossed.

 

[degra]

I'm willing to stick with a show with a rocky start if I like the characters. In fact, most of my favorite shows started out weak but the casting and characters made me hold on until they found their footing and the writing got stronger.

the problem with so much of these mystery epics is that they have poor casting, bland characters and more often than not use characters as nothing more than cogs in the larger plot. It also doesn't help that in their zeal to go overboard with mysteries and plots they don't take the effort to actually develop them into something with some meat on the bones. I miss the days when writers would tackle two or three linear parallel season long standalone arcs that got some room to breathe and have a nice build up and satisfying payoff rather than a string of twists cliffhangers and far too densely plotted stories.

 

[xortex]

What happened to Scalzi's 'Old Man's War'? Was that going to be a miniseries for NBC or a regular series. Just started watching tv again and ABC's lineup kicks ass.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

What happened to Scalzi's 'Old Man's War'? Was that going to be a miniseries for NBC or a regular series.

Old Man's War is being developed as a movie, not as a TV series.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

AMC Developing Sci-Fi Drama From Joseph Kosinski

AMC has put in development Ballistic City, a futuristic drama directed and executive produced by Oblivion helmer Joseph Kosinski and written/executive produced by Travis Beacham, co-writer of another upcoming tentpole sci-fi movie, Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim.

Ballistic City is described as “Blade Runner meets Battlestar Galactica” and tells the story of a former cop thrust into the criminal underworld of a city housed in a generational space ship destined for an unknown world. I hear the project is eyed as a potential companion to AMC’s genre blockbuster The Walking Dead. Kosinski, who previously directed Tron: Legacy, and Beacham, who also co-wrote Clash Of The Titans, executive produce with Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and Michael Sugar.

 

[Christopher]

Interesting -- that's the second generation-ship concept to be announced in the past two weeks, the other being Syfy's Sojourn.

 

[Kegg]

I actually quite liked Oblivion (although Walking Dead is... well, it exists) so I'll be sure to check it out.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

TVLine's Michael Ausiello reports that MSN is in talks to revive Heroes as original programming for Xbox. You can read the story here.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Rachel Rising, Terry Moore's horror comic book, is in development as a TV series. You can read about it here.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Johnny Mnemonic the series

Prodigy Pictures in Canada has formed a joint venture with Seven Arts Entertainment to produce series and miniseries, including a small-screen version of the movie Johnny Mnemonic.

Prodigy (Lost Girl) and indie movie shop Seven Arts are collaborating . Mnemonic revisits the story of a futuristic courier who rents out space in his brain to shady clients, seen previously in the 1995 movie and the short story by William Gibson.

 

[Christopher]

Is it going to be a TV version of the movie, or of the original prose story?

 

[RJDiogenes]

It says "revisits." Maybe it's a sequel or pilot.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Corey Stoll To Topline FX’s ‘The Strain’, From Guillermo Del Toro & Carlton Cuse

 

[Kegg]

He was pretty solid in House of Cards, so good news, I guess.

As much as I love del Toro though I can't think of a single vampire TV series I've liked, so even while Strain seems to eschew romantic vampires, I'm kind of on the fence.