sf/f TV development news - 2013

[RJDiogenes]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

That trend is about thirty years old now. When Networks finally figure something out, that usually means that it's over-- so maybe this is good news.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

The upsurge in horror on broadcast is pretty new, especially at the expense of cop/doctor/lawyer shows. Of course the real trend this year is comedy, but I figure that will end next year when most of them tank.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

That's what I mean. Once the networks notice, it's pretty much over. In other areas, we finally seem to be seeing a backlash against the incessant grimness.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

The networks are doing "dark" in a very networky way - not nearly with the same level of moral ambiguity that we'd see on cable. So I think it'll work out for them okay.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

As long as it heralds the end of the trend, that's fine with me.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

It'll continue on cable for some time to come - there's no signs of abating or any reason why it should.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Behind the scenes story on Defiance.

They keep talking about how the game and show are being developed "together" but I still don't see how the game could be integrated into the show without being counterproductive. Having a character show up in the show and talk about what they did in the game sounds silly. If it's germane to the TV show, they should include that dialogue anyway. If it's not, why waste our time?

I suspect that minor details from the game might be brought into the show, but for the show writers to wait for a battle in the game to take place, and then work that into the show, wouldn't be feasible unless it's between seasons, I guess. Even then, I don't want to see stuff from the game used if it results in inferior storytelling. If they want to use the game for ideas on how to take the story, then that's fine, but the overriding principle should always be, what's good for the story.

The show looks very politics-focused, with Julie Benz' character at the center of a lot of pushing and pulling between competing interests, very B5-ish. Which sounds great, but not at all conducive to being integrated with an action-oriented game.

In the series, there's definitely a focus on it as a sci fi/Western, but they don't seem aware of the irony of having the St Louis Gateway Arch prominently displayed as a symbol. It's a symbol of the gateway to the West, which of course means, it's not actually in the West. Also, it never fails to remind me of one-half of a McDonald's sign, but that's probably just me.

They're using digital sets to portray a very futuristic/alien looking St Louis. I hope the show succeeds because this could be a good stepping stone for doing future shows in an actual alien world.

Here's the clip:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ed7j3_xHxBw[/yt]

 

[Christopher]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Yeah, I'm uneasy about the whole "the game affects the show" thing, because I have zero interest in the game. Crossovers are fine, but part of making a good crossover is making sure that each individual component of it is able to stand on its own without depending on the other, so that audiences who are only interested in one component aren't missing out on anything or confused by anything.

And I'm continually puzzled by the notion of how a computer game can have a canon. Every player puts a different character at the center of the action and they all experience the action in different ways -- go through the missions in different orders, have different outcomes to those missions, etc. Which of those endlessly differing versions is the "real" one where the more conventional tales like TV episodes or novels are concerned? I could understand it if the game were, like, based on the "actual" events that happen in the show's universe -- an interactive simulation that could let people experience approximations of historical events, like the way we have WWII-based shooter games in real life. But the idea of the show responding to events in the game is more puzzling.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Someday (probably when we have holosuites), there will be a story/game hybrid where characters can choose to observe the main story, or wander off and interact with other parts of the environment, which have some slight chance of impacting the events of the main story in a way that won't upset the story.

Some people can ignore the main story (gamers) and others can ignore everything but the main story (audience). People can go back and forth between these two modes as well, and control the pace at which they observe the story so they don't need to worry about missing anything.

But there will always be a main story that cannot be dependent on the actions of people who aren't chiefly focused on making a good story, with an understanding of what a good story is, in the first place. Expecting gamers to collaboratively create a good story when their goal in the game is going to be building their character's abilities, winning, stuff like that, is like expecting a mudfight to spontaneously result in a sculpture that looks like Rodin's Thinker.

My bet is that most of the TV audience will be unaware that the game is occurring at all. Maybe there will be ads to make the audience aware that it exists, but it won't really matter to enjoying the show. To really be integrated, the show and game need to be happening on the same device.

 

[Christopher]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

My bet is that most of the TV audience will be unaware that the game is occurring at all.

I sincerely hope so.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

From what I can tell, the game needs to be purchased (it's not one of those free-to-play games that make $$$ off ads and virtual goods), which would really rile up the audience that they felt they had to buy something in order to enjoy a TV show. We already pay for Syfy through our cable bill, and that's high enough!

 

[JD]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Damn, I was really hoping that the game would be free to play, since that seems to be the direction that most MMOs are going now.
As for those worried about how the game will effect the show, I have a feeling it's mostly just the scripted events that would have an effect on the show. I've been playing DCUOnline off and on since it went F2P on the PS3, and most of the mission on that have one set outcome that you have to accomplish. It's not really the kind of game where you can have different endings to the missions, and I have a feeling Defiance will probably be the same way.

 

[Caliburn24]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I wouldn't put too much stock in the show/game dynamic mattering significantly to each other. It is just an attempt to generate multiple revenue streams.

I think it'll be like the Star Trek books or other media tie-ins, if you like the flagship show, you might like the books, but you by no means need to read the books to get the shows.

And the show will always take precedence over the game. They haven't said it, but it can't work any other way.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

NBC’s Mockingbird Lane pilot has found its Eddie Munster

NBC’s J.J. Abrams-produced drama Revolution has released Andrea Roth (Rescue Me), per Deadline, as her character, the mother of the two leads, is being reconceived.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

They must of seen her on Ringer.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Defiance tie in with MMO videogame

Someday (probably when we have holosuites), there will be a story/game hybrid where characters can choose to observe the main story, or wander off and interact with other parts of the environment,

I really enjoyed the SyFy video you linked Temis. Thanks. It was obviously created for the advertising upfronts this past few weeks in NYC. 6 minutes!

Ars Technica had an article that mentions:

But the integration can go deeper as well.

Not just in plot events but in the actual locations and sandbox universe world of the near future United States.

I think the game and TV series would be better if both were set in the same location such as St. Louis. This would allow the game designers to design a sandbox St. Louis and along with the TV series art director & production designer all be on the same design book and share many physical locations. I'm not talking about the same events but the same locations built in CGI and then rebuilt as physical sets or that CGI model repurposed and used as a virtual set. I can see this working for a 3-D TV series in the future.
I came up with the idea of being able to explore the same locations 3 years ago:

How about the idea of a CGI Trek series and then a PS3/XBOX360 game released in 1080p that used the same locations (and the same CG models) similar to this idea?
As fans we could explore these locations ourselves in realtime being able to walk all around the 'sets' in full high definition quality.
When will Michael Okuda & John Ives & Alan S. Kaye [set designer on STVI:TUC, DS9, Insurrection, Nemesis] start making their CG models available as a PS3 official Star Trek volume 1 'game' that is more of a interactive encyclopedia to explore the Star Trek Universe much more than a MMORPG like Star Trek Online.
I want official Trek TV and feature film designers creating the alien world and alien ship designs that are the CG models used in a game as well as a CG canon series.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

More cast departures from Revolution/The Following:

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsideth...oth-and-other-new-series-casting-changes.html

creator Eric Kripke and exec producer J.J. Abrams have decided to de-emphasize the character played by Anna Lise Phillips, who will now appear in a handful of episodes and then depart.

On "The Following," Jeananne Goossen ("Alcatraz") is out after the show decided to make her FBI agent character older, per Deadline.

Foreign buyers applaud "The Newsroom," impressed by "Arrow," "Elementary," compare "Revolution" to "Lost"

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Exorcist TV series in development as 10-episode miniseries.

If successful, it would be easy to envision this being an annual series of 10-episode "miniseries," either with the same priest(s) as main characters or changing the characters and setting entirely. I'm sure Satan can be counted on to provide plenty of fun & games!

PS, check out the link to YouTube in the story. I won't post it here so as not to freak anyone out by accident...

Sean Durkin, the writer-director of last year’s excellent but criminally underseen Elizabeth Olsen thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, is adapting the fiendish classic into a ten-episode television series, this time backed by Morgan Creek and produced by Roy Lee, the executive producer of films like The Departed and The Ring.

Unlike the iconic 1973 film, Durkin’s version of The Exorcist follows the events leading up to a demonic possession and especially the after-effects of how a family copes with it

...

The Exorcist TV series won't be formally shopped to networks for another two weeks, but executives are already calling seeking meetings to inquire about landing the Durkin update.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Exorcist TV series in development as 10-episode miniseries.

If successful, it would be easy to envision this being an annual series of 10-episode "miniseries,"

It sounds like it is following the model of American Horror Story.
A 10-episode series should = better stories than 13 episodes as the stories have to be tighter without so much bloat.
The subject matter has exorcism-related feature film every few years. Certainly a market on cable TV for a series like this.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Robert Patrick Upgraded to Series Regular on ABC's Fall Thriller Last Resort