sf/f TV development news - 2013

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Borg aren't zombies, because the sexy moments are when the tubules go in. Direct visual analogue to biting.

You have a lot of great theories but I'm not sure I'm biting (no pun) on this one.

That particular theory has occurred to me, too - unpack vampires all the way, and you end up with transgressive sex, and the same is true of the Borg. That's why the picky little details like sensitivity to sun or even drinking blood don't matter. People like vampires for the sexual component and that tends to overwhelm all other attributes.

To the extent that faux-vampires like the Borg and the Wraith work, they tap into the sexual aspect of vampires. So you could change the details around a lot, and still have something that is vampiric at its core. and more importantly, will draw an audience.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

So the Borg in Abrams Trek will be young, good-looking models and give off lens flares?

 

[stj]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Alice Krige, Jeri Ryan and Susanna Thompson. They're the Borg for a reason.

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

The interesting question is: how far can you diverge from what people think of as the "lore" before it stops becoming a "vampire"?

Back when I writing the Underworld books, I used to run into confused fans who didn't grasp that the UW vamps didn't necessarily play by the same rules as, say, Buffy vamps or Anne Rice vamps or whatever. ("But vampires can't get pregnant! Everybody knows that!")

I do think, however, that if you're going to deviate from some standard bit of lore, you need to address that clearly and right away, just to avoid confusion.

"Contrary to popular legend, Selene could still see her reflection in the glass," etc.

 

[Vendikarr]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

The interesting question is: how far can you diverge from what people think of as the "lore" before it stops becoming a "vampire"?

Back when I writing the Underworld books, I used to run into confused fans who didn't grasp that the UW vamps didn't necessarily play by the same rules as, say, Buffy vamps or Anne Rice vamps or whatever. ("But vampires can't get pregnant! Everybody knows that!")

I do think, however, that if you're going to deviate from some standard bit of lore, you need to address that clearly and right away, just to avoid confusion.

"Contrary to popular legend, Selene could still see her reflection in the glass," etc.

I could see vampires promoting misinformation in lore and fiction, just to throw victims off guard.

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I could see vampires promoting misinformation in lore and fiction, just to throw victims off guard.

I can think of at least one novel in which the whole sunlight thing turns out to be a myth perpetuated by vampires for their own protection!

"Surprise, foolish mortals! Sunlight has no effect on us at all!"

Stuff also tends to slide in and out of the lore. To my knowledge, Stoker invented the turning-into-bats business, which was a staple of a vampire movies for generations, but that seems to have largely fallen out of vogue these days . . . .

 

[sojourner]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

^Along with the turning into wolves and fog.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Premiere dates for sci fi & fantasy series.

Avoid The Neighbors at all costs.

 

[Christopher]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Then there's the Dresden Files universe, in which there are several "courts" of vampires with different attributes, and Stoker's Dracula was an accurate description of one of those courts, whose numbers have dwindled sharply in the decades since Stoker "outed" their weaknesses. (The problem being that, IIRC, those vampires are vulnerable to sunlight, which wasn't actually from Stoker's book.)

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

We all have our own distinctly particular sexual signatures that's probably as unique as a blood type.

Personally I think I make love more like a zombie than a vampire, but I'm sure if we could be honest that we all know which monster from the hammer vault that we fuck like most.

Oh gods.

The surging popularity of mummy porn frightens me.

 

[stj]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

As they say, times change. Dracula had a much more powerful subtext for the Renfield character, for instance. If you really wanted to try to adapt Dracula for a modern audience, you might have Renfield suffering from AIDS dementia. Syphilitic paresia was the original subtext.

In Victorian times, Dracula attacking Mina Harker in the Harker bedroom was enough, but a modern version should probably show Dracula naked (the clothes don't come through the door when he does the misty thing?) And so on and so forth.

Harker's decision to join Mina as a vampire was equivalent to forgiving an unfaithful wife who contracted syphilis. (I gather this is a kind of wishful projection on Bram Stoker's part?) The incredibly inept Coppola version of course made sure to make Harker unfaithful first, for some reason. Assuming they bothered with reasons, that is.

The thing is, the kinds of transgressiveness that propelled the horror in the 1890s simply are not going to resonate the same way now. Nonetheless vampires are about kinky sex. Hence the barely concealed admiration.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

A bit more info on AMC's Area 51.

Produced by Gale Ann Hurd, basically an insiders version of The X-Files or Dark Skies set in the 1950-60s. Sounds good so far...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

^ Yay (so far)!

 

[Taylirious]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/abc-marvel-avengers-themed-tv-series/

A TV Series Set In Marvel’s Avengers World?

...the project is in a nascent stage, described as “a kernel of an idea,”

http://www.ksitetv.com/general-tv-news/a-tv-series-set-in-marvels-avengers-world/15414

The article mentions that it “may not include characters from the Joss Whedon blockbuster” but that it would be set in the same world. One of the ideas suggested is a “high-concept cop show.” (Power Man and Iron Fist?)

Why not?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I vote for a TV show based on Doctor Strange or the Sub-Mariner! Blow that budget thru the roof!

Or, how about giving us more of Captain America in WWII? Part superhero series, part period drama set in the 40s, part war story.

 

[DWF]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I vote for a TV show based on Doctor Strange or the Sub-Mariner! Blow that budget thru the roof!

Why would it blow the budget though the roof? CBS did a relatively cheap Dr. Strange pilot in the late '70s and Man From Atlantis was pretty close to Namor. With tody's visual effects they can do alot more for less money than they did in the '70s. Smallville was able to do things with Clark's powers that we still have to yet on the big screen.

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I still think "Deadman" is ideal for TV. It's "Ghost" meets "The Fugitive" meets "Quantum Leap."

Each week Boston Brand jumps into somebody else's body (and life) while trying to track down his own killer . . . .

(You'd probably want to ditch the bright red circus costume, though.)

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

CW Eyes 'Hunger Games'-Esque Japanese Feature 'Battle Royale'

The youth-focused network is exploring rights to the 2000 Japanese feature film Battle Royale, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The controversial movie, which like Hunger Games, is set in a dystopian future in which high school students are forced to fight one another to the death and are based on Koushun Takumi's novel of the same name.

 

[Taylirious]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

CW Eyes 'Hunger Games'-Esque Japanese Feature 'Battle Royale'

The youth-focused network is exploring rights to the 2000 Japanese feature film Battle Royale, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The controversial movie, which like Hunger Games, is set in a dystopian future in which high school students are forced to fight one another to the death and are based on Koushun Takumi's novel of the same name.

Weren't they trying to do this with 'The Selection'?

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/cw-hopes-selection-can-ride-hunger-games-success-36932?page=0,1

 

[Goji]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

As a fan of the original movie and novel, seeing it described in that way feels a bit like if you said "Jaws" is "Deep Blue Sea-esque". Not that the CW could handle the subject matter even if it was ridiculously toned down.