World in the Satin Bag

World in the Satin Bag

Seven Science Fiction Movies That Should Be TV Shows

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There are a lot of fantastic movies out there that have the potential to be more. Terminator, for example, certainly had the possibility of a TV show built into it, and with the moderate success of the Sarah Connor Chronicles, everyone can see why (even if you didn’t like the show to begin with). But what other movies would make great TV shows? The following are my top seven movies that should be turned into TV shows: Galaxy QuestTim Allen is probably an easy pick for the small screen. For one, he’s already been there with Home Improvement, demonstrating that he knows the trade; and two, Galaxy Quest is a perfect fit for his comedic style both on the big screen and on our television sets. Add in the rest of the cast, some of them TV experts and some of them just damn good actors, and you have the potential for a great show. The only thing that has to be decided is this: do you tell a story about the actors going on space adventures, or the story of the fictional characters in the TV show?Problem: Daryl Mitchell is paralyzed due to a car accident; the way around that is to rewrite his character with the same disability.Pitch: America’s answer to Doctor Who. EquilibriumWhile the movie is fairly self-contained, it alludes to a lot of back matter that would make for an interesting television series (preferably on HBO or Showtime, rather than the networks). You could tell one of two stories: the prequel story of how the world turned into this emotion-rejecting, drugged up ninja clan, or the sequel of what happens after Bale’s character gets revenge. Both could work, but I suspect that a prequel would be somewhat pointless, since we know where things end up.Problem: There would have to be some damned fine writers to pull this off. You could say that of most of these, but I think Equilibrium requires the kind of writer who can manage the depth of character needed to make it interesting and powerful. Someone like Ron Moore of Battlestar Galactica, perhaps.Pitch: 1984 meets Brave New World and Philip K. Dick. The OneAs one of my favorite movies of all time, this Jet Li action flick has a built in concept for a television series. All you have to do is cut out all the bits about “the one” and tell a show about the police officers who patrol the multiverse (multiple dimensions). Make it part police procedural, part action and you’ve got the makings of an awesome show.Problem: A TV version of The One can’t be anthology style like The Outer Limits or other shows (i.e. the terrible Dollhouse). It has to really get into the characters and provide more than a repetition of the same basic plot over and over.Pitch: Science Fiction has a love affair with Law & Order. Alien/AliensTwo classics of science fiction, the series has recently been bastardized in the Alien vs. Predator movies and is desperately in need of a proper revival. A TV show produced by one of the cable networks with quality writing, plenty of the dark, scary horror, and the military-style science fiction elements could remind us what was so awesome about the originals. There’s potential for an expansive look into the universe that gave us Ripley and the alien queen, with all kinds of social and political dynamics coming into play.Problem: Whoever tries to pull this off would has to realize that the only way Alien/s can work is with decent writing, good special effects, and realistic portrayals of the aliens. This means no TV-quality CG and a lot of attention paid to detail. While the original Alien was sparse, a TV show has to do more.Pitch: Aliens. That is all. The Fifth ElementCut out all of the heavy religious stuff (which worked well for the movie) and you could have a really interesting world to work with for a TV show. The Fifth Element is one of those weird, strangely lovable films that gives you so much, but can only develop a few of the important points before ending. A TV show, however, could take all of those bits that we only got a glimpse of and make a pretty weird, pretty fun story.Problem: Deciding what kind of story to tell in this particular universe would be a tough choice. Do you ignore the original characters in exchange for a broader, adventurous, slightly odd show, or do you stick with the God person and the cab driver? That’s a tough choice.Pitch: It’s Star Wars meets Red Dwarf and Total Recall. Serenity/FireflyYes, it’s already been a TV show. Yes, it was canceled. But the fact that Whedon’s fans helped spawn the movie Serenity should be reason enough to consider the possibility of a revival of a Firefly series. Just imagine what it would be like to see Reynolds and his crew firing up the sky with Serenity, causing mayhem and havoc wherever they go. There’s still life in the series, and fans would fall head over heels for the opportunity to see it back on their television screens.Problem: It’s already been canceled once. The solution is to host the show on another network, preferably one that has a healthy respect for science fiction. Besides, some of the original characters were killed off in Serenity, and Whedon would have to come up with some damned good reasons to replace them.Pitch: A western in space with your lovable ragtag group of smugglers, gunhands, and government experiments. Starship TroopersYes, I am well aware of the horrible animated show and the various craptastic sequels to the original movie, but if any concept deserves a shot at being blown up Band of Brothers style by HBO or Showtime, it is Starship Troopers. With a decent budget and some good writing, this classic science fiction satire could really take Heinlein’s original novel to new heights. All it needs is a little facelift and some good, honest

World in the Satin Bag

Why I Hate Reprint-Only Anthologies

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There’s something boring about the concept of a reprint only anthology. I know that every year publishers release “best of” collections and the like, but I rarely buy any of them, not because I think the stories in them are bad, but because it has nothing new to offer me except an editor’s opinion about what constitutes “the best” of the year (an opinion I can get just by looking at the table of contents). I like opinions, but the only reason to buy one of these “best of” anthologies, to me, is for the chance to read a lot of fiction that I might not have seen before (maybe because I don’t subscribe to the original publishing venue). Often times, I’ve already seen the stuff. But reprint-only anthologies in the English market are, to me, a good-intentioned cashing in scheme. Yes, authors get paid again for a story they sold for a crappy price before (even if they sold to a big market), and a publisher gets a great chance to sell a lot of copies of a book filled with stories by previously published authors, folks who have some degree of quality to be inherited. But beyond that, there’s no incentive for me as a consumer to buy a reprint-only anthology, and as a writer I find them rather off putting. Why can’t most reprint anthologies have some new and some old work, like a lot of Strahan’s anthologies? That way as a consumer I get something new, and as a writer I get an opportunity be alongside writers I respect? Then again, I guess reprint-only anthologies aren’t meant for people like me. I’m the kind of consumer that generally isn’t targeted by such things precisely because I’ve probably already read most of the stuff being reprinted. But, even so, every time I see a call for submissions and realize it’s only for reprints I get a sick feeling in my stomach. Maybe that’s because I don’t have a previously published story to send them; regardless, I rarely buy reprint anthologies for the two reasons alluded to here: 1) it has nothing new to offer me as a reader; and 2) I can’t submit to them. Does that make me a bad person?

World in the Satin Bag

Accusations Aside: I’m Still a Science Fiction Fan

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In response to some comments made over at SF Signal and elsewhere, I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify that just because I (and others) believe Avatar to be a steaming pile of garbage does not mean that I am not a science fiction fan. Questioning my dedication to the genre based on my dislike for one film is like questioning a Star Wars fan’s love of the franchise simply because he or she didn’t like Episode II (a fact that is true of most Star Wars fans, by the way). On the other side of things, being a fan of science fiction does not mean that one can’t be critical of the players of the genre. Science fiction is not about accepting everything as quality; it’s not some bizarre ultra-socialist experiment to give everything the same value. Get over yourself. There are a heck of a lot of science fiction fans who hate Star Wars or Star Trek; such is part of the dynamics of the SF fan community. So, no, I am not an anti-SF fan based on my daring attempt to call Avatar out for its shoddy storytelling; I am an actual science fiction fan, but with different expectations of the genre. I want science fiction that is capable of giving me something more than flashy CG, recycled plots, wooden characters, and inconsistent universes. Maybe Avatar will prove me wrong and be none of those things, but right now all the reviews are confirming everything I’ve said thus far: it’s a story I’ve already seen twenty-five times before, in film, and it will be so overwhelmed with computer graphics that people who have never been on acid might think they’ve been duped into taking an illegal substance. That’s not the kind of SF I want. Filmmakers need to learn from George Lucas: computer graphics do not make a film, and if you’re going to spend so much money making a movie pretty, you should spend an equal amount in dollars and hours on actors, directors, and writers to make sure that what you have is a good product, not just another flashy action movie. But, again, everyone is going to see Avatar anyway. It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s going to make millions, but in ten years it probably won’t be remembered as anything but a vague footnote. That is all.

World in the Satin Bag

Homesick 2010: Where I’ll Be All Next Year

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2010 is shaping up to be a busy year for me. A few big things have happened, and with the next semester of school coming up I’m sure I’ll be a busy little bee. The sad thing (or cool thing, depending on how you look at it) is that I’ll be away from home for a little under two weeks between the months of February and July. So, what’s going on in 2010? First, I’ll be teaching at the University of Florida, again (I’ll be doing this for the next six years, most likely). January marks my second semester as a teacher, with a few changes to keep things spicy. I’ll be teaching an introductory course to college research papers and, for the second time, a technical writing class for engineers. While neither course is as interesting as an intro to science fiction course would be, I am still getting a lot of valuable experience that will help me get a good job when I graduate with a PhD (or an MA if I somehow get booted out of the academic circuit). Second, I’ll be taking two graduate-level courses. One is on African fiction and the other is a class on Lacan (the latter is a theory-intensive course on psychoanalysis and I am not exactly looking forward to that because I hate Freud). They didn’t have any science fiction courses this time around, or anything that seemed directly related to what I am working towards or studying, so much of my course preferences this semester were based on a “will I find that enjoyable or at least remotely useful” mentality. The African fiction course, however, does look promising and I expect I will learn a lot from it (well, I’ll probably learn a lot from both, to be fair). Lastly, I will be attending three conferences during 2010 to present papers on subjects of interest to anyone who is a fan of science fiction or fantasy. The first is the Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association Conference to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico (don’t ask me why it’s not held in Texas, because I have no idea). I will be presenting a paper on Battlestar Galactica and Philip K. Dick (I’ll be talking about all my upcoming papers in another post) and will be there from February 10th to the 13th. The second is the annual conference of the Popular Culture and American Culture Associations in St. Louis, Missouri. Battlestar Galactica will be a feature yet again, only I’ll be dealing with some different ideas. The PCA/ACA conference is held from March 31st to April 3rd. The last is What Happens Now: 21st Century Writing in English – the first decade, a conference held at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. There will be no Battlestar Galactica in this one (or I don’t expect there to be). Instead, I’ll be talking about the Bizarro and New Weird movements and their influence on the wider world of science fiction and, to a lesser extent (because it’s already weird and bizarre anyway), fantasy. Thankfully, this conference is held towards the tail end of the academic school year (July 8-11), giving me plenty of time to fine tune the essay and do appropriate levels of additional research. And that about sums up the next six months of my life. I have a lot of work to do, since I will have to write three papers for conferences, and likely two more for my graduate courses. That’s five papers, fifteen pages or longer, in six months. I expect there to be much sweating. Any of you up to anything? Attending any conventions or conferences of your own? Let me know in the comments!

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