Brainbin said:
Glen, our august moderator and curator of the Turtledove Awards, has nominated this timeline in the category of New Cold War. Thank you very much for that, Glen! I'm up against some very tough competition, and being nominated at all is an honour and a privilege.
Brainbin said:
what you think might be adapted into a good television series - remember, there's going to be a much greater demand for them, given the success of Star Trek ITTL. Is there any particularly episodic or serialized work of science fiction at this time, that would lend itself well to that format? Is it true of any of the examples that have already been mentioned?
Some of the above suggestions could be adapted to series TV. Better options? Doc Smith's Lensman stories/novels (produced by Irwin Allen or Gerry & Sylvia Anderson...
), Heinlein's
Red Planet (for TOS
alumni?), or
Logan's Run (tho closer to the movie version, with environmental devestation as opposed to the usual helium flash
) could serve.
The Invisible Man seems to be a perennial favorite... Or a high-budget TV version of
Dune...?
(What do Gene L. & David have planned after TOS?
)
It's also possible OTL shows are a bit earlier or more successful, so
"Probe",
"Knight Rider" (staying closer to the theme of the pilot, with untouchable criminals or spies),
"My Own Worst Enemy",
"The Cape" (call
Martin Caidin for scripts), "Cyborg" (a better "$6 Million Man", based on Martin's book), a somewhat better
"Airwolf" or
"Blue Thunder"... (TTL's "Blue Thunder" wouldn't be as paranoid as the movie.) And there's "Galactica", a better "Man from Atlantis",
"Human Target", a variation on Marvel's "The Chameleon" (as a good guy, in the same vein as "Human Target"), or
"Flash Forward", or "Stargate" (a better "Sliders"). Or even, if you'll accept a wider definition of SF, even a variety of "Sea Hunt" or "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (a better
"SeaQuest"), set just into the future....
There's also the usual suspects: vampires, werewolves, & witches.
"Dark Shadows" was already doing vampires in soaps in '66 ('666?
), so a primetime vamp makes sense. And, of course, there's "Bewitched" & "Jeannie". (If you want to spin it, have a look at "Witch Hunt" with Dennis Hopper: magic is real. A really good idea, not to mention a pretty good film.
) Or
"Kolchak". (Bit early for "Buffy"
...unless you feature "Charlie's Angels" with vampires.
) Or adapt
I Am Legend (best known to me from "Omega Man"), or spin
I Am Legend (not the same book...).
It's a trifle early, but you might get
Dr. Alan Nourse (pronounced "nurse", iroincally;
the same one who wrote a column for
GH, IIRC) to do "'St Elsewhere' in space" (an SF "MASH"...?
) based on the idea for
The Bladerunner (1974 OTL). And IDK if it would sell, but I'd be curious about Harlan's original story for "City" being reworked as a mopic.
ChucK Y said:
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Venus and Mars books.
I'd forgotten them... Handled well, they could be good. Or they could end up in the hands of Irwin Allen...
I left off mention Buck Rogers, because I've never seen it done well.
I'm also reminded of the "Tripods" novels (author I can't recalll...) & a juvenile series by Svoboda (Sloboda?) I really liked as a kid. There's also
Ark of Venus, another juvenile I really liked.
Glen said:
UFO: 1999 is likely made ITTL.
Very likely.
Glen said:
It is possible that Glen A. Larson successfully pitches a sci-fi story for development after Star Trek goes off. Could see in the early seventies his 'Adam's Ark' come to the screen, though hopefully he will again be convinced to change the name (as IOTL this eventually morphed into Battlestar Galactica). Note that he apparently consulted Gene Coon for advice - might be interesting, that. Don't know which studio would pick it up, but I think it is a definite possibility.
An interesting idea indeed.
Glen said:
Before we look at books that could be converted, we should first see who was around pitching what at that time that might be green-lighted into production this time/earlier given the greater success of Star Trek and the change in the public mood.
Correct again.
Or shows that only lasted a few episodes OTL.
Brainbin said:
If a certain Galaxy Far, Far Away
That reminds me: Hollywood has a Thing about doing any SF remotely current. The themes tend to be at least 20yr behind where print SF is. If that changes, anything derived from even '50s SF TTL would be a revelation.
Brainbin said:
If there were a proper anthology series in development
Aside "Night Gallery", which has a more horrific bent... (OTL "Outer Limits" went off the air in '65...
) What about a twist? The "Mytery Movie" format with SF stories.
Brainbin said:
Indeed, this practice isn't anything new, nor is it a thing of the past.
I did know that.
It's almost a cliche: the movie that uses nothing but the title from a great book...
Which reminds me of something else. Does the early end to the "V" butterfly
"The Stunt Man"?
IMO, this was one of O'Toole's best roles.
Brainbin said:
Why do I get the feeling you weren't directing that little aside at him?
You're obviously very perceptive?
You're secretly a
scanner?
Brainbin said:
There, there. Sometimes we all hate Hollywood. We love to hate Hollywood. It's an incredibly abusive, co-dependent relationship we have with Tinseltown... and, unfortunately, the vicious circle never ends.
*sigh* It reminds me of how an abuse victim behaves.
I keep hoping they'll change...
DTF955Baseballfan said:
Suppose the actress who played Buffy
It took me a long second to realize you didn't mean
this one.
Brainbin said:
Prosit.