What would you like to see from a new show?

[madlilnerd]

I have the chance to produce a show to be aired on Sky one, I've got a lot of ideas and the characters etc. It's designed to be interesting to the next generation of nerds and the majority of the characters are under the age of 25. I was wondering, what would you lot like to see from a new show? I need to steal your original ideas!!!

[lionhead]

You get too produce your own show? Amazing! I'm so jealous.

What kind of show do you plan on doing? Sci-Fi?

[madlilnerd]

Well, I thought that was kinda obvious, seeing as this is a sci fi board I just need to know what you lot want from a new show- robots? teenage preganacy in the future? death on a large scale? war? love?

[lionhead]

WAR, DEATH on a large scale! Big war with multiple worlds involved. Really good thought out Futuristic battles on Planets and in space, the Star Wars kind. Huge armies with powerfull weapons and all destruction. entire solar systems being take over, planets turned from lush, green worlds too burning, volcano filled wastelands. 1 All evil race taking control of everything, like too kill and see beauty turned too ugly. Humans get contacted by another species perhaps or the tides turn in the war against the evil species when the Humans find or get found by another species who have interesting ideas and even more interesting technology.

Something like that.

[nadia]

War and a little bit of Love. Thats allways good on a si-fi

[madlilnerd]

Well, at the mo, there's this evil race called the Alarithians, who board these teenagers ship and kill everyone on board (so their family etc.) but don't kill them because they were "dead" in the cargo bay, but in fact they were on this drug that makes you look dead.
The message is- don't do drugs or killer aliens will board your ship and kill all your family!
I thought it needed subtle moral values.

So the teenagers get thrown head first into responsibilty and they mess around for a few days doing all the stuff they couldn't do when their parents were alive, and then they realise that they're all alone, and because they're a freelance ship no one wants to help them, so they start stealing and scrounging etc.

Oh, and there's gonna be space pirates and bikers in it. Miner slave bikers who are really cool and have names like Maggot and ride cool future motorbikes and stuff...

[nadia]

^^^where's the looooove??

[madlilnerd]

Theres lots of love. Their teenagers, raging hurricanes of hormones all alone without adult supervison. When they should be bypassing the primary link to the polarisation relay, they're making out!
Oooh, and two of them are secretly in love, the girls thinks that he wont' go out with her, and the boy thinks she's too good for him

[nadia]

OOhhhhhhhhhh.

[madlilnerd]

weird

[lionhead]

[Hitchhiker]

Space bikers seem . . . camp.

I don't know about others, but I like profundity wrapped inside levity. Take a look at the new Battlestar Galactica: best SF drama ever. It has tension, and it has space battles. The characters are realistic. I could use a bit more of the space theme, but I understand that that is not the BSG theme and so if they did that, it wouldn't be BSG.

In many ways, this makes BSG similar to Frank Herbert's Dune. Dune is unique in the SF world because of its scope: I have never seen a universe created so carefully, so immense in dimension and depth as Herbert's, with the possible exception of Asimov's Foundation series. Dune's characters were incredibly real and life-like: they plotted, formed allegiances, betrayed people, killed people, and learned things. The overall plot and theme concerns human destiny, always a laudable SF subject.

Moving on, Stargate SG-1. It's great because the characters produce humour, but they are also believable. You get to know the ensemble cast because of the way they interact. SG-1 is not just a crew of a starship, they are here, on Earth, in present day, and that is valuable.

And you cannot forget wormholes. Er . . . I mean, Farscape is an excellent show because of the fact that it makes no sense whatsoever, yet at the same time it carries a powerful message (in fact, it is probably very similar to THHGTTG). Every episode is insanely zany, but the very end of the series is exciting and preserves the integrity of the show.

Lastly we come to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the best ever science fiction out there. Critics say that it has no sense of continuity, and Americans don't get the British humour, but regardless of these problems, the series itself is a witty satire of the human condition.

So you need to make a show that does, yes, target your demographic. I like the idea of adolescents being alone now in perhahps "rogue" territory, that's a good start. But I would hype up your external enemies to a greater degree, and maybe even throw a traitor into the bunch. Otherwise it will start to sound like Starhunter, and that is not a good thing.

[madlilnerd]

The reason the charcters are young is because then they have to go through more of a learning process- they have to learn that not everyone out there is going to be nice to them and that their actions could have drastic concequences.

As for bikers, they're only in one episode- death bike races is the way their enslaved tribe chooses a new leader. And they had to be tough cos they're miners and my friend said that bikers was a good idea.

The characters are believable, they make mistakes and enemies, they start fights, they bitch about each other behind their backs, they cry, they have some very low moments, self harm even, but they also learn that you can be responisble and enjoy yourself at the same time, and that every action, no matter how small, has a reaction.

They have false hopes and real dreams- some of them still believe that there's a chance that their parents are alive on a shuttle somewhere. They have to find out who they are, and what they're going to do with the rest of their lives. They have to learn their living. and some of the jobs they end up doing are not particly pleasant to say the least.

Most of all, they have to teach themselves and each other how to survive in this tough, rough universe we call home.

[madlilnerd]

anything else?

[lionhead]

[madlilnerd]

They're teenagers, dramatic is their middle name! It's not all doom and gloom though, bits of it will be funny, like this girl starts choking and the pudding flies out of her mouth and hits this huge scary guy sitting at the next table and she blames a rude waiter she doesn't like and runs off...
There's war in it too, they end up getting dragged into a war and it haunts them for a long time afterwards.

Believe me, it WILL NEVER end up like doctor phil or Oprah, there will be no "I slept with my stepmum who turned out to be my cousin..." or anything of the sort.

I need to think up more funny scenarios... but I'm not all that good at writing comedy. I'm rather sarcastic.

[Hitchhiker]

[Lord Borg]

Somthing after a disasterous war? i dunno lol

[Leo Wyatt]

Something with action and laughter , definetly with lots of laughter or it would plan out boring

[madlilnerd]

So what, Stargate/Buffy/voyager funny with realistic plot lines and belivable characters? On going storylines (where you have to watch every week) or single episodes? What ratio of the two?

[Hitchhiker]

I like a show that has singular episodes, but an overall storyline. Stargate SG-1, Buffy, Angel, and Farscape are good examples. Each show has a single storyline (eg; finding alien life and technology through the Stargate). Each season presents a new story arc that builds upon the character and plot of last season (eg; introduction of new villain--Apophis, Anubis, Replicators--and development of characters). Then each episode presents a singular plot.

I don't mind the occasional two-parter or season cliffhanger, those are always nice. Although the fourth season of Enterprise is better than its third, I must admit that the 2-3 episode arcs they've been running get rather repetitive after a while, and sometimes I find myself wanting just stand alone episodes.

[Republican_Man]

This is awesome! I wish I could do that! So, what are the specifics as to how many episodes, restrictions, etc? And be careful what you do--keep in a good budget. Budget. One word Conservatives hate, but all have to follow.

[madlilnerd]

I'm going to send it off soon. This is market research I'm doing to send with it, so I can prove to the people at sky that it's worth making my show. Thanks for all the pointers you guys *big hugs*