Pearce isn't that keen on Firefly so far - have a look at his blog (linked to in the sidebar) to see his completely reasonable reasons. One of his comments started me thinking - what "classic" show formats might translate into a interesting and compelling sci-fi show? (Preferably one that hasn't already been done.)
Let's see - the police procedural is always a popular format. I can't, off the top of my head, think of any sci-fi versions of this... I mean, in some ways Star Trek draws on the some of the same themes, but you don't really get the situation where everyone gets assigned their tasks, and is sent off - everyone tends to be involved in whatever the current crisis is. Alien Nation is another one that my office was able to come up with, but it's really a buddy cop series, rather than a prolice procedural of the Hill Street Blues/CSI/NYPD Blue ilk. Paul just suggested Stingers, but I've never watched it, so I don't know whether it really fits. Ultraviolet might qualify, but it's really mostly about the journey of the "hero" rather than having the ensemble cast that seems to be one of the key parts of the procedural.
What other formats? Well, there's soap opera... but I think that space opera tends to have most of the distinctive elements of these creep in. Many sci-fi shows seem to have a setting-altering climax that they're working towards, but that's not always the case - look to the Star Trek family of shows, for example. (Apart from Voyager, I guess, where there's a definite goal in sight.)
Sci-fi comedies tend towards parodies (Red Dwarf, Futurama), but I suspect this is inevitable, since a lot of comedy is a twisted look at the familiar. I wonder if you could do a straight Friends or the like in an established sci-fi world, like Babylon 5... I suspect your target market might end up being very, very small indeed. :)
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For those readers who like Amélie, here's a note from Cinefex Weekly Update (subscribe for special effects movie news at http://www.cinefex.com/weeklyupdate.html):
A Very Long Engagement: Aint-it-cool-news.com has posted screen grabs and a streaming video link to a trailer here for this Warner Independent release, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Tatou, star of Jeunet's charming Amélie. A Very Long Engagement is an epic romance set against the backdrop of World War I France and, as usual for Jeunet, looks stunning and beautifully surreal. IMDb states Jeunet and Guillame Laurent adapted the screenplay from Un long dimanche de fiançailles, a novel by Sébastien Japrisot. Yves Domenjoud and Olivier Gleyze supervised special effects and Alain Carsoux supervised visual effects at Duboi. The film opens in France on October 27 and is scheduled for limited release in the U.S. on November 26.
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I'd like to think about the who sci-fi/format thing a bit more... I may revisit it in a bit.
Posted by svend at October 21, 2004 8:20 AM