So, as you might know, I have a panel at Eastercon on TV shows we’d like to see but haven’t, and I notoriously lack imagination for that sort of thing (I mean, the only things that come to mind is something with a decent main female character who’s not a Strong Female Who Still Needs to Be Rescued by Men cliché; and a female POC Doctor Who…). But judging by all the interest when I bitch about Sherlock, I’m pretty reasonably sure that some of you have got strong ideas on this 🙂
Therefore, I’m throwing the question(s) out for collective brainstorming:
What don’t you like about current TV shows? What shows would we like to see made but probably won’t be?
Um, especially given today’s Salon-comment-thread-and-Twitterverse-meltdown, let’s seriously look at having some complex and sensitively handled non-white people in fantasy/SF TV? A more nuanced handling than “non-white = exotic” (looking at you, StarGate and Stargate: Atlantis, as well as A Game Of Thrones). Where are the black people who are not surly warriors, either noble or angry or occasionally both (looking at you, StarGate and Andromeda)?
I think there’s a lot of mileage here.
Oh, and what I want to see on TV is a Yi Qin series as she hunts down and banishes ghosts and deomns, but I might be biased there…
Jeff
1. Purported SF that has some of the S, not just the F.
2. Fantasy that is not medieval Europe
3. Any show of any type where the solution doesn’t come from a middle-aged white guy.
Eemeli Aro
Babylon Fields! It was a pilot for a zombie series, with the slight difference that once re-animated, these zombies don’t crave for brains — instead they just want to go on with their lives. The full pilot is online at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3315295143249630002
I have a whole collection of these, pilots for series that never got picked up. For some, such as Aquaman or the 1997 Justice League of America, the world is clearly a better place without them, but others don’t deserve their fates. In other words, for inspiration, I’d suggest looking not just at series that might be, but also series that almost were.
aliette
Wow, awesome suggestions, thanks everyone! Eemeli, Babylon field sounds like fun, and I’ll definitely look at series that didn’t make the cut (hope I have enough time before Eastercon…)
Jeff, yeah, the middle-aged white guy is very problematic 😀 (and the day TV series get their science straight, I think I’ll celebrate with champagne…).
Brian: couldn’t agree more! I read the comments on Saladin’s post, and wow. Certainly margin for progress here…
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Brian Dolton
Um, especially given today’s Salon-comment-thread-and-Twitterverse-meltdown, let’s seriously look at having some complex and sensitively handled non-white people in fantasy/SF TV? A more nuanced handling than “non-white = exotic” (looking at you, StarGate and Stargate: Atlantis, as well as A Game Of Thrones). Where are the black people who are not surly warriors, either noble or angry or occasionally both (looking at you, StarGate and Andromeda)?
I think there’s a lot of mileage here.
Oh, and what I want to see on TV is a Yi Qin series as she hunts down and banishes ghosts and deomns, but I might be biased there…
Jeff
1. Purported SF that has some of the S, not just the F.
2. Fantasy that is not medieval Europe
3. Any show of any type where the solution doesn’t come from a middle-aged white guy.
Eemeli Aro
Babylon Fields! It was a pilot for a zombie series, with the slight difference that once re-animated, these zombies don’t crave for brains — instead they just want to go on with their lives. The full pilot is online at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3315295143249630002
I have a whole collection of these, pilots for series that never got picked up. For some, such as Aquaman or the 1997 Justice League of America, the world is clearly a better place without them, but others don’t deserve their fates. In other words, for inspiration, I’d suggest looking not just at series that might be, but also series that almost were.
aliette
Wow, awesome suggestions, thanks everyone! Eemeli, Babylon field sounds like fun, and I’ll definitely look at series that didn’t make the cut (hope I have enough time before Eastercon…)
Jeff, yeah, the middle-aged white guy is very problematic 😀 (and the day TV series get their science straight, I think I’ll celebrate with champagne…).
Brian: couldn’t agree more! I read the comments on Saladin’s post, and wow. Certainly margin for progress here…
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