TV shows you'd want to see

[Yora]

I've stopped watching TV over 10 years ago, but I still often watch shows that were originally made for TV years later and I still hear people talking about them. It's not a bad format to tell stories, there's just not enough to actually watch, especially when you have to wait months or years to get a bad German dub to run here, if it's ever made.

Assuming the unlikely situation that viewer ratings and advertising income are not a factor and the show would get all it's three, five, or seven seasons. (In Japan there's straight to DVD anime shows, so it's not even that unlikely.)

What kinds of shows would you like to watch?
What would be a good setup or source material for a show of 45 or 25 minute episoded? Not just anything you would simply like to see something about, but things you believe are really served well by the TV show format, instead of a movie trilogy for example?

[Hopeless]

So the Eddings books?

I'd like to see Sparhawk brought out as a series ala game of thrones, then there's the Belgariad and of course their sequels!

Hmm a live action battletech series that makes a modicum of sense?

Sort of the world of the protagonist is invaded and the hero and his class have to cope with moving into hiding away from their homes or face either being burned out or enslaved by the invaders.
Their one hope is an array of old war machines left within a long forgotten military complex meant as a depot but all mention lost over the intervening years and the locals have kept quiet slowly rebuilding those they can whilst others are sold off piecemeal under the guise that they're from a forgotten battle site.
The first season deals with them recovering from the invasion and preparing a counter attack but by end of s1 they're faced with a terrible revelation and the hero ends up in commmand of a lance that set out to rescue their main force from an ambush set up by a traitor in their midst as their hidden base is attacked by special forces.
Season 2 deals with them having lost their base and eventually finding a downed dropship which they eventually fix but use as their base trying to learn how to work as a team with most of the survivors of the ambush heading to another location and they end up earning a reputation as the world's "Gundam" team since the downed dropship has a few survivors of their own who help organise the defenders.
Season 2 ends with the revelation that another invader has forced their invader to pull back and whilst their families celebrate their freedom the dropship and the "Gundam" team head offworld to help fight against this new threat.
Season 3 introduces the clans at the start and sees it from the point of view of the invader of the last 2 seasons who send out a team to join forces with their former enemies and ends episdoe 1 with the appearance of the "Gundam" team who are fully aware that they need to overcome their prejudices.
Not all of them do and the team is split apart with a multi-nation force being assigned to prepare against the Clans and we see how the single nation teams fare (badly) and the newly created Inner Sphere force have some success as end of the third season we learn the Clan force they met is just one of hundreds of assembled forces about to invade...

Too much?

[Yora]

I think I would like to see a new space opera, like Babylon 5 or Deep Space Nine. Could even be a new Star Trek show.

But Voyager and Enterprise bored me. It was the same plots we've already seen a dozen times before.
Though actually, they both started very promissing.
Voyager had it's best point at the end of the pilot episode, when it was "The Federation does not exist out here, we have no support, and our Federation supplies will only last us for a few months". End then it just went back to being the Enterprise once again, but this time without cultural diversity with an all-american crew.
One of the first episodes of Enterprise had a team land on a small backwater space port and one of the Forgott-Their-Names starts berating the locals, after which they learn that they are the primitive newcommers who don't know anything about the galaxy except Vulcans. Discovering a new world of strange things nobody ever imagined and people very different from Humans sounded very exiting. And two episodes later it was all the same Kirk/Picard/Janeway "We explain those savages how to live correctly" stuff. Which means doing it like in America.

I would like to see a show about humans establishing their first normal connections with a galactic community. Learning that things can be very different, but also very familiar when one least expects it. Learning that sometimes people are perfectly happy with things that seem abhorrent, and sometimes the things that humans do on Earth are embarassingly stupid once one stops assuming that it's the only way to do.
And not from a white American perspective. With scripwriters who don't care about the american way and feel they need to appeal to american nationalism.

[polity4life]

I'll take a bit of a detour on this and say that the game Front Mission 3, with some work, could make for a pretty interesting television show. It would be an interesting amalgamation of future-real world mixed with high conspiracy speckled with a few "wrong place, wrong time" heroes. Oh, and it has mechs, so that covers your sci-fi needs.

[Thinker]

I think I would like to see a new space opera, like Babylon 5 or Deep Space Nine. Could even be a new Star Trek show.

Then how does this (http://io9.com/5905013/how-syfy-will-bring-science-fiction-back-to-television) sound? It's by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a writer/producer who worked on DS9 and Andromeda.


In the aftermath of an intergalactic war between humans and transhumans, the starship Defender, populated by a combustible mix of former enemies, is sent on a seemingly simple goodwill mission, which turns into a fight for their lives and for the safety of the Universe at large. Executive producer/writer: Robert Hewitt Wolfe (Alphas). A production of Universal Cable Productions.





I would like to see a show about humans establishing their first normal connections with a galactic community. Learning that things can be very different, but also very familiar when one least expects it. Learning that sometimes people are perfectly happy with things that seem abhorrent, and sometimes the things that humans do on Earth are embarassingly stupid once one stops assuming that it's the only way to do.
And not from a white American perspective. With scripwriters who don't care about the american way and feel they need to appeal to american nationalism.

Isn't that the basis for Roddenberry's Earth Final Conflict?

[khoregate]

On the subject of space opera i would love to see EE doc Smiths Lensman series done live action and not crappy manga :) the galactic patrol were much more into blowing things up than the federation were :)

[Dienekes]

The Walls of Troy: A series drawing from the plays and myths surrounding the Battle of Troy filling out the decade between the start of the war and the end. I think there's a lot of potential here for an engaging story with a varied and dynamic cast.

The Rival Cities: A series done in the style of Rome focusing on the Peloponnesian War and the political figures of both Athens and Sparta. I think this could be a very interesting drama, with some parts that a modern viewer would find incredible. Also watching Alcibiades could be hilariously awesome if done right. Mostly though, I loved the show Rome, and wanted to see Greece get the same treatment in a series.

[Thiel]

I'd like to see a high-budget re-make of the Sharpes tv series.
The original had plenty potential, but it simply didn't have the budget take advantage of it.

[Jaros]

Someone in the adaptations thread suggested a TV show sent in the world of Fallout which, while really tricky to get right, could potentially turn out pretty darn well. It would need to be set somewhere new, probably starting off in a vault again but I think it'd work best as an ensemble show, so adding more characters and groups to follow early on.

Political figures?
Self-proclaimed law enforcement?
Gang members?
Mercenaries?

I'd imagine it focusing smaller settlements, having characters meet/become involved in larger plots in key episodes: eg Brotherhood of Steel showing up in a finale/mid season finale, perhaps wanting some technology the characters have found.

[Yora]

Then how does this (http://io9.com/5905013/how-syfy-will-bring-science-fiction-back-to-television) sound? It's by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a writer/producer who worked on DS9 and Andromeda.
No, I don't think this looks like what I was thinking about at all.
From the description, I would expect a lot of cheesy and bland stereotype characters doing stereotype things.

Isn't that the basis for Roddenberry's Earth Final Conflict?
I never heard of it before. But descriptions say it's about a dying alien race visiting Earth secretly enslaving Humanity. That's also completely different than humans being lost in a galctic community and slowly learning about a world greater than their own.

[Reverent-One]

No, I don't think this looks like what I was thinking about at all.
From the description, I would expect a lot of cheesy and bland stereotype characters doing stereotype things.

I'm not sure how you distinguish that from a description for DS9, B5, or another new Star Trek show. It could have a lot of cheesy and bland stereotype characters doing stereotype things, but DS9 and B5 could have had that as well, they just didn't.

[Douglas]

Some of my favorite book series would make spectacular TV shows if done right but are much too long and complex to fit into normal movie length without cutting a lot of genuinely important stuff or using ridiculously fast pacing. I haven't actually watched it myself, but everything I've heard is that Game of Thrones is an example of this being done well.

I would very much like to see the Wheel of Time and the Stormlight Archive given treatment similar to how Game of Thrones is handling A Song of Ice and Fire. I'd put most of the rest of Brandon Sanderson's books on the list too, but I think they actually are feasible for movie length.

[Maxios]

Fallout 3 tv show. If they ever make it, and if it's anything like what I've come up with in my head, it would be amazing.

[Jaros]

Fallout 3 tv show. If they ever make it, and if it's anything like what I've come up with in my head, it would be amazing.

Like someone said in the adaptations thread, it would be better if it was an original story in the Fallout universe (I suggested some potential elements above:)


...probably starting off in a vault again but I think it'd work best as an ensemble show, so adding more characters and groups to follow early on.

Political figures?
Self-proclaimed law enforcement?
Gang members?
Mercenaries?

I'd imagine it focusing smaller settlements, having characters meet/become involved in larger plots in key episodes: eg Brotherhood of Steel showing up in a finale/mid season finale, perhaps wanting some technology the characters have found.

[Serpentine]

The Walls of Troy: A series drawing from the plays and myths surrounding the Battle of Troy filling out the decade between the start of the war and the end. I think there's a lot of potential here for an engaging story with a varied and dynamic cast.I'd watch that. Important detail, though: myth and magic levels?

I tend to like the monster-of-the-week type shows, like X-Files (before plot happened) or Supernatural (before plot). At the same time, there's a distinct lack of good* fantasy shows. Maybe with stuff like A Song of Ice and Fire doing well, there's hope in that regard. So maybe something like Supernatural, except set in Medievalish times, or the start of the Age of Enlightenment, maybe sort of loosely based on Grimm's Fairytales, Hans Christian Andersen and similar folklorey type things around that time. Something somewhere between science and fiction, fact and fantasy - maybe some are exactly as they are in the folklore, whereas others are more mundane things that have been distorted.

Also, a good* Animorphs show. Probably anime.

*GOOD**

**GOOD good^

^As in, like, good actors, good special effects, lack of (excessive) cheesiness, interesting plot-lines, etc.

[thompur]

A show based on the "Wild Cards" shared world anthology series, edited by George R.R. Martin. Lots of great, interesting characters and stories.

[Karoht]

@Sharpe
Even with the not so great budget, they did a heck of a good job. Remake would be awesome. Who's the cast? :smallbiggrin:

[Logic]

Like someone said in the adaptations thread, it would be better if it was an original story in the Fallout universe (I suggested some potential elements above:)

I believe I was that someone.

I'd also like to see another Star Trek series on TV. Barring that, anything that could be called "good" science fiction, and also set primarily in space would be a plus.

[Hopeless]

I'd love it if they turned the doctor who/star trek crossover comic into a mini-series!

How about a series about first contact from the viewpoint of the alien side?

Have them set up a Star Trek outpost to facilitate research into this new race and eventually reveal their past as an incident results in them being found out and they have to rely on locals to help them as other forces seek either to have their project revealed so they can conquer the human race or the humans start planning on taking advantage of what they could provide.

If it could last a couple of seasons even go so far as to have them appear and see how the variou world governments and populace react to this revelation?

I remember a few series had a half human hybrid as part of the story, there's even a thread here about comparing the possible differences between the races and humanity... but failing that how about a Mass Effect tv series starting off with a mini-series explaining the very start of the Mass Effect opening with the discovery of the Prothean ruins and the Mass Effect artefacts?

[The Glyphstone]

The Ring of Fire/163X books by Eric Flint could make a really interesting miniseries. Flint's pretty good about making distinctive, fleshed-out tagonists, both pro- and ant-, and the narrative's big enough to allow for different styles of episodes.

[Topus]

I'm longing for a Ender Saga Tv Show (especially the first 4 books, from Ender's Game to Children of the Mind). I was astonished when i first read the Descolada-Pequeninos thing. But I lost hopes about it :\

Other scenarios i'm interested in: warhammer 40k, fallout, lyonesse saga (fantasy from jack vance), the epic of gilgamesh, the story of Amenofi IV, Tutankhamon and Anksunamun.

[Avilan the Grey]

I'd watch that. Important detail, though: myth and magic levels?

I wouldn't, just like I don't watch Spartacus. Or Rome. I know how it ended. Plus people getting creative with History is one of my pet peeves.

Now, I can watch an unlimited number of documentaries about Troy, though.

A Fallout TV series would have me glued to the set, for sure.

[pita]

I want to see a show centered around a medieval siege. Give me an eight episode miniseries about the intrigues, the attempts of the besieged and the besiegers to end it, with both sides having both likeable and unlikeable characters. In the eighth episode, slaughter all of the characters of the losing side. If done well, it could be amazing. And cast Patrick Stewart as the lord of the castle being besieged.

And I'd like to have a show that grabs me emotionally. No TV show has done that, but both books and movies have shown varying success at it. (Me reading the Farseer Trilogy can be rephrased as "A 20 year old man cries like a little girl for a week", and Million Dollar Baby is just rough) I don't care about the concept, but nothing, from "Lost" to "The Wire", has ever made me even grow a little teary-eyed. "Community" was the closest I've ever gotten, and that's simply because the finale was a perfect ending. (I say, before the next season comes out, that I will refuse to refer to it as having any relation to "Community") No idea what that show would be about.

A lot of my other concepts have been made into poor TV shows. V, for instance, has a really cool idea (What happens when the aliens reveal themselves?) but had a terrible execution.

Mostly I'd like it if TV got creative, stopped reusing comic book/novel ideas, or their own recycled junk (CSI: PORTLAND), and did their own stuff. There are very few shows I watch that I can call truly original.

EDIT- OOH OOH OOH! A mission-of-the-week show where the main character can change his shape into any other person. And it shows creativity with what he does with his transformations! And there's a shadowy organization that he slowly uncovers! (He is used for convenience, the main character's true form is NEVER SHOWN. You could also save the cost of stars with the show, since you're essentially hiring three different minor actors to play the main character each episode.)

[Sgt. Cookie]

Alan Cambell's Deepgate Codex.

Scar Night would be fantastic as a TV series, but how the hell all the chains would be done is beyond me. (Deepgate, where most of Scar Night is set, is a city suspended over a massive pit.)

[Tvtyrant]

Alan Cambell's Deepgate Codex.

Scar Night would be fantastic as a TV series, but how the hell all the chains would be done is beyond me. (Deepgate, where most of Scar Night is set, is a city suspended over a massive pit.)

Yeah, the first book would make a cool show. I apologize for the spoiler :smallfrown:

Personally I would like a resistance organization show, where the resistance is constantly splitting into smaller groups and merging into larger ones (as they do in real life). The main character changes each season, so we slowly move perspectives as the fighting goes from plots like stealing an arms shipment in the middle of the night to directly attacking armories and barracks. Finale would be the collapse of the government, combined with the annihilation of most of the resistance forces.

[Sgt. Cookie]

Thanks. I was on part three of book 2. Now I know Dill gets out.

[Sorahica]

Not sure if anyone's heard of this, it's more of a kid's series. It's called The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel, by Michael Scott. I read it and liked it though, and could definitely be made into a good TV show.

[Soras Teva Gee]

I would very much like to see the Wheel of Time and the Stormlight Archive given treatment similar to how Game of Thrones is handling A Song of Ice and Fire. I'd put most of the rest of Brandon Sanderson's books on the list too, but I think they actually are feasible for movie length.

Even discounting buget and cancellations concerns I held off on saying the WoT because I just can't believe anyone would be down for the fifteen seasons that would have to happen.

Just lucky WoT only has one child character...

[McStabbington]

Hrm. The thing I would most love to see would be a remake of ST: Voyager. That show had so much potential that got squandered so badly. I would also get a kick out of a series that adapted Preacher for the small screen.

[Dr.Epic]

I want to see them bring back Korgoth. That pilot was awesome! It should have became a show! At least one season! ONE SEASON!!!

[Klose_the_Sith]

I'd like to see a high-budget re-make of the Sharpes tv series.
The original had plenty potential, but it simply didn't have the budget take advantage of it.

Right, yes, but how about instead of this we get something focussing on the Napoleonic Wars in general, rather than a pinhole view of the British engagements.

The sheer amount of nations, diplomacy, intrigue and war is boggling in scope - and a more universal overview would be able to emphasise that unlike in Sharpe/Hornblower there was no true 'hero' nation throughout the wars.

Yes, I'm essentially asking for HBO to do the Napoleonic Wars in the vein of Game of Thrones. A man can dream ... :smallamused:

[Hopeless]

Hrm. The thing I would most love to see would be a remake of ST: Voyager. That show had so much potential that got squandered so badly. I would also get a kick out of a series that adapted Preacher for the small screen.

I have a couple of variations on this I'd like to see.

1) Rather than a star fleet ship stuck in another galaxy we have an alien starship with a survivor or two allied with a star fleet away team trying to reach a star base to warn them about an alien infiltration but the infiltrators have already usurped the sector command and have alerted star fleet that a hostile alien spaceship is attacking and insure their communications are "modified" to prevent them from seizing control of federation vessels.
So we have a reverse Voyager, we get to see the worlds of the Federation along with a sort of Blake 7 feel for the series and the real bad guys are slowly seizing power...
I'd like the survivor to turn out to look like part klingon- part amerindian and have them be more advanced so we can run through some really interesting storylines as her background is explained and why this enemy is even scarier than the Borg!
And yes there are scarier things than the Borg, human imagination for one thing have wrought far worse things!

2) A civil war breaks out and a sector on the edge of Federation space is isolated, we have a system with limited resources having to cope and we see them trying to rebuild their shattered organisation even as enemies both past, present and future (Klingon, Romulaan, Dominion and so on!) make an appearance in some form perhaps getting greater as they go along.
Could even have a form of Star Fleet Academy but set outside of the solar system since it can't be the only such academy in the entire Federation?