I have a Sci-Fi News Update for everybody. The Sy Fy Channel has announced that it has plans to remake two beloved tv series: Quantum Leap and Alien Nation.
I've included the post, along with the link below:
Sy Fy Would Like To Reboot Quantum Leap
<MOD SNIP>
The wonderful nerds over at io9 interviewed this dude Mark Stern, who’s the Director of Original Programming over at the Syfy-Channel-what-used-to-be-the-SciFi-Channel-Before-Yesterday. In talking about the network’s attempts to reboot “Alien Nation” with “Firefly’s” Tim Minear, Stern dropped this bomb:
So that worked. I would love to find our time travel show — whether it’s literally Quantum Leap — and we’ve been talking to Don Bellisario [show creator] about [doing] that as a possibility, because what is the next really great time travel series.
<MOD SNIP>
Look see. I recognize that “Quantum Leap” wasn’t perfect. I recognize that some of the episodes do not hold up well (though a surprisingly vast majority of them do). I recognize that the DVD company pooched the whole ****ing thing by being too cheap to license “Georgia on My Mind” for the “M.I.A.” episode. I recognize that the series finale was a cluster****ing, borderline-nonsensical mess. And I get that the show was almost entirely and singularly of Don Bellisario’s vision. I get it.
And I also get that I don’t have the best perspective on this show, because I’m way too personally attached. “Quantum Leap” is the first show I obsessed over. I recorded a number of the shows when it was still on NBC and then decided to step up my game by recording the whole series off of USA reruns. In order, despite the fact that they weren’t often aired in order. On VHS. So I’d have to time out these multiple hour gaps on taps to fill episodes in later. I was ridiculous about it. I worshiped this show. Still do.
But even if I didn’t, and with or without Donny B at the helm, the show should not be touched, remade or rebooted. The magic of Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell in that moment of time, which is absolutely what made the show what it was, can not be recaptured no matter what you do or how you try it. Syfy, you want time travel, fine. Start something new. Don’t rape my baby, please.
(And for the record, that Bakula didn’t get the Emmy win for the “Shock Theater” episode is a travesty, even if he did lose to James Earl Jones.)
http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/syf...antum-leap.php
That's interesting, considering that the Sy Fy Channel stated a few years back that they wanted to do a continuation of the original series, this time with Sam Beckett's daughter who goes looking for Sam who is lost in time. I would have preferred this version instead because I thought the final episode was a wimpy ending. But if this remake does pan out, I would like for Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell to at least make a guest appearance.
Sci Fi cops a remake of 'Alien' tale
Network to develop new take on 'Nation'
by Michael Schneider
Sci Fi is developing a new take on "Alien Nation," the 1988 feature that previously spawned a spinoff series on Fox.
"Angel" alum Tim Minear -- no stranger to sci-fi tales, having worked on "The X-Files," "Firefly" and "Strange World" -- is penning the fresh take on the franchise. Fox 21, the alternative production arm of 20th Century Fox TV, will produce.
"Alien Nation" centers on the partnership between a veteran cop and his alien detective partner, set against the larger tale of alien "newcomers" who move to Earth and attempt to assimilate into society.
Fox 21 topper Chris Carlisle said he believed "Alien Nation" could rep the next franchise revival for Sci Fi, which found huge success in dusting off "Battlestar Galactica" and reworking it for today's auds. Carlisle said "Alien Nation" works both as a sci-fi piece and a procedural drama.
"It's absolute perfect timing for this type of show," Carlisle said. "They're looking for more grounded sci-fi and close-ended episodes, and at the heart of 'Alien Nation,' it's a cop movie. It's grounded. And it has a tremendous amount of dramatic possibilities and humor."
Sci Fi is also looking to broaden its footprint, as it preps to rebrand itself as "Syfy" next week.
"It's very much in keeping with what we've been looking to do -- find themes that are more than just hard sci-fi, something that feels contemporary and relevant and invites a broad audience in," said Sci Fi original programming exec VP Mark Stern.
The new "Alien Nation" would include a mythology that evolves over time and will also touch on some of the issues of the day, such as the immigrant experience and how society integrates an incoming culture.
Minear said he's looking forward to incorporating a mix of all the different kinds of series he's written in the past.
"It's genre mixed with procedural mixed with funny and mixed with big, giant scary," Minear said. "I love serialized stuff, but this is also a cop franchise. That 'Starsky and Hutch'/'Lethal Weapon' buddy cop comedy is absent from TV right now."
Minear is currently busy outlining the "Alien Nation" script and mapping out the project's mythology. The new "Alien Nation" will likely take place in the Pacific Northwest, and will take place about 20 years after the first ship of aliens - who have been banished as slaves - crash lands into Earth.
By the time the show begins, some time in the 2020s, the alien population has multiplied from a few thousand to 3.5 million. And much of the "newcomers" live their own segregated existence, in what Minear compares to the North African ghettos in France.
"You can take (the original 'Alien Nation') a step forward and really do a show that encompasses the clash of civilizations, and the idea of a ghettoized minority," he said. "You can touch on racism, terrorism, assimilation, immigration. And there's room for satire."
The original film, which took place in 1991, was helmed by Graham Baker and written by Rockne S. O'Bannon (with an uncredited revise by James Cameron). Mandy Patinkin and James Caan starred as alien cop Sam Francisco and his reluctant human partner, respectively; Terence Stamp also starred.
In 1989, 20th Century Fox TV and Kenneth Johnson Prods. adapted the movie for Fox, with Eric Pierpoint and Gary Graham in the lead roles. The show lasted just a single season but spawned a series of books.
The TV show was revived in 1994 as a series of telepics for Fox, starting with "Alien Nation: Dark Horizon." Five TV movies were ultimately aired; the last, "Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy," ran in 1997.
Stern said Sci Fi had been looking at "Alien Nation" as a potential franchise for several years and had talked to several writers about ways to update the concept for modern auds.
"The challenge is how do you do it in a way that will reinvent it without it feeling like a derivative rehash," he said. "We sat down with Tim, who is someone we'd been looking to work with for quite a while, and his approach felt like it wouldn't be a traditional adaptation. We got excited."
Minear said he'd been anxious to develop for cable - and in particular, Sci Fi. The success of "Battlestar" fueled his interest in reviving "Alien Nation," he said.
"Twenty years (after 'Alien Nation'), TV as a whole has evolved, and you can explore issues and go deeper with subject matter than you ever could before," Minear said. "On cable, you can play with ambiguity. This is a place I want to be."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1
I have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, the Alien Nation is an enriched universe, which is astounding since it only lasted one season, followed by a series of TV movies which tied up all the loose ends. I think the way Alien Nation ended was just perfect and I'm okay with that. However on the other hand, I like the fact that Tim Minear is behind this and I have every confidence that he will do a great job by taking it in a new and interesting direction while honoring the original series. As stated before for Quantum Leap, I would like to see at least Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint to make a guest appearance or maybe even have recurring roles like the way Richard Hatch had on neo-Battlestar Galactica. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I'm very much looking forward to these remakes just the same.
I've included the post, along with the link below:
Sy Fy Would Like To Reboot Quantum Leap
<MOD SNIP>
The wonderful nerds over at io9 interviewed this dude Mark Stern, who’s the Director of Original Programming over at the Syfy-Channel-what-used-to-be-the-SciFi-Channel-Before-Yesterday. In talking about the network’s attempts to reboot “Alien Nation” with “Firefly’s” Tim Minear, Stern dropped this bomb:
So that worked. I would love to find our time travel show — whether it’s literally Quantum Leap — and we’ve been talking to Don Bellisario [show creator] about [doing] that as a possibility, because what is the next really great time travel series.
<MOD SNIP>
Look see. I recognize that “Quantum Leap” wasn’t perfect. I recognize that some of the episodes do not hold up well (though a surprisingly vast majority of them do). I recognize that the DVD company pooched the whole ****ing thing by being too cheap to license “Georgia on My Mind” for the “M.I.A.” episode. I recognize that the series finale was a cluster****ing, borderline-nonsensical mess. And I get that the show was almost entirely and singularly of Don Bellisario’s vision. I get it.
And I also get that I don’t have the best perspective on this show, because I’m way too personally attached. “Quantum Leap” is the first show I obsessed over. I recorded a number of the shows when it was still on NBC and then decided to step up my game by recording the whole series off of USA reruns. In order, despite the fact that they weren’t often aired in order. On VHS. So I’d have to time out these multiple hour gaps on taps to fill episodes in later. I was ridiculous about it. I worshiped this show. Still do.
But even if I didn’t, and with or without Donny B at the helm, the show should not be touched, remade or rebooted. The magic of Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell in that moment of time, which is absolutely what made the show what it was, can not be recaptured no matter what you do or how you try it. Syfy, you want time travel, fine. Start something new. Don’t rape my baby, please.
(And for the record, that Bakula didn’t get the Emmy win for the “Shock Theater” episode is a travesty, even if he did lose to James Earl Jones.)
http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/syf...antum-leap.php
That's interesting, considering that the Sy Fy Channel stated a few years back that they wanted to do a continuation of the original series, this time with Sam Beckett's daughter who goes looking for Sam who is lost in time. I would have preferred this version instead because I thought the final episode was a wimpy ending. But if this remake does pan out, I would like for Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell to at least make a guest appearance.
Sci Fi cops a remake of 'Alien' tale
Network to develop new take on 'Nation'
by Michael Schneider
Sci Fi is developing a new take on "Alien Nation," the 1988 feature that previously spawned a spinoff series on Fox.
"Angel" alum Tim Minear -- no stranger to sci-fi tales, having worked on "The X-Files," "Firefly" and "Strange World" -- is penning the fresh take on the franchise. Fox 21, the alternative production arm of 20th Century Fox TV, will produce.
"Alien Nation" centers on the partnership between a veteran cop and his alien detective partner, set against the larger tale of alien "newcomers" who move to Earth and attempt to assimilate into society.
Fox 21 topper Chris Carlisle said he believed "Alien Nation" could rep the next franchise revival for Sci Fi, which found huge success in dusting off "Battlestar Galactica" and reworking it for today's auds. Carlisle said "Alien Nation" works both as a sci-fi piece and a procedural drama.
"It's absolute perfect timing for this type of show," Carlisle said. "They're looking for more grounded sci-fi and close-ended episodes, and at the heart of 'Alien Nation,' it's a cop movie. It's grounded. And it has a tremendous amount of dramatic possibilities and humor."
Sci Fi is also looking to broaden its footprint, as it preps to rebrand itself as "Syfy" next week.
"It's very much in keeping with what we've been looking to do -- find themes that are more than just hard sci-fi, something that feels contemporary and relevant and invites a broad audience in," said Sci Fi original programming exec VP Mark Stern.
The new "Alien Nation" would include a mythology that evolves over time and will also touch on some of the issues of the day, such as the immigrant experience and how society integrates an incoming culture.
Minear said he's looking forward to incorporating a mix of all the different kinds of series he's written in the past.
"It's genre mixed with procedural mixed with funny and mixed with big, giant scary," Minear said. "I love serialized stuff, but this is also a cop franchise. That 'Starsky and Hutch'/'Lethal Weapon' buddy cop comedy is absent from TV right now."
Minear is currently busy outlining the "Alien Nation" script and mapping out the project's mythology. The new "Alien Nation" will likely take place in the Pacific Northwest, and will take place about 20 years after the first ship of aliens - who have been banished as slaves - crash lands into Earth.
By the time the show begins, some time in the 2020s, the alien population has multiplied from a few thousand to 3.5 million. And much of the "newcomers" live their own segregated existence, in what Minear compares to the North African ghettos in France.
"You can take (the original 'Alien Nation') a step forward and really do a show that encompasses the clash of civilizations, and the idea of a ghettoized minority," he said. "You can touch on racism, terrorism, assimilation, immigration. And there's room for satire."
The original film, which took place in 1991, was helmed by Graham Baker and written by Rockne S. O'Bannon (with an uncredited revise by James Cameron). Mandy Patinkin and James Caan starred as alien cop Sam Francisco and his reluctant human partner, respectively; Terence Stamp also starred.
In 1989, 20th Century Fox TV and Kenneth Johnson Prods. adapted the movie for Fox, with Eric Pierpoint and Gary Graham in the lead roles. The show lasted just a single season but spawned a series of books.
The TV show was revived in 1994 as a series of telepics for Fox, starting with "Alien Nation: Dark Horizon." Five TV movies were ultimately aired; the last, "Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy," ran in 1997.
Stern said Sci Fi had been looking at "Alien Nation" as a potential franchise for several years and had talked to several writers about ways to update the concept for modern auds.
"The challenge is how do you do it in a way that will reinvent it without it feeling like a derivative rehash," he said. "We sat down with Tim, who is someone we'd been looking to work with for quite a while, and his approach felt like it wouldn't be a traditional adaptation. We got excited."
Minear said he'd been anxious to develop for cable - and in particular, Sci Fi. The success of "Battlestar" fueled his interest in reviving "Alien Nation," he said.
"Twenty years (after 'Alien Nation'), TV as a whole has evolved, and you can explore issues and go deeper with subject matter than you ever could before," Minear said. "On cable, you can play with ambiguity. This is a place I want to be."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1
I have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, the Alien Nation is an enriched universe, which is astounding since it only lasted one season, followed by a series of TV movies which tied up all the loose ends. I think the way Alien Nation ended was just perfect and I'm okay with that. However on the other hand, I like the fact that Tim Minear is behind this and I have every confidence that he will do a great job by taking it in a new and interesting direction while honoring the original series. As stated before for Quantum Leap, I would like to see at least Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint to make a guest appearance or maybe even have recurring roles like the way Richard Hatch had on neo-Battlestar Galactica. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I'm very much looking forward to these remakes just the same.
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