Which SF series should they remake?

[Brian Reilly]

One of the best TV SF series of the moment is a remake of an old one- Battlestar Galactica. An interesting concept, but its execution was frankly cheesy.

The new Doctor Who also shows how a loved classic can be updated and become even better than before.

So, what else would benefit from the treatment? Any other oldies that could be improved on? Is it a case of a worthwhile concept that never lived up to its potential, or something that was well-written but the special effects make it difficult to take seriously?

I nominate Blake's Seven. The concept- A citizen in a totalitarian world is contacted by the resistance, who inform him he is their leader- captured and brainwashed into renouncing and then forgetting his rebellion. Unfortunately, his first meeting with the rebels ends in a massacre and his arrest. In order to discredit him, the government implant false memories in children, making Blake appear to be a paedophile. He is sent to a prison colony. On the way, he is one of a number of prisoners sent to check out an abandoned alien ship, which killed the soliders sent aboard it. Luckily, the ship's defence system works by messing with people's minds, and Blake is resistant to that sort of thing due to the all the previous messing-with he endured.

Blake and his fellow prisoners take control of the ship, and carry out a rescue mission on the prison planet. Blake vows to use this super-ship to take on the Federation. However, his crew consists not of fellow pricipled rebels, but largely of criminals who are only with him because they don't want to go back to prison. In particular, the criminal mastermind/computer expert/bastard Avon will give him a lot of trouble.

Meanwhile, the military are in pursuit, led by the sexy sociopath Servalan.

Great concept, eh? But let down by an ever-increasing lack of direction, plots that became plodding as the series outstayed its welcome, the departure of its main charcter halfway through (though his eventual return did lead to the best final few moments any TV SF show has ever had) and of course the crappy special effects only 70s Brit SF can provide.

Now, surely doing a BSG on this would be worthwhile...

[SFEley]

So, what else would benefit from the treatment? Any other oldies that could be improved on? Is it a case of a worthwhile concept that never lived up to its potential, or something that was well-written but the special effects make it difficult to take seriously?

I'm looking forward to the remake of The Prisoner -- although slightly less so now that it's confirmed Christopher Eccleston won't be playing the lead after all.

[Heradel]

I'm looking forward to the remake of The Prisoner -- although slightly less so now that it's confirmed Christopher Eccleston won't be playing the lead after all.

Huh, I was thinking of suggesting that one. Do you have a link to information?
I wonder if they'll keep the bouncing ball s ... things.

I'm thinking it might be interesting to see Flash Gordon redone. Then I looked up the Wikipedia article so I could link to the old one, and apparently Scifi is already doing a remake for later this year.

Huh. It's like thay have people reading my mind and then going back in time to start production months ago.

[Brian Reilly]

So, what else would benefit from the treatment? Any other oldies that could be improved on? Is it a case of a worthwhile concept that never lived up to its potential, or something that was well-written but the special effects make it difficult to take seriously?

I'm looking forward to the remake of The Prisoner -- although slightly less so now that it's confirmed Christopher Eccleston won't be playing the lead after all.

I reckon whover played Sark in Alias would make a great no. 6.

[JaredAxelrod]

FARSCAPE was pretty much a BLAKE'S 7 remake, only with bondage gear and puppets. Which really, is what current remakes like BSG are missing.  One can only hope that FLASH GORDON will make up for Sci-Fi Chanel's current bondage-gear-and-puppet dearth.

Someone needs to remake UFO, but only if they DO NOT CHANGE THE UNIFORMS:







See, then they would just have to add puppets.

[SFEley]

See, then they would just have to add puppets.

You just made my day, Jared.  Thank you.

[Kronikarz]

Quantum Leap! I loved that show.

[Vanamonde]

I would go for Blakes 7 as well. A remake of Starcops would be good and I would to love to see Thunderbirds done right (the less said about the film with those loathsome kids the better).

[SFEley]

Okay, I'm probably the only one on the planet who even remembers this series, but you know what I'd like to see?

Probe.

Conceived by Isaac Asimov, it was basically Scarecrow and Mrs. King with a scientist instead of a spy.  With the success of CSI these days, I think the public is ready for this thing.

[Heradel]

Okay, I'm probably the only one on the planet who even remembers this series, but you know what I'd like to see?

Probe.

Conceived by Isaac Asimov, it was basically Scarecrow and Mrs. King with a scientist instead of a spy.  With the success of CSI these days, I think the public is ready for this thing.

Sounds a little like Numb3rs (the 3 instead of e is their convention, not mine), in terms of genius solving crimes, though it's grounded more in reality. I've never seen Probe (I was busy gestating at the time), so I'm not sure how similar they are. I guess I'll keep an eye out for it, maybe the NYPL has it or something.

[ClintMemo]

Okay, I'm probably the only one on the planet who even remembers this series, but you know what I'd like to see?

Probe.

Conceived by Isaac Asimov, it was basically Scarecrow and Mrs. King with a scientist instead of a spy.  With the success of CSI these days, I think the public is ready for this thing.

Sounds a little like Numb3rs (the 3 instead of e is their convention, not mine), in terms of genius solving crimes, though it's grounded more in reality. I've never seen Probe (I was busy gestating at the time), so I'm not sure how similar they are. I guess I'll keep an eye out for it, maybe the NYPL has it or something.

Gestating...in 1988.
In 1988 I was just finishing college. Again. For the 3rd time.
I feel like I need to go soak my dentures.
This is reminding me of one of those "people who are graduating from high school this year don't remember any of the following:" lists.


btw, the wikipedia page also has a link to the show on youtube (not that I would condone what is almost surely a copyright violation).

[SFEley]

Huh, I was thinking of suggesting that one. Do you have a link to information?
I wonder if they'll keep the bouncing ball s ... things.

Oh, and:
http://www.sixofone.org.uk/Prisoner-Remake.htm

"But the new production is a mini-series of 6 episodes, costing £1 million each."

I think the short series is a great idea.  Anna and I just watched The Prisoner on DVD last year, and our shared judgment was that it was an incredible concept with some very solid episodes, but it went on too long.  It started with the sense that the producers knew exactly where it was going, and then over time it just got weirder and less grounded.  The final episode was a pure psychedelic drug trip.  I was very reassured when I checked the Internet and confirmed that no one else knew what the hell was going on either.

...Hmmm.  Come to think of it, I guess it's possible they're remaking it right now.  They simply changed the title to Lost.

[Heradel]

Gestating...in 1988.
In 1988 I was just finishing college. Again. For the 3rd time.
I feel like I need to go soak my dentures.
This is reminding me of one of those "people who are graduating from high school this year don't remember any of the following:" lists.

I missed the last episode of that series by four days. Teaches me to be late.

I'm honestly not trying to flaunt my youth here.

btw, the wikipedia page also has a link to the show on youtube (not that I would condone what is almost surely a copyright violation).

It probably is, but these days if you can't find it anywhere else... well, it's an orphaned work and we need a doctrine for it.

[ClintMemo]

I'm honestly not trying to flaunt my youth here.

cues harp music
Ahhh 1988...
I remember it well.
My wife and I were still dating.
Writing COBOL on my 1st internship.
Reagan was President.
The Russians were still the Soviets.
Don Johnson was on every television.
Phil Collins was on every radio.
MTV still played videos.
No worldwide web.
No DVR's
No MP3 players
Cell phones came in a dufflebag
If your computer had a hard drive, a color screen and a graphics card, it was powerful.
SSI Goldbox games.

How did we survive?

[FNH]

I vote for Star Cops.  That was cool show, but like so many other shows, had no regular production, or schedule, but the stories were goooooood.

[Russell Nash]

Okay, I'm probably the only one on the planet who even remembers this series, but you know what I'd like to see?

Probe.

Conceived by Isaac Asimov, it was basically Scarecrow and Mrs. King with a scientist instead of a spy.  With the success of CSI these days, I think the public is ready for this thing.

I remember that one. It was cheesy in the way the old BSG, Knight Rider, and The A-Team were. But a serious BSGing might give us something good.

[Holden]

Your wish is granted! Blake's 7 is being remade. B7 Productions is releasing the series in audio format this Spring.

You can subscribe to the newsletter at: http://www.b7media.com/blake_audio.html

[JaredAxelrod]

You don't think it's too late to go 20 minutes into the future, do you?



It'd be nice to actually computer generate Max's head, instead of just having Matt Frewer in a latex mask.

[DKT]

How about Logan's Run?  I guess it was a movie before it was a television series (and a book before that) but it could be a great TV series. 

[warmana]

I would like to see a remake of The Time Tunnel. For all its Allen-esque characteristics (plots, sets, special effects,...) there was a pleasing simplicity and solidity to the underlying idea. So much scope to explore and present on screen, given the technology today.

[Jason]

I actually watched an unaired pilot of the Time Tunnel recently. I think it was made back in the late '90s, maybe early '00s. The concept was neat: A secret agency activated the time tunnel and changed the world, now they're trying to change it back. The present is slightly different with altered governments, different traffic lights etc.. The main character doesn't realize that anything's changed until the agency comes to him for help.

I thought it would be interesting, but it unfortunately never made it to air.

[Tango Alpha Delta]

I'm still waiting for someone to make Bujold's Vorkosigan novels into some kind of live-action presentation.  (Any casting suggestions for Miles would have to be approved by my wife, though.)

And what about "Man-Kzin Wars"?  CGI would make that one easy enough to execute; perhaps we should sell Rick Berman on THAT one!  (Ducks and runs...)


As far as TV remakes go, I've been impressed with the BSG update, but I can't imagine enough other shows that have the right balance of "obscure but beloved" to make the jump to remake.  Of the shows mentioned in this thread, it seems that most of them would be too "thin" for a faithful remake.  That is to say, if you update the science, re-imagine the visuals to "modern standards" and rewrite the characters, you might as well be starting from scratch.

Then again, I didn't think it was possible to redo Dr. Who, so what do I know?  

[FNH]

What about a completely redone version of the shortlived ( yet utterly cool ) "Saphire and Steel". 

Have you chaps in the colonies, even heard of that series?

[SFEley]

Then again, I didn't think it was possible to redo Dr. Who, so what do I know?  

Strictly speaking, they're not redoing Doctor Who.  They're just resuming the series after a long hiatus.  >8-> 

(It is, by the way, my favorite show right now.  Yes, I'd put it ahead of Battlestar Galactica.  BSG explores deeper issues, but Doctor Who is more fun.)

[Heradel]

(It is, by the way, my favorite show right now.  Yes, I'd put it ahead of Battlestar Galactica.  BSG explores deeper issues, but Doctor Who is more fun.)

The Doctor: Sonic blaster, 51st Century... Weapon factories at Villengard?
Capt. Jack Harkness: Yeah. You've been to the factories?
The Doctor: Once.
Capt. Jack Harkness: They're gone now. Reactor went critical. Vaporised the lot.
The Doctor: Like I said, once. There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good.

Galactica has it's funny parts, but it doesn't have humor for the sake of humor.