Lack of Ideas in the Commercial Sector

I always find it interesting that the commercial sector constantly,
takes good ideas and turns them into bad ones. My biggest critism is
that they focus on the special effects and not the script. I think
special effects are important but not the essential aspect. I am also
concerned by the number of non-fan based ideas being floated on the
web, I think in the last year I have picked up on at least three other
serries (scifi and non-scifi) ideas that were clearly not from the fan
community.

Has anyone else noticed this.

John

Hi John and all - I have to agree with you that producers of TV and feature
films have been experiencing a bad case of imagination bankruptcy. They are
re-using older ideas and tweaking them to appear new, but the fans realize
what is afoot. A 'new' movie called "The Island" is coming out and smacks
very strongly of Logan's Run. Now this idea of Threshold which incorporates
X-Files, Sphere, UFO and SeaQuest all in one. I wonder if they think we are
too stupid to figure all this out?

Pam the Canuck

There's an old saying in Hollywood: There's only 12 original plots.
Everything else is just a variation of the theme.

The reason Hollywood appears to be suffering from "imagination
bankruptcy" is that many producers are afraid to try something new.
They would rather bank on an idea that has been tested before.

Clay

--- Pamela McCaughey <[hidden email]> wrote:


"So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."

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*snerk* if they thought we were smart enough to figure
it out, the latest run of movie remakes would not have
offended the viewing public, nor embarassed their
producers with such phenomenally low returns. pity
they can't mine the writers of fan fic who love the
shows and do a nice job of continuing the epic --- or
evolving in completely strange directions that so much
better than remakes of rehashes of remixes of ... ad
nauseum.

Just because the average IQ is 80, doesn't mean
everyone out there is hovering just at that level.

oh, dear. rant number 4000298831 .... *dragon kicks
the soap box that materialized under her feet into
toothpicks* sorry.

draong



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On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 14:59:35 -0000
"tryder4000" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I am also concerned by the number of non-fan based ideas being
> floated on the web, I think in the last year I have picked up
> on at least three other serries (scifi and non-scifi) ideas that
> were clearly not from the fan community.

Is that really a cause for concern? Most of the best TV isn't
conceived or written by its fans.

James

Not fear of trying something new as much as the all-important need to interest investors. It's hard to attract money for something that may not make the money back the first week, or even at all!

Clay <[hidden email]> wrote:There's an old saying in Hollywood: There's only 12 original plots.
Everything else is just a variation of the theme.

The reason Hollywood appears to be suffering from "imagination
bankruptcy" is that many producers are afraid to try something new.
They would rather bank on an idea that has been tested before.

Clay

--- Pamela McCaughey wrote:


"So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

<< Most of the best
> TV isn't
> conceived or written by its fans.
>
> James >>>

unfortunate agreement here, while the fan community
may have major ideas and good ones at that, most
screen writers are actively prohibited from reading or
participating in any such endeavors due to the
legalities involved. case in point: Susan Garrett was
a majorly productive fan fic writer in the forever
knight universe. when she received a contract to write
a tv tie in novel for the show, her contract
specifically prohibited her from any direct contact
with the FK fan fic list or on line postings of any
kind. Thus she could not be influenced by another
writer and could not be legally held up for financial
remuneration by someone claiming she stole/used their
idea.

I suspect producers and people who pitch show ideas
are equally reticent about being approached by fans
with ideas and would be horrified to be accused of
using a fan's idea that was posted on the internet, so
they don't go there. they do not read fan fic, they do
not read original fic posted on the 'net. They do not
want to deal with amateurs. They have enough problems
with so-called pros when they work on ideas with them.

Thus, while there may be many great ideas out there in
fandom, don't look for them on tv or on screen any
time soon. Until there is a professional
presentation, the producers aren't interested.

Altho', with all the remakes going on, why UFO isn't
in the running, i dunno. it couldn't be (i am soooooo
gonna hear about this) worse than Battlestar Galactica
... or I Robot ..... (which if either bore another
name I would not be annoyed about *chuckle*)

Much as I enjoyed the original, I can see flaws in
logic. (oh, yes, i have had some major disagreements
on the logic problems in UFO........ *laughter*) some
of them have to do with the dichotomy of male thought
vs female thought. i'm not gonna win that one,
obviously. But thinking of the wonderful things we can
do with
GGI, i think UFO is a missed bet in remakes.

but then, i just wish the US got more access to what's
being produced in the rest of the world. even without
dubbing. i like subtitles. <g>

my $0.02 (which was a lot easier to understand when
there was a "cent" sign on the keyboard!!!

laters

dragon



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> my $0.02 (which was a lot easier to understand when
> there was a "cent" sign on the keyboard!!!

I didn't want to leave you hanging...

Although, "I, Robot" did bore me to sleep (I dozed off during one of
the big chase scenes). I have found that the new "Battlestar" is among
the best television has to offer in a long, long time. I grew up
watching the older stuff and I still remember it fondly. However, this
incarnation is far superior regarding the story, character arcs and
dialog, there is almost no comparison to the orginal. It's better (to
me) because of the emphasis on the story and characters.

Clay

"So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."



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Just goes to show how different people are. I thought "I, Robot" was one of the coolest movies. I can't get over how much Will Smith changed form Prince of Belair to super cop. I thought BG was awful because I loved the original so much. I guess it all depends on how you feel about change. I bought the first series of the New Avengers and hated it . I loved it when I was 12 but at 43 Gareth Hunt's acting was abysmal. Joanna Lumley as Purdey was ok. Patrick McNee just looked tired. I loved UFO for what is was in its hayday and the way it is now. If they took the 1980 part of it out, you know the reminder that it is 1980 over and over, a new following may start again. When the new fans find out it is 25 yrs old , boy would they be surprised. Clay <[hidden email]> wrote:I didn't want to leave you hanging...

Although, "I, Robot" did bore me to sleep (I dozed off during one of
the big chase scenes). I have found that the new "Battlestar" is among
the best television has to offer in a long, long time. I grew up
watching the older stuff and I still remember it fondly. However, this
incarnation is far superior regarding the story, character arcs and
dialog, there is almost no comparison to the orginal. It's better (to
me) because of the emphasis on the story and characters.

Clay

"So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Doesn't it just. my biggest problem with i, robot and
BG is that if they'd called them anything else, i'd be
watching them. while i respect mr. smith's acting
ability, i have such strong memories of the Asimov
"source material" that i'm affronted by the use of the
title for something that is technically a much
different story than those the author told. i
understand that a screen play is different from a book
or story --- but there were underlying premises that
the movie ignores. and this one i just can't distance
myself from the original enough to enjoy the story
they're telling. as for BG ... as it bears no
resemblence to the original, i think i resent using
the name to garner audience. i even like some of the
ideas ... but ... personal glitches ....

which brings us around to UFO and what if the name was
used, but all the underlying premises changed. ....
ook. foster is black and american, straker is a woman,
foster is a kangaroo with cybernetic implants .....
*dragon falls over laughing* general henderson is
Chinese, and the whole thing is set in Japan while
under attack by Godzilla .. again. <g> sometimes i
look at remakes and wonder why they bother. pick up
the story at an intelligent point in time, add
characters who work in the basic plotline, and go on
... (Shades of the last Dark Shadows entry ... most of
the viewers who have seen the original didn't want a
rehash of what had been, but answers to questions that
were left in limbo. UFO's story line could use some
answers also. Unfortunately, Peter Jackson only does
movies ..... *sigh* Now that would be a mind to turn
to a UFO movie to not make it cheesy. Well, not
cheesier than it already was. LOL

So, have we wishfully cast this mythical remake? I
vote for Billy Idol to play straker ....... new cover:
Straker as a fading rock star (apologies to mr. idol.
not fading, of course) now involved with a production
company .... hmmmmm --- and just where are we hiding
all his techno goodies? At his palatial mansion in
*insert island* *dragon falls over laughing again.
thud*

ok, this has become silly.

laters

dragon



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