We ran through this some time ago, where Jatraqueros post ideas for television shows. I thought I'd revive the idea.
Pandemonium Alley: Alexander 'Sandy' Murawski is a private detective and all around errand boy in a world that is populated with fallen angels and rebellious demons. The angels have fallen because they've lost faith-- not in God, but in the goodness of mankind. The demons rebelled, not against God, but against Lucifer, because his obsession with misery is ruining their opportunity to claim True Power. Sandy and his autistic partner, Brick, take on the shady side of good, and the brightening forces of evil in this gritty, witty, adventure series.
Central High: Central High, in Madison, WI is the site of the next Apocalypse. The forces of evil and good converge on the school, and seek adherents among the student body. Teen angst and youthful optimism war with rusalka, vampires, devas, and seraphim.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
*blink* There is no Central High School in Madison. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Just like there's no Midtown High in Queens. Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Yes, Tom, I know.
That's part of the mystery.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
There isn't one now. But ya shoulda seen it before the Apocalypse.
[ November 15, 2004, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Well, the joke there is that if there WERE a Central High in Madison, it would be underwater. Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Oh no. My thread's been derailed.
:poetic justice:
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Poetic Justice: The ghost of Emiy Dickinson and a young, rather militant Robert Haas deal out mean shots of compressed imagery, internal rhymes and tortured metres in their mission to keep the streets of Boston Mass. clean and safe.
EDIT: With special appearances by Gerard Manley Hopkins as a vigilante priest who springs his rhythm on ne'er do wells and William S. Burroughs and his deadly streams of conscience.
[ November 15, 2004, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: Zalmoxis ]
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Scott, this thread title really scared me, I thought someone was actually idiotic enough to try to make a TV show out of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books! Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Well, wouldn't that be what happened if they mixed Survivor and American Idol?
[ November 15, 2004, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
I've always thought that a psychic would be a great character to build a detective show around. I don't mean a "real" psychic, either, but an unabashedly (as only the audience knows) phony one. Successful phony psychics depend on excellent powers of deduction, observation, and some fairly good insight into human foibles. Not only that, people open up to them simply because they think they're psychic. Fill out the cast with some support staff for the psychic/con artist, some annoyed police who know the psychic is a phony but can't prove it, and you just might have a show. The "psychic" would have to be someone who makes their living off the rich, rather than conning retired people out of their savings, though.
And, yes, I had this idea before Code of the Lifemaker came out. One of the main characters there is a "psychic," but used (effectively) in a great science fiction novel.
[ November 15, 2004, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
Posted by Boon (Member # 4646) on :
When I saw the title...
What if they made a show with...well, almost ANY premise would work to start I suppose, and then, at the end of the show, they gave choices for how next week's episode would go. Then the audience could call in, Idol style, and "write" the story.
"Call 1-800-1ADVENTURE if Jack falls down." "Call 1-800-2ADVENTURE if Jack breaks his crown."
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Stephen, I'd like that show as long as there was never an ambiguous event that made the cynical con-psychic do something actuall psychic.
No, "But boss, the bulb burnt out - those lights didn't come from the projector."
Dagonee
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Dag,
that's my feeling as well - I wouldn't want this to have any "maybe she is, maybe she isn't" moments in it. The series would revolve around the exploitation of the "psychic" of other people's gullibility, combined with the aformentioned traits. (I've kinda decided this would be a great female detective role, but it could work for someone of either sex.)
Professional "psychics" would hate it, of course, since some of the show would reveal some tricks of the trade and lead people to view highly-paid figures who "talk to the dead" with a lot more skepticism.
[ November 16, 2004, 03:49 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
sn, did you see the episode of South Park where one of the kids (Stan?) was trying to prove John Edwards was a fake and got his own show? No matter what he did, he couldn't convince people he wasn't really talking to the dead. I laughed my butt off.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
One of the best SP episodes ever.
Stan is so funny when he's realizing people are idiots.
And I'm liking the psychic show more and more, especially if it showed all the tricks of the trade ala CSI.
Dagonee
[ November 16, 2004, 04:43 PM: Message edited by: Dagonee ]
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Avidreader,
I didn't see that SouthPark episode - I'll watch for it. (They've done a couple dynamite disability-related shows I have on tape.)
Dag - glad you like it. Back about 20 years ago when I still thought I might write a novel, this was the concept I was working on (thought it would be fun and it just might sell).
Rabblerousing doesn't leave much time to even pretend I might have a novel in me - at least until I retire. Which won't be any time soon.
(BTW, I think I managed to annoy the heck out of a certain Dominican priest last night - but I think you would have approved, Dag. )
[ November 16, 2004, 05:22 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Everyone needs to be annoyed every now and then - it's good for them. Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Actually, Dag, I'm seriously thinking this particular priest is way overdue for a protest from disability activists.
Way way overdue.
[/thread derailment]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I'd be interested in hearing the details if you can stand typing up work-related stuff.
Dagonee
Posted by Puppy (Member # 6721) on :
I'd like to see a TV series based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft. It would be set in the 20's and 30's, and would have an X-files structure — a different bizarre paranormal phenomenon each week, all adding up to a much larger and darker threat. Only instead of aliens and government conspiracies, it would be the old gods rising from the deep and consuming mankind
Oh, and despair. Lots of despair. No hope for victory, period.
[ November 16, 2004, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: Puppy ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Actually, I think Lovecraft could be updated quite well. Doesn't he have some stories where mathematical calculations bring something dark to the surface?
Imagine what could be conjured by a teraflop processor.
Dagonee
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
quote: I'd be interested in hearing the details if you can stand typing up work-related stuff.
Tomorrow, probably. Usual nighttime rules apply in relation to work stuff.
I'll probably link to another thread when I do it, since I talked about him in a thread I think still exists and then we can take it off this thread and leave it for discussing TV shows of the future. Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
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