[extropy-chat] Century City: The law show of the future

[Giu1i0 Pri5c0]

>From <a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/16/2133224&mode=thread&tid=123&tid=129&tid=188&tid=99">Slashdot</a>: CBS aired a pilot of a new show called 'Century City' tonight, Tuesday, March 16th. CNN has the story. The executive producer, Ed Zuckerman, had this to say about the future state of the law in America: 'Our future is a positive future. We assume that things are basically going to get better, progress will continue,' Zuckerman says. 'There will be problems -- new inventions, new technologies will bring with them difficulties -- but it's a bright future.' He also makes it clear that 'This is not a 'Blade Runner''. 
>From the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/16/apontv.hector.elizondo.ap/index.html">CNN story</a>: The pilot of "Century City" premieres 9 p.m. EST Tuesday. Another episode airs 10 p.m. Saturday. Then five more weekly episodes are scheduled back in the Tuesday timeslot. Set in 2030, the sleek, pod-shaped offices of the "Century City" law firm Crane, Constable, McNeil and Montero are built on a sound stage in an industrial area near Los Angeles International Airport. "Century City" was originally set 50 years into the future, but Elizondo said it was decided to place it "just far enough away to make it more poignant, to bring it closer to home."
>From the show's <a href="http://kutv.cbsnow.com/primetime/century_city/index.shtml">home page</a> at CBS, the plot of the premiere: A young boy's father wants the right to use the boy's genetic embryo clone to develop a baby who could donate a portion of his liver to save him. The firm also takes on the case of a boy band that is suing its lead singer for not adhering to his contract to keep up his physical appearance.
<a href="http://www.sciscoop.com/story/2004/3/7/6473/67802">SciScoop</a> has a good description of the settings: "Genetic screening has made the population as a whole more content, well adjusted, personally fulfilled, and healthier; indeed, many of the syndromes and diseases that afflicted people in the twentieth century have been eliminated. However, many people voice concerns that humanity is in danger of losing something essential by this trend toward normative homogeneity. They worry that the richness of human experience will be compromised if we diminish our ability to experience boredom, suffering, alienation, and even despair", and much more.
I have not watched Century City (I look forward to watching it and will try to download all episodes), but from the reviews above I think it is a futuristic show produced with a positive attitude. We need more of that. Also, it is important to realize that getting from here to there is not a problem of science or technology, that will be developed anyway. The problem to explore is how society will cope with new options, and the work of a legal firm is a good setting to start exploring.