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

[David Lubkin]

Hal Finney wrote:

>Overall, I was pleased with the show's exploration of ideas.  The mere
>fact of a non-dystopian future is a pretty radical concept today.
>But they went beyond that and explored concepts that are the kinds of
>things that we discuss all the time.  That's very brave for a mainstream
>show.  They also seemed pretty sharp technically and I didn't see any
>major errors.

My first reaction was the rant of a younger Harlan Ellison against the 
stupidity of television. This show was not 2030. It was 2003 with a couple 
of new capabilities. Hair, clothing, furniture, vehicles, behavior, 
language -- it was all a mundane now.

It fails miserably as sf. It *does* work as propaganda, however. I talked 
to Marc Stiegler about this once. He doesn't try to paint a plausible broad 
view of the future; he tries to influence it through his writing.

The reality is that most people don't read sf (or even read books), don't 
know much science, and aren't that smart. But they do watch tv.

The clone plotline cut through to a simple, human reality that viewers 
could relate to, better than any number of EXI/WTA talking points or 
talking heads.

The other story, I thought, came out stronger for remaining unmodified but 
it was also about respecting individual choice.

One of the executive producer is Paul Attanasio, who wrote the entertaining 
but flawed Sphere and The Sum of All Fears, along with Donnie Brasco and 
Quiz Show. He's also co-creator of the tv show Homicide. Another exec prod 
is Ed Zuckerman, who had a lead role in running JAG, The Agency, and Law 
and Order.

The writers all have solid backgrounds on shows that were both decent and 
successful, but none has written sf at all. Two of the directors have 
modest sf experience.

So it looks like they've got a crew that has a track record of creating tv 
that makes money and wins awards and knows nothing about sf or, presumably, 
what we anticipate for 2030.

The key questions for us are where will the writers come out each week on 
the tough issues and do they have decent technical advisors. I'd be 
delighted if they could get anywhere near Picket Fences. Each week, David 
E. Kelley tackled a tough question and gave a credible presentation of each 
side. "Fair and balanced," as it were.


-- David Lubkin.