Sci-Fi Shows Set In The Future

[Insomnia]

Seriously, what's up with shows set in the future and having phones be clear plastic things that have video conferencing that anyone can see. Computers too!

 

Why is this even a thing?

 

(Star Crossed, Extant, The Lottery, The Strain, and I'm sure I'm blocking out some others, I'm sure of it.)

 

Sorry, I guess I just needed to rant about something.

[ouinason]

Right? No private conversations in the future. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!!

[Actionmage]

As a poster pointed out in an Extant episode thread, the seemingly still-common usage of paper! It wasn't commented on as old-fashioned or looked upon with horror as trees were scarce or anything. What's the point about a show being in the future, even just a decade, without stuff, in general, being different.

 

Like the car ad that uses Dr. Clarke's speech about envisioning the future: "...So if what I say now seems to you, to be very reasonable, then I'll have failed completely. Only if what I tell you appears absolutely unbelievable, have we any chance of visualizing the future as it really will happen."

 

While I am not exactly looking for that level of verisimilitude in all my SF/F, an otherness is appreciated. Recognizable, but different. The cards and paperwork of Battlestar Galactica ('04), the oddly-shaped cards of Star Trek: TOS ( Mudd's Women and the game Eve was playing, Double Jack), and The Wall around the City in Almost Human , for example.

 

As to older shows. I laugh, not cruelly, when I watch Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and see their year markers as "1978". Where are the flying subs?!  Then again, they had nearly hands-free comms in the flying sub, so that is cool.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Actionmage

[friendperidot]

this is the closest thing to the right place for me to put this. Been watching Science Channel, it's one of my go to places on nights I cannot sleep, the show on now is NASA's Unexplained Files. They were talking about the extreme places where life has been found and I kept expecting the narrator to intone "there are those who believe that life here, began out there."

[MarkHB]

Assuming this isn't just a rant thread (not that there's anything wrong with that ;), Jonathan Nolan is developing The Foundation Trilogy as a series for HBO.

[shapeshifter]

A thread for everything and every thread in its place.

http://io9.com/rob-lowe-stars-in-witty-british-miniseries-about-a-co-1680749966

Rob Lowe Stars In "Witty" British Miniseries About A Comet Apocalypse

IMDb says it's a "comedy," so I'm thinking The Neighbors without the aliens?

[Rick Kitchen]

Most future shows are really far behind what is actually happening today.  We are in the first throes of 3D printers, where we can make just about anything that we can imagine with just a printer.  Don't see much of that happening in future shows.

[magicdog]

Most future shows are really far behind what is actually happening today.  We are in the first throes of 3D printers, where we can make just about anything that we can imagine with just a printer.  Don't see much of that happening in future shows.

 

 

Predicting the future is a bit of a crapshoot.  Some things happen or are delayed due to a variety of situations, many of which are politically and/or financially motivated.

 

For example, the "visaphone" from The Jetsons was developed and exhibited at the NY World's Fair in 1964.  But we haven't really used the technology until the internet age (Skype, Facetime, etc.). 

 

Back in the 80s, we were told paper would hardly be necessary with the coming of computers (the "paperless society").  If anything they created a greater need for it.

 

It's true that TV & film are slower when it comes to technology - especially since production time in Hollywood lags behind production time in Cupertino.  At best it's an educated guess.

[Actionmage]

At best it's an educated guess.

 

So why not just go a little bonkers? The show doesn't have to be right, just internally logical and entertaining. At least, that's the big things that help me when I watch stuff, not even necessarily future stuff. If it's do-able, in-budget, and fun, go for it!

[magicdog]

So why not just go a little bonkers?

 

 

 

I guess that would depend on the intended tone of the film.  "Back To The Future Part II" was pretty bonkers in its depiction of 2015 - except it's 2015 now and virtually nothing depicted in that film came to pass.  Expectations are also high if the film is viewed by those within whose lifetime the "future" depicts.  One could have a film set over a century from now, but none of us is likely to know how right or wrong Hollywood got it.

[Actionmage]

I guess that would depend on the intended tone of the film.

 

What I meant by my "why not go bonkers?", was why not just trust the story? They're fiction. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was set in the mid-70s. Buck Rogers is in the 25th century.  Star Trek is centuries into the future. Yet, folks trusted their stories and came up with stuff that was far-out at the time ( hypo sprays for medicine delivery, flip open communicators, hands-free comms ). Spielberg met with science visionaries to make educated guesses as to how the future would plausibly look like in Minority Report. You can't always do that with a TV budget, so why not have fun, serve the story and have the props, wardrobe and set folks have some extra fun designing the future?

[Chaos Theory]

So why not just go a little bonkers? The show doesn't have to be right, just internally logical and entertaining. At least, that's the big things that help me when I watch stuff, not even necessarily future stuff. If it's do-able, in-budget, and fun, go for it!

Well for me it comes down to whether the show explains how it happened or not. Take Defiance a show set in a future where earth has been teraformed by an alien war an looks nothing like it does now. It plays out like an alien western.

[ennui]

So why not just go a little bonkers? The show doesn't have to be right, just internally logical and entertaining. At least, that's the big things that help me when I watch stuff, not even necessarily future stuff. If it's do-able, in-budget, and fun, go for it!

Well, consider: I watched an educational film about time-travel, and the scientists said that most films get it all wrong, and don't seem to understand the concept. Their pick for the best film interpretation? Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, not the bulk of the film, but specifically the bit at the end in the jail. The scientists thought that little bit was spot-on.

[SmithW6079]

I remember watching "Space: 1999" back in the 1970s, when the future was 1999. I've rediscovered it on YouTube, and also the free streaming app Tubi. A lot of it is corny and cheesy, but it's got a great theme song (season 1 at least), and often thought-provoking stories. I'm enjoying the retro look at the future. 🙂

[Affogato]

On 2/13/2015 at 10:46 PM, Rick Kitchen said:

Most future shows are really far behind what is actually happening today.  We are in the first throes of 3D printers, where we can make just about anything that we can imagine with just a printer.  Don't see much of that happening in future shows.

Replicators