The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be
Posted on | March 23, 2004 at 10:51 pm | 2 Comments
There’s a new TV show on CBS called Century City, where Horatio Hornblower and Batmanuel are lawyers in 2030 Los Angeles. I loathe lawyer shows, but since it’s Science Fiction, I had to give it a try anyway. The show does an okay job of wrangling with sticky moral issues that will probably show up in the future (cloning, virtual rape, etc.), but if they really want to capture the SF geek demographic, they’re going to have to go further. I have some ideas for future (ha ha!) plotlines I’d like to see:
Woman sues jetpack manufacturer after husband slams into building while flying to work.
Genetically-modified hyper-intelligent dog wants to become emancipated from owner (while genetically-modified hyper-intelligent cat sleeps on radiator).
Walt Disney (whose frozen body is revived) sues the Disney corporation for besmirching the company name.
Alien colonists take the government to court because they want a little piece of L.A. to settle on and call their own.
The first people who had LASIK operations in the 90s sue the optometry industry because their eyes eventually fell out.
Man with head of a fly sues teleporter manufacturer.
Robot is accused of murder despite being programmed to obey the Three Laws of Robotics.
Video game characters sue for the right to die a real, lasting death.
Users of Windows 2030 (Home Edition) sue Microsoft because their PCs keep crashing.
The RIAA sues people who telepathically listen in on other people who are listening to music.
The most powerful law-enforcement agency in the world, the Grammar Police, round up writers of personal websites and put them on trial. 2 Phun!
The cast and crew of The Simpsons sue to be let out of their contracts at last.
…and that’s just off the top of my head. Okay, I stole a couple of those, but so what. My point is that since it’s an SF show, I want to see spaceships, death rays, and large-breasted alien women in skimpy costumes.
Latre.
Comments
2 Responses to “The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be”
March 27th, 2004 @ 7:32 pm
I think I saw quite a few of the above as ‘Twilight Zone’ and ‘The Outer Limits’ episodes already.
But:
> since it’s Science Fiction, I had to give it a try anyway
That’s where you went wrong… forgetting Sturgeon’s Law, and forgetting that if something turns out good, you’re plugged in enough to hear about it sooner or later, so it’s safe to wait for the DVDs these days.
The networks know this but rely on people sticking with patterns formed back in the ‘old days’ when circumstances were different; that’s why it’s good to reevaluate the way you do stuff now and then.
March 28th, 2004 @ 4:11 pm
I don’t think that CBS is courting SF fans in any way, shape or form for this show. I think it’s just a way for them to have yet another lawyer show on the air – one with a slightly different twist that will hopefully hook people. I think the SciFi channel itself is working on one about dead ghost lawyers or something. In other words, Century City exists as a lawyer show with some SF elements, rather than an SF show with some law & order elements.