And the winner of our Elevator Pitch Contest is: Jason Dick, for New Horizons!
Takes place about a century from now. Humanity has discovered planets around other stars harbor life. We send out a generation ship, where multiple generations of intrepid explorers will be born and die before it reaches its destination. This show follows their journey, where they are faced with mechanical failure, collisions with small dust grains that cause lots of damage, and people who crack under the stress of their situation. Mostly it’d be about a human drama of extremely driven people who are in a difficult situation, and whose children are forced to carry the torch of their parents.
A well-deserved victory, as Jason has long been one of our most intelligent and helpful commenters. And it’s a good show idea, certainly comparable with many things actually appearing on TV. Jason, shoot us your address and a T-shirt will be forthcoming — soonish.
Interestingly, concepts that took the framework of a conventional sitcom or drama (Friends/ER) and made the characters scientists didn’t fare as well with our voters. This might be a reflection of our voting pool, or a real difficulty involved in translating the life of a scientist into compelling narrative.
December 18th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Congratulations Jason. Now get to work on that 2 hour pilot. Maybe the opening scene is a bay door opens on the ship and a naked body emerges into empty space. A silent scream and then he/she dies within seconds…..
murder? suicide? mercy killing? resources running low and somebody needs to die for the good of all?
Anyway good work.
e.
December 18th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Congrats! You were my close second choice, and would have been first had I been less prone to puerility and prurience.
December 18th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Sounds like Wagon Train, but in a science fiction setting.
December 18th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
What’s the losers’ line again? Oh, right:
“Really, it was an honor to be nominated among such an outstanding group.”
Congrats, Jason.
December 18th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Sean, sorry about the off-topic comment, but you really should see this poignant and thought-provoking essay about the late David Foster Wallace (subject of a post of yours some months ago).
December 18th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
This show could have a great grand finale when they reach the target planet only to find it populated by even more advanced humans who developed relativistic speed travel and passed them en rout!
December 18th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Or apes! Apes that evolved from men! Genius.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Battlestar Galactica meets Firefly meets Earth 2. Sounds like it could be good.
December 18th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
No, that’s just Battlestar Gallactica, only with way more seasons!
December 18th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Thanks everybody! Still a bit surprised that I won!
December 18th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Nice idea, but I have two words for you : The Starlost. Also: Remember that Harlan Ellison is…really into suing people sometimes.
December 19th, 2008 at 2:45 am
Thanks K.Pittman, I can’t remember the name of that series that I watched when I was a kid : it’s Starlost! Even as a kid, I thought it sucked though I remember that scene when the heroes talked to a hologram of the dead captain … who suddenly realized that in reality he is dead, was quite poignant.
Anyway, congrats Jason. Although personally, I am not sure how one can actually “explore” empty space between stars. The “generation ship” idea is a hard one to make interesting. My own favourite idea about “humans facing long term stress” has always been about how astronomers discovered a brown dwarf about to past by our Sun in a thousand years….and completely destabilize the orbits of the planets. I always wondered how humans would react to a thousand year crisis, instead of the standard “asteroid impact” instant-doom scenarios.
December 19th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Nice one Jason. It was a fun contest, and I’m delighted to get the bronze amongst so many super suggestions.
December 19th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I’ll liked it better when it was Battlestar Galactica.
December 20th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Have a read of this little masterpiece during the planning stage.
December 24th, 2008 at 2:48 am
I’ve read a Sci-Fic like this, the society inevitably mutated and the humans (de)evolved into two different species aboard the ship before it could even reach the halfway point several thousand years after the journey’s start. That “advanced humans with FTL” item came in at the end of the story.
Good Luck.