Do You Think Larry Niven's Ring World Series Would work Well as a TV Series ?

[Ursa major]

Sorry, but it doesn't clear things up at all.

I thought I'd hammered home what my concerns were, and they had absolutely nothing at all to do with the techniques used in the films. It's just that beyond a certain point, if the disparity in size between two objects is too great, it's difficult, if not impossible, to indicate how big or small one of them is by using nothing but the other one as a comparison. The disparity between sandworm and person is too great for a successful one-step comparison; the disparities between a person and a shuttle craft, and between a shuttle craft and a space station, are not too great, giving us a useful two-step comparison between us and the space station.

To make this point clearer, I'll use an absurd comparison: one cannot indicate just how big (or small) a planet is** by comparing it to a person. Similarly, one can't show how small or big a bacterium is*** by comparing it to a person.


** - Compared (naturally) to other planets.

** - Compared (naturally) to other bacteria.

 

[Lew Rockwell Fan]

By television I mean many of the established players e.g. BBC and equivalents. The cost of infrastructure updates for them to deliver material is high, as witnessed when upgrading to HD. The internet has fewer of these problems. More specifically, the technical and financial costs are distributed more widely. When Youtube began supporting 4K several years ago they simply switched it on. It cost me nothing.

As 4K gains ground the push will soon be on for 8K. This is so expensive that the Japanese broadcasting corp are jumping straight to 8K and skipping 4K. The BBC for instance have no plan to roll out 4K leaving them susceptible to being overtaken.

So, I guess what I am saying is a decentralised, market-driven process trumps anything centralised.

Thank you for clarifying it. If I understand correctly, you are saying broadcast, and in consequence scheduled programming, will disappear as a means of content distribution and be replaced by the internet. I agree. It may take longer than it should because the networks will buy protection from the politicians, to the detriment of consumers.

But it isn't obvious to me that the actual companies will disappear. Heck, American Express is still around and they were a freight company using horses and wagons in the 1850s.

 

[gdoc]

Thank you for clarifying it. If I understand correctly, you are saying broadcast, and in consequence scheduled programming, will disappear as a means of content distribution and be replaced by the internet. I agree. It may take longer than it should because the networks will buy protection from the politicians, to the detriment of consumers.

But it isn't obvious to me that the actual companies will disappear. Heck, American Express is still around and they were a freight company using horses and wagons in the 1850s.

Yes, you re quite right. Your response was more specific than mine, and more correct. The nature of the beast will change, and inevitably that means some current players (those who cannot adapt) will die off, with the more nimble surviving as content producers of some stripe.

A big factor for me is how poorly adapted mainstream media outlets tend to be. Traditional newspapers are a good example; few have adapted well to the Internet. In the UK, the Guardian is famously touted as a great example of a traditional outlet that is thriving. Few people realise it now runs at a loss, and funds itself through a trust fund set up it rosier times. Once that pot of cash runs out it cannot survive.

Personally I love the fusion of technology we are seeing. Players like Amazon and Netflicks producing original content, less bound to traditional business models based on advertising. Choice is good. But I do think some of the bigger players still live in the twentieth century.

 

[Dave]

Well, Tri-D TV, fully immersive VR sets and Holodecks would be great, but I'm not sure I'll see them in my lifetime, and I would quite like to see a Ringworld film or TV series before I die. I quite agree that the expanse and depth couldn't be conveyed on present TV, but that a film (even a Peter Jackson film) would be too short to convey the scope - so there is a dilemma over the medium used there. I don't believe this rules it out completely. The reason there hasn't been one yet has just been very protracted wrangling over rights issues.

I would suggest using the "Fleet of Worlds" (and four sequels) series by Larry Niven and Edward M Lerner. They re-use some of the best of the old short stories but fill in gaps and plot holes. They have better character development (which someone complained about) and add a few interesting new ones. They are each about the right length of a TV season. They aren't set on the Ringworld itself and so filming would not become a series of shots of a CGI generated Ringworld without any story (like the first Star Trek film - the Slow Motion Picture.)

I also think that where Niven also excelled was in his imagination of alien species. None could be acted by a "man in a plastic suit" and I would like to see Piersons Puppeteers, Kzinti, Jotoki and Grogs brought to life by CGI.

 

[2DaveWixon]

Yes, you could easily use the ring itself as the basis for a great deal. No doubt Niven fans would be upset if the original characters were omitted, but you could use them for the opening episode. Then conveniently kill them perhaps.

Even something in the Star Trek mould would work; a set group exploring the world once their own ship is damaged. I believe the Star Trek producers found seven characters to be the ideal number to keep things interesting.

Oh, no, I'm not suggesting killing off the "original characters" at all! Rather, I'd suggest use them in the first couple of episodes, and then do, as it were, spin-offs, featuring some person they had met after he/she went off to an adventure of his/her own...

Dave

 

[cidetraq]

I noticed that Niven doesn't write much about what's going on in Louis Wu's head, only the action that's happening "on-screen" so to speak, so a film/ TV adaptation wouldn't lose too much in that way.

 

[DrMclony]

Honestly I wouldn't complain if they tried it. I have to admit I really enjoyed the computer game series. They were awesome.

 

[BAYLOR]

Perhaps Amazon ?