How can a sci fi universe be fun and optimistic without being boring and sterile?

[CmdrShepN7]

The new Star Trek is just not doing it for me! Sci fi TV writers need to come up with something optimistic like Star Trek but is something that is new and refreshing! I love The Expanse but would like something that is more optimistic and gets me viewer excited for the future!

I'm tired of Klingons and Romulans! We need new and imaginative aliens. And they can't just look cool! They need interesting stories and play a big part in the overall plot as well!

One of my complaints about Star Trek is it does not show a lot of human society. How about having cool stuff like mech football?

How would you feel about a future human society that still prefers real alcohol?
Synthehol

It would be cool to see alien exchange students in human high schools! I don't care if this is scientifically unfeasible! I just think it looks cool and fun!

Is Mass Effect the next great space opera to be brought to TV? A sci fi series with a serious story and serious characters.

But is not afraid to be fun every once in a while.

Do we need Mass Effect on TV? Or do we need something else?

 

[.matthew.]

The Mass Effect plot got gradually worse for me, I loved the first, liked the second, and the third... well. It's also not a world I would revisit.

I do agree on the lack of optimism in current sci-fi though, and have given up on Picard for the same reason. The Orville is the only show I can think of that is happy sci-fi right now.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

The new Star Trek is just not doing it for me! Sci fi TV writers need to come up with something optimistic like Star Trek but is something that is new and refreshing! I love The Expanse but would like something that is more optimistic and gets me viewer excited for the future!

I'm tired of Klingons and Romulans! We need new and imaginative aliens. And they can't just look cool! They need interesting stories and play a big part in the overall plot as well!

One of my complaints about Star Trek is it does not show a lot of human society. How about having cool stuff like mech football?

How would you feel about a future human society that still prefers real alcohol?
Synthehol

It would be cool to see alien exchange students in human high schools! I don't care if this is scientifically unfeasible! I just think it looks cool and fun!

Is Mass Effect the next great space opera to be brought to TV? A sci fi series with a serious story and serious characters.

But is not afraid to be fun every once in a while.

Do we need Mass Effect on TV? Or do we need something else?

That's some serious astroturfing here, buddy.

 

[Guttersnipe]

The Hitchhiker's Guide series and Phule series are pretty funny and inventive.

 

[Ashley R]

The Orville.
The new Lost in Space with caveats about Dr. Smith, but it is fun.
Killjoys, no aliens, but is fun in a mad as frogs kinda of way.

 

[BAYLOR]

Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison

 

[Trollheart]

Check out Vagrant Queen, and Killjoys is great fun too. Let's not forget the Boys from the Dwarf either...!

Oh, and what about Futurama! Bite my shiny metal what?

 

[Mark Turnbull]

Saga (amazing graphic novels) and weirdly optimistic - the world is in not at all - but within it there's such a great love between the family at the centre of it (blood related and the people they accumulate along the way). Bad things do happen to everyone though so... it's definitely not original Star Trek optimism.

 

[Rodders]

What about Farscape? I know some of the story is dark and emotional, but there is a lot of fun in that series,

 

[Vladd67]

The Hitchhiker's Guide series and Phule series are pretty funny and inventive.

H2G2 doesn’t really have a happy ending though.

 

[Joshua Jones]

Going back to the original question, I really don't foresee Mass Effect being a television series. The strength of the series was always the self direction, and this is something which cannot be recreated on television.

I think the problem with optimistic SF at this point is, quite frankly, not many people feel extremely optimistic about the future. Here in the States, we are dealing with riots, pandemics, the hyper-partisanship of politics, near wars... and that's just this year. One could argue that an optimistic future is exactly what we need right now, but it most likely will not resonate with the audience. Darker fiction, apocalypses, and the like are much more likely to resonate, and therefore bring in bigger audience and associated advert revenue. Also, shows which emphasize the positive aspects of the future may be considered tone deaf, because the running assumption is that a grand and prosperous society ignores some underlying problem or oppression.

Regarding actually executing it, I haven't the foggiest idea. That isn't what I write, read, or watch, so I don't pretend to know what appeals to those who like those things.

 

[Trollheart]

Vagrant Queen, Futurama, Hitch-Hiker's as already mentioned, plus a pretty clever book series called Space Shuttle I read a while back; then there's Babylon 5 which, while there may not be the bright-eyed optimism/naivete of the original Trek has got a good message of survival and friendship and co-operation, triumphing over evil and so on. And what about Star Wars? The Orville? Killjoys?

Edit: Yeah sorry, I see I said this already. For some reason the thread didn't show my other post.

 

[JohnM]

Ah, the pull of the non-optimistic. The naive original Star Trek.

Right now, the company I work for has a lot of books in print. Optimism is at the core. Even the Press Releases say that. Give me the original three Star Wars and the original Star Trek. I suspect that for some the appeal of the new is two parts. One, it's not the old stuff. Two, it's new and better than having nothing to watch.

The Orville? Tried to like it. Just too many dumb moments. Vagrant Queen has been cancelled.

 

[InfiniteStarsDev]

Oh oh oh! This is exactly what I've been trying to write!! There is way too much dystopian stuff out there! Why? We're depressed enough already. We need more feel good stuff!

(btw - I shrieked with excitement when I saw your post! You probably owe my wife a full cup of coffee because she spilled hers.)

The way I see it, obstacles and challenges still exist in an Utopian society, it's just how we handle it. When a billion dollars in government goes missing people react "Oh, they'll find it. It's just an accounting mistake" instead of shouting "Corruption!" If there are no challenges then it becomes boring.

I've only written the first episode of Infinite Stars so far but it's something that I am extremely passionate about! Also, I love your idea of robot sports. I'm totally going to use that.

 

[Vladd67]

The way I see it, obstacles and challenges still exist in an Utopian society, it's just how we handle it. When a billion dollars in government goes missing people react "Oh, they'll find it. It's just an accounting mistake" instead of shouting "Corruption!" If there are no challenges then it becomes boring.

That reminds me of the story concerning Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North in the Iran Contra affair. To help in the release of American hostages in the Lebanon North helped organise the illegal sale of arms to Iran, and then arranged for the profit of the sales to be diverted to the Contra anti-communist rebel groups in Nicaragua, now when this was discovered it was agreed funding could continue as long as it came from other sources. The Sultan of Brunei donated $10 million, unfortunately, North's secretary had made a mistake with North's Swiss bank account number and the money vanished. Some versions of this story have the money disappearing into the Swiss Banking system never to be heard of again, but luckily for all concerned, a Swiss Businessman discovered the extra $10 million in his account, contacted the authorities and eventually the Sultan received his money back with interest.

 

[tinkerdan]

One man's utopia can be another's Dystopia...and so it goes with many things.
I think Mark Twain addressed the issue with a piece about how one mans heaven might be another mans hell.

Anyway who know maybe:
THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE IS A GOOD THING
Hows that for optimistic fiction titles?