You are the head of a TV network and streaming service. The Board has greenlit major new initiatives, one of which is the revival or reboot of three cult-classic sci-fi series, all meant to attract and unite older and younger viewers alike to maximize viewership and revenue across multiple demographics.
Hooray, unity!
You must decide which three series to return to the screen, and you must decide if they will be revivals or reboots.
Please provide the following:
- State the three sci-fi shows you would revive.
- Indicate if each would be a continuation, a soft reboot, or a complete restart.
- Give a brief synopsis of each revived program.
Here's my list:
Babylon 5 (1993) - Complete restart.
J. Michael Straczynski's masterpiece touched on every sci-fi trope in existence as it told an epic, highly spiritual, five-year-long tale of war, betrayal, love, death, and rebirth. Many people still have much love for this show, but time has marched on and taken most of the primary cast with it.
While a continuation using Babylon stations is impossible due to the show's ending, the story discussed interdimensional travel (five alternate stations), and it never mentioned if a new series of stations followed the decommissioning of the fifth and final one—Babylon 5. Accordingly, the stations would be Babylon 5 and 4 (alternate dimension) or it would be a Babylon-class vessel named Epsilon Station, the design of which would mildly reminiscent of Babylon 4 and 5 in general design, but not an exact copy.
Of all the series mentioned in this list, it is the original Babylon 5 that best related to modern America despite being filmed 33 years ago. In the series, the fascist President of Earth dominates the world though repugnant actions similar to those a certain American president is accused (👈 See the word, folks?) of taking.
Caprica (2010) - Complete restart.
This is the series producers chose to make as the follow-up to Battlestar Galactica (2003). It was the wrong choice at the time given Galactica's end left fans divided. Starting a new BSG universe (yes, I said it) using Caprica to lead into and later detail the first Colonial war to save humanity would both capture existing fans and satisfy the need to tell a different story, one that could mix select elements of the prior versions of BSG.
Minus the chimp in a daggit costume, of course.
By design, the show would need to move quickly, and focus on themes such as job loss due to AI and accusations of AI usage facing people today, and coming issues such as human/AI relationships and what such a family dynamic would be like from legal, ethical, and cultural standpoints.
Revolution (2015) - Soft reboot.
A world without electricity—but with sentient electrical organisms that somehow exist—sets the stage. The show could explore many modern themes, especially the exploration of self and the corruptive influence of absolute power. It could show how unfettered authority contorts the societies of the controllers and the controlled into twisted shadows of their former selves.
Those are my three. What are yours? Let me know in the comments below!
-RWARwriter