21st Century: a complaint
October 13, 2015 11:49 AM Subscribe
I want to complain to the studio execs who commissioned the current season of "21st century"; your show is broken. I say this as a viewer coming in with low expectations. ... Whose idea was it to hire the ghosts of Philip K. Dick and George Orwell as showrunners anyway?
A review of the current season of reality by noted author (and MeFi's own) Charlie Stross.
I mean, what are we to believe, that jet fuel can melt steel girders? Boy, I really hope someone got fired for that blunder.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:00 PM on October 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 12:00 PM on October 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
I'm still not convinced that ANYTHING has happened since 1977. I'd say read my book on the topic but I can't be sure I even wrote it.
posted by philip-random at 12:06 PM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 12:06 PM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
Wait 'til you see what they've got planned for sweeps.
posted by PlusDistance at 12:09 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by PlusDistance at 12:09 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
We'll just do what we always do at this point in a ridiculous new season: bring in the Daleks.
If the Tenth Doctor is the one slated to come in to resolve things, I AM SO DOWN WITH THIS.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:13 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
If the Tenth Doctor is the one slated to come in to resolve things, I AM SO DOWN WITH THIS.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:13 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Donnie Darko had it right, the world ended back in 1988, everything since then is nothing more echoes, the fever dream consciousness of dying synapses in a dead universe.
It's the most sensible explanation I've seen. How else do you explain the ubiquity of the Bush family?
posted by leotrotsky at 12:19 PM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
It's the most sensible explanation I've seen. How else do you explain the ubiquity of the Bush family?
posted by leotrotsky at 12:19 PM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Let me just add to the list of strange inconsistencies: Playboy no longer publishing nude pictures. Apparently the show is fine with depicting a never-ending flood of violence, but nudity is a no-go!
posted by nubs at 12:21 PM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by nubs at 12:21 PM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
Alternate theory: We're in a wish universe created by Dick Cheney after he found a genie's lamp in CIA storage in 1999.
posted by The Whelk at 12:21 PM on October 13, 2015 [16 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 12:21 PM on October 13, 2015 [16 favorites]
Donnie Darko had it right, the world ended back in 1998, everything since then is nothing more echoes, the fever dream of a dying universe
It's the most sensible explanation I've seen. How else do you explain the ubiquity of the Bush family?
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. ...There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
- Douglas Adams
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:22 PM on October 13, 2015 [15 favorites]
It's the most sensible explanation I've seen. How else do you explain the ubiquity of the Bush family?
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. ...There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
- Douglas Adams
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:22 PM on October 13, 2015 [15 favorites]
If you were hoping for a really relentless story packed with epic tragedy and mind-boggling spectacle, you can just wait a season or two for climate change to really kick in.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:22 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:22 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
The article linked within the article, about World War II, was pretty great.
posted by latkes at 12:26 PM on October 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by latkes at 12:26 PM on October 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
I'm still not convinced that ANYTHING has happened since 1977. I'd say read my book on the topic but I can't be sure I even wrote it.
posted by philip-random at 12:06 PM on October 13 [2 favorites +] [!]
posted by philip-random at 12:06 PM on October 13 [2 favorites +] [!]
- Not 1977. February 20th, 1974.
- This is, as we both know, not when events stopped happening, but instead when the spurious time inserted by the agents of the Black Iron Prison stopped and real time began again.
- the empire never ended.
Two days ago I started VALIS, and yesterday I started Legends (made by 21st Century... Fox, actually). Its amazing the places Dick's ideas of people being stripped from their identities turn up.
posted by lownote at 12:34 PM on October 13, 2015
posted by lownote at 12:34 PM on October 13, 2015
you can just wait a season or two for climate change to really kick in.
I dunno if the "eco-collapse ending" rumors are about the setting's ecology, or its economy...
posted by Apocryphon at 12:36 PM on October 13, 2015
I dunno if the "eco-collapse ending" rumors are about the setting's ecology, or its economy...
posted by Apocryphon at 12:36 PM on October 13, 2015
you can just wait a season or two for climate change to really kick in.
Yeah, but they'll probably just introduce a last-minute deus ex machina, like cold fusion or something corny like that, and hit the big RESET button.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:53 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, but they'll probably just introduce a last-minute deus ex machina, like cold fusion or something corny like that, and hit the big RESET button.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:53 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I always thought that OBL was like a villain from a Phillip K Dick novel. He suddenly would appear on television and denounce the main character, George W. Bush. Bombs would go off, etc.
posted by Nevin at 12:54 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Nevin at 12:54 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, at least the showrunner took the "PLEES SHOW ME ROBOTS ON MARRS" letter that five-year-old me sent in 1985 seriously. Likewise the "I like butts; make leggings-as-pants a thing" letter I wrote as a teenager.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:55 PM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:55 PM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
I get what he's complaining about, but I've found it all makes a lot more sense if you watch the online extras and mini-episodes.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:59 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 12:59 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
And because I don't want to be all negative, the Pluto subplot shows some promise and a chance to introduce some unexpected elements.
posted by nubs at 1:14 PM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by nubs at 1:14 PM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'd start up a cult around PKD's metaphysical visions, but unfortunately all the cultural oxygen for that sort of thing has been sucked out of the metaphorical room by that other scifi cult.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
also I'm super lazy.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
, but I've found it all makes a lot more sense if you watch the online extras and mini-episodes.
Speaking of which, has anyone heard any updates about a sequel to H+?
posted by Nevin at 1:20 PM on October 13, 2015
Speaking of which, has anyone heard any updates about a sequel to H+?
posted by Nevin at 1:20 PM on October 13, 2015
And the commercials are terrible, too. Not to mention they're breeding out of control. They've even gotten to my phone!
posted by tommasz at 1:28 PM on October 13, 2015
posted by tommasz at 1:28 PM on October 13, 2015
The whole "Middle Eastern Taliban as an existential threat to the Union" thing was pretty implausible, but now they expect us to accept that an equal and opposite Taliban has fired up in the US? And that they have acquired so much influence that people are running scared of being named Speaker of the House? Sheesh, it's like they're not even trying anymore.
posted by bitmage at 1:28 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by bitmage at 1:28 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
BUT WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET TO THE FIREWORKS FACTORY?!!
posted by entropicamericana at 1:29 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 1:29 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Stross is close but he didn't connect the last two dots. Russia is now waging war on the terrorists in Syria and as we know from the Chechnya shit they know how to finish the job. The thing to do now is stay out of their way (which doesn't even need a decision since the Pentagon ain't going to get in the way of a nuclear power) and the one guy on American media who seems to know this?
I typed their name but I can't bring myself to click on post with it in the box.
posted by bukvich at 1:33 PM on October 13, 2015
I typed their name but I can't bring myself to click on post with it in the box.
posted by bukvich at 1:33 PM on October 13, 2015
I dunno, the "well, orbital alien megastructures are among the least problematic explanation" subplot seems like a winner.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 1:34 PM on October 13, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by the phlegmatic king at 1:34 PM on October 13, 2015 [12 favorites]
Very cool. I had not heard of that yet.
posted by Nevin at 1:45 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Nevin at 1:45 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm old enough to remember in 1967 when CBS and Walter Cronkite's just-before-PrimeTime-Sunday-evening history show "The Twentieth Century" changed title and theme to the science show "The Twenty-First Century". Big mistake. There was no possibility NBC and ABC would go along with that version of the future, and that just began the infighting that just got worse when FOX network began.
As much as we like to see a variety of voices involved in plotting things out, This Century desperately needs a strong 'Showrunner'. And I DON'T mean Aaron Sorkin. Or J.J. Abrams. A big NO to Chuck Lorre or Dick "L&O" Wolf. Josh Whedon and Vince Gilligan kill off too many good characters and Shonda Rhimes doesn't kill off enough. It's hard to find good help in Hollywood these days. (And a smart showrunner would dump Roger Ailes and Seth MacFarlane on day one)
One criticism of CStross: one of his links goes to off-guardian.org, one of the most biased, fact-free 'news' sites on the Web. If cortex made Markov chains consisting of only Breitbart and RussiaToday content, it would be more reliable than Off-Guardian. Yes, their tagline says "Facts should be sacred", which is why the site believes in never revealing any to the unwashed masses. And I applaud the mods for deleting EVERY front-page post that contained a link to it; keep up the good work. But I digress.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:53 PM on October 13, 2015
As much as we like to see a variety of voices involved in plotting things out, This Century desperately needs a strong 'Showrunner'. And I DON'T mean Aaron Sorkin. Or J.J. Abrams. A big NO to Chuck Lorre or Dick "L&O" Wolf. Josh Whedon and Vince Gilligan kill off too many good characters and Shonda Rhimes doesn't kill off enough. It's hard to find good help in Hollywood these days. (And a smart showrunner would dump Roger Ailes and Seth MacFarlane on day one)
One criticism of CStross: one of his links goes to off-guardian.org, one of the most biased, fact-free 'news' sites on the Web. If cortex made Markov chains consisting of only Breitbart and RussiaToday content, it would be more reliable than Off-Guardian. Yes, their tagline says "Facts should be sacred", which is why the site believes in never revealing any to the unwashed masses. And I applaud the mods for deleting EVERY front-page post that contained a link to it; keep up the good work. But I digress.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:53 PM on October 13, 2015
No, You Don't Live in a Modern Day Version of The Truman Show, Why Would You Even Ask That?
posted by ckape at 3:06 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ckape at 3:06 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry, everybody, I tried to get Iain M. Banks hired as the new showrunner. Should've lobbied harder.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
This post made me feel better about watching Doctor Who, so I appreciate that.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 3:34 PM on October 13, 2015
posted by Pater Aletheias at 3:34 PM on October 13, 2015
What a fucking amateur. This guy has obviously never read Zizek's alternate reading of the 21st century, which shows that not only was all of this deliberate, in fact the opposite reading is true! The 21st century is a sly satire which, through recognition and analysis of its plot holes, allows us to put language to unutterable but obvious truths.
posted by codacorolla at 3:37 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 3:37 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'd start up a cult around PKD's metaphysical visions, but unfortunately all the cultural oxygen for that sort of thing has been sucked out of the metaphorical room by that other scifi cult.
If you ever get it off the ground, I'll be there, in my scramble suit.
posted by officer_fred at 4:16 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you ever get it off the ground, I'll be there, in my scramble suit.
posted by officer_fred at 4:16 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, but they'll probably just introduce a last-minute deus ex machina
That would be so lame!
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:43 PM on October 13, 2015
That would be so lame!
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:43 PM on October 13, 2015
Pope Guilty: "I'm sorry, everybody, I tried to get Iain M. Banks hired as the new showrunner. Should've lobbied harder."
He did some brief showrunning a few decades ago, when the earth was visited by GCU Arbitrary 1977-1978, but unfortunately they decided to leave us alone as a control group in the grand experiment of the galaxy.
posted by barnacles at 5:55 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
He did some brief showrunning a few decades ago, when the earth was visited by GCU Arbitrary 1977-1978, but unfortunately they decided to leave us alone as a control group in the grand experiment of the galaxy.
posted by barnacles at 5:55 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I tend to forgive the 21st centuries writers. The last season was 1/2 industrial slaughter 1/2 waiting for everyone to die in atomic fire. There was never supposed to be a 21st century. It was all supposed to end sometime in the 1990's. Then the writers chickened out, wrapped everything up, and everyone was left scrambling. Some people thought they should just wrap it up, declare the end of history and devote the airtime to a self-congratulatory documentary about economics. But the show must go on, so the writers just started throwing any little minor plot point that had been previously overshadowed by the whole aborted buildup towards nuclear holocaust at the wall and seeing what stuck.
posted by Grimgrin at 5:57 PM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Grimgrin at 5:57 PM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Pope Guilty: "I'm sorry, everybody, I tried to get Iain M. Banks hired as the new showrunner. Should've lobbied harder."
Given that Banks and Pratchett have retired, how plausible is it that we get Gaiman or Mieville in the producer's chair?
posted by cult_url_bias at 6:17 PM on October 13, 2015
Given that Banks and Pratchett have retired, how plausible is it that we get Gaiman or Mieville in the producer's chair?
posted by cult_url_bias at 6:17 PM on October 13, 2015
I hear that Bryan Fuller is free.
posted by codacorolla at 6:19 PM on October 13, 2015
posted by codacorolla at 6:19 PM on October 13, 2015
Given that Banks and Pratchett have retired, how plausible is it that we get Gaiman or Mieville in the producer's chair?
Watch out for angels and giraffes.
posted by maryr at 6:35 PM on October 13, 2015
Watch out for angels and giraffes.
posted by maryr at 6:35 PM on October 13, 2015
Show business has no shame. Or pants.
posted by Chitownfats at 8:17 PM on October 13, 2015
posted by Chitownfats at 8:17 PM on October 13, 2015
Don't worry. The show is cancelled within 18 months.
posted by fallingbadgers at 10:07 PM on October 13, 2015
posted by fallingbadgers at 10:07 PM on October 13, 2015
I want to complain to the studio execs who commissioned the current season of "21st century"; your show is broken. I say this as a viewer coming in with low expectations.
That's a lot of whining from someone who's been writing 21st century fanfic for more than 15 years.
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:05 AM on October 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
That's a lot of whining from someone who's been writing 21st century fanfic for more than 15 years.
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:05 AM on October 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
As someone who grew up in the 90s, the 2000s are like... every season of Heroes after the first, or something. The show just took an abrupt nosedive so close to 2000 that it might as well have been right then in my head.
It's weird how well i remember certain things from the beginning of that story arc, but george bush reading to the school kids on 9/11 is essentially my one small step for a man if the actual attacks were the landing itself.
I'm totally on board with the split timeline theory. It slots right in with the Berenst(e)ain controversy and the Mandela effect.
Maybe the good season that could have been is happening in an alternate dimension right now, Rick and Morty style?
posted by emptythought at 3:35 AM on October 14, 2015
It's weird how well i remember certain things from the beginning of that story arc, but george bush reading to the school kids on 9/11 is essentially my one small step for a man if the actual attacks were the landing itself.
I'm totally on board with the split timeline theory. It slots right in with the Berenst(e)ain controversy and the Mandela effect.
Maybe the good season that could have been is happening in an alternate dimension right now, Rick and Morty style?
posted by emptythought at 3:35 AM on October 14, 2015
>>I'd start up a cult around PKD's metaphysical visions, but unfortunately all the cultural oxygen for that sort of thing has been sucked out of the metaphorical room by that other scifi cult.
>If you ever get it off the ground, I'll be there, in my scramble suit.
I'll keep an eye out for a vague blur that looks like you and several thousand other people.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 3:35 AM on October 14, 2015
>If you ever get it off the ground, I'll be there, in my scramble suit.
I'll keep an eye out for a vague blur that looks like you and several thousand other people.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 3:35 AM on October 14, 2015
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posted by jbickers at 11:54 AM on October 13, 2015 [13 favorites]