Thursday 2 July 2020

A Cyberpunk-style TV show would be EASY to do, surely?

ImageSoup up normal streets, add some flash and attitude, upgrade the tech and bang - Cyberpunk show. Imagine a show like that made in LA - the city is screaming Cyberpunk. Christ, imagine making it in The Volume, the digital set used in 'The Mandalorian'. It'd be insane.

You could have fresh music every episode, old school dance and house, industrial, metal, synth, revival. Bands like Celldweller, Gunship, Feint, all kinds of stuff old and new. Action, attitude and a dark, dystopian era of government and corporation corruption.

I mean, we're living it, so why not be entertained by it?

Why is nobody writing this? Surely it writes itself? The balance of life and tech, the corruption of the soul, the ethics of new technologies and breakthroughs, the thin wall between corporate greed and government mandate.

THIS IS WHAT WE NEED!

We need something in line with Cyberpunk, the street trash, corp bastards and the attitude. Thick Matrix-style action. Every week a new story that intertwines the top dogs and the bottom feeders, with all kinds of drama and face-offs.

A new and fresh band every week, showcase new music talent with edge and attitude. Make it fresh and exciting. Even throw in older stuff, remixes of classics.

Could you imagine some of the amazing writers the show could get involved? From street level danger to cop procedural to corporate intrigue to courtroom drama you could have EVERYTHING! A slew of TV dramas all mixed into a Cyberpunk setting, with curses and bullets flying.

It'd be like 'What's happening this week? Oh, the workers at the Gamazone distribution warehouse have all gone batshit insane due to spinal implants to make them work harder and the corp don't give a shit? The hardass lawyer hires the street gang to get the evidence! ACTION!'

The gang do it but then the corp mercenaries with cranal links to their guns trying to cover it up catch up with them, and then BOOM! You've got a car chase through a neon nightmare while Feint feat. Coma's 'Snake Eyes' screams out. Heart's racing just THINKING about that.

Look at all the police procedurals with a sheen of darkness to it, like CSI. Throw in some neon and some modded motors and you're almost halfway there. Budget might be a problem, but let it sing to a younger, more jaded audience and you're in.

Can you imagine the bands who would just DIE to have their music showcased or featured in an episode? As a main track, event score or just playing in the background? Guest star the mofos in a club where the streetrash hang out! It'd really call out to the younger audience.

And with cynical fuckers writing it, really letting the darker side of the modern age leaking out and presenting 'what if?' scenarios that either crawl under your skin or make you ponder possibilities, what could better reflect the shit going down in the modern world?

And, even better, we connect with characters with the cool hair, cool tats, cool clothes and cool gear who are barely getting by but are angry enough to cry 'FUCK YOU!' to the wagemasters and take a stand, fight back, and use the tech they've been controlled with to wage war.

Absolutely no compromise. Nothing twee, cute or morally uplifiting. You get dealt a hand, lose the bet, but then realise you've been had and you KICK IT IN THE BALLS! Melodrama, emotion, action, the whole nine yards.

Characters you can attach yourself to emotionally, and not feel too bad when they let themsleves go, so you're yelling at the screen 'OH, DAMN RIGHT, CLARICE! YOU FUCK THEM UP!'

I'm trying hard to get across what I want from a show like this. ATMOSPHERE AND ATTITUDE is everything. Yeah, show the streets as recognisable locations but when someone shows their robot arm, synthetic eyes, or a hovercar flies over then you KNOW you're not in Kansas, Dotmatrix.

/end rant


1 comment:

  1. You go, there, m'laddo! If you want some storylines, hit me up and I'll jackshaw a fashion model's nightmare reality your way, and half a dozen other future tales of malice, ignomy, and outright defiance against the system. This is not just Rage Against The Machines, it's Rage Against The Corps, The Establishment, and the Whole Damn Caboodle...

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