If you could choose a series HBO would make

[Jace, Extat]

I would prefer to imagine some sci-fi (or some science fantasy you damn nerds) that isn't Star Wars with some good old fashioned violence and grit.

I never called Star Wars sci-fi, don't put that evil on me! ;) Why would you be against a gritty Star Wars? It might be the most expansive fictional universe in the history of human record (lol), as someone who detests 85% of the existing material in that universe, I think there's so much you can do with it.

[Francis Buck]

Honestly, an HBO show of any major superhero would be pretty great. Batman, Spiderman...hell, the Green Lantern. And they're the obvious ones. There's really an enormous amount of unused material that's ripe for the taking. Unfortunately that area seems dominated by feature films as of yet (although the forthcoming Shield series may warrant some interest in competing networks).

[Durckad]

I never called Star Wars sci-fi, don't put that evil on me! ;) Why would you be against a gritty Star Wars? It might be the most expansive fictional universe in the history of human record (lol), as someone who detests 85% of the existing material in that universe, I think there's so much you can do with it.

I got two problems with Star Wars on HBO:

1) Gritty doesn't really seem to fit with Star Wars IMO

2) Aside from most of the OT, I find 90% of the setting to be pretty damn terrible

I think there's more potential in a 'new' sci-fi setting as opposed to just going back to the Star Wars well.

[Aemon Stark]

I never called Star Wars sci-fi, don't put that evil on me! ;) Why would you be against a gritty Star Wars? It might be the most expansive fictional universe in the history of human record (lol), as someone who detests 85% of the existing material in that universe, I think there's so much you can do with it.

I'd go for gritty Trek long before anything Star Wars related (from a series that gave the world Ewoks, the Rancor, and a major character with the same voice as Fozzie Bear, Grover, and Miss Piggy?). And, just to stir the Wars vs. Trek pot a bit, I'd say that 5 TV series (plus the animated series!) and 11 movies > two trilogies, a couple of Ewok movies, the mediocrity of Clone Wars, and the Droids and Ewoks cartoons. Though I did like Droids and Ewoks.

[AryaRocks]

I would love to see them adapt "River God" by Wilbur Smith into a series.

[thecryptile]

Honestly, an HBO show of any major superhero would be pretty great.

Aquaman- the new Aquaman with the scythe-like hook hand. Aquaman gets no love.

[The Killer Snark]

What about an adaptation of Larry Niven's Ringworld novels? That could be a total gas.

[PetyrPunkinhead]

If they finished Deadwood I'd be even more happy.

Ditto. This dream died a long time ago, unfortunately.

You could perhaps adapt a filming location along the Mississippi or something for it, but it could be done

louisiana has tax abatements for film these days, so there's always multiple projects dicking up traffic. i won't be able to get to my office downtown for the next six weeks because of a planet of the apes set. so, mississippi river locations are extremely viable.

Snap. For real? I thought that filming finished last month.

[TheEvilKing]

I'd prefer to see more historical fiction shows than adaptations of books I've already read.

If I had to choose books I think would work on HBO, the Takeshi Kovacs novels have the requisite amount of sex, violence and moral ambiguity for HBO, but the whole "sleeve" system might prove tricky for television.

Gentlemen Bastards would work, if Lynch was happy to let HBO continue their own story past the source material.

[RedEyedGhost]

Sci-fi, sci-fi, sci-fi.

Aquaman- the new Aquaman with the scythe-like hook hand. Aquaman gets no love.

Starring Adrian Grenier?

What about an adaptation of Larry Niven's Ringworld novel? That could be a total gas.

SyFy is doing that (along with Clarke's Childhood's End).

[Datepalm]

Seriously? A Childhood's End show? That's going to be a touch depressing. And there's like no action whatsoever. Or, uh, characters to speak of.

Oh, HBO - I already went on about my ideal SF show in that thread, and I don't care who makes it. For HBO...Ottomans. Something with Ottomans.

ETA - Speaking of no characters...I'd love to see someone take on Hal Duncan's Vellum. I wasn't actually crazy about the book, but it's strongest element seemed to be these mad dramatic visuals all bleeding and refracting off each other. Oh, any adaptation attempt will probably go down in flames, but i'd like to see the attempt.

[R33K]

If they could make the book Spares by Micheal Marshall Smith into a series?miniseries i would die a very happy man

[wolverine]

Ghengis Khan

[peterbound]

What if they did a show about a city, about all the corruption, the problems, the infrastructure, the people, the drugs, the cops, the schools, the newspaper, the local government, the whole shebang.... I'd watch that.

[peterbound]

Aquaman- the new Aquaman with the scythe-like hook hand. Aquaman gets no love.

Because he's a horrible character. Take that debate to the lit threads. I'm sure you'll find some traction there.

[Werthead]

What if they did a show about a city, about all the corruption, the problems, the infrastructure, the people, the drugs, the cops, the schools, the newspaper, the local government, the whole shebang.... I'd watch that.

For some reason the image of a HBO version of New Crobuzon that did exactly this came to mind. Rival gangs of kephri and cactus-man drug-dealers with a bunch of underpaid cops having to come down hard on them whilst an up-and-coming politican finds out how much in hock the city is to Hell?

The $50 million-per-episode budget might be a bit of a hurdle to get round though.

[Pliskin]

What if they did a show about a city, about all the corruption, the problems, the infrastructure, the people, the drugs, the cops, the schools, the newspaper, the local government, the whole shebang.... I'd watch that.

They should also call it something like The Wire.

And make like five seasons, each following one of the aspects of the city.

It would be a hit.

[Talleyrand]

Ghengis Khan

And preferably not played by a chubby white guy this time. Or with as bad accuracy as Conn Iggulden's books

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

A Tale of Two Cities, in one 7 episode season!!

[JonArryn]

Since there ain't no limit to what you can wish, which this thread has proved, there are some pretty ludicrous wishes getting thrown out, but that's cool.

I'm gonna go ahead and throw out that they should make a three season fantasy series retelling norse mythology, by far the coolest mythology. Odin will be the main character of course, and we will see his eight-legged horse Sleipner and his two messenger ravens Hugin and Munin, and his two wolves Geri and Freki that are at his side many times. And we will obviosuly see him sacrificing his eye to Mimir's well to get eternal wisdom, which then makes him miserable and depressed and having visions of Ragnarok. We will see Loki being a troubled character, having two giants as parents but still being accepted amongst the gods, and of course leading to his ultimate betrayal. Thor, Heimdall and Frigg will also be important characters. And then you can just fill on with interesting secondary characters.

We will also see Valhall and Odin bringing the warriors there to fight against the giants. In Valhall they feast on the pig named Sarimner which regenerates every night.

So they cover the big events and all this leads up to the final three episodes consisting of Ragnarok, the big battle. The gods fighting against Loki, the giants, fire giants, Fenrir and The Midgard Serpent. All this while the oceans and mountains comes crashing and everything gets destroyed but the world tree Yggdrasil, that sill stands.

Would make for an amazing fantasy show. Although the budget for this would probably be bigger than many HBO shows combined. But it would be damn epic, to see the best mythology brought to life on a tv series.