# Idea for Heinlein Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715 "2018-06-25T17:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/1 "2018-06-25T17:07:53Z")
I have pretty much given up hope for _Stranger In A Strange Land_ to ever see the light of day, either on screen or on television. Maybe they should focus on another character of his: Woodrow Wilson Smith aka Lazarus Long. Now that there are so many t.v. venues that are uncensored, it would be perfect for multi-episode arcs of various sizes, and the stories wouldn’t have to be shown in any order(_Methuselah’s Children_Would make for a great arc, in my opinion). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/2 "2018-06-25T17:34:08Z")
I like the idea. Perhaps you could do like they did with _The Martian Chronicles_, and re-write a bunch of stories, replacing the lead character with Lazarus. Or just insert Lazarus as a minor character, somewhere in the background. I have long thought that _The Rolling Stones_ would be the easiest to turn into a film. The actors would have to spend a lot of time in flying harnesses for the zero-g scenes, but other than that, the special effects would be pretty modest. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/3 "2018-06-25T17:37:43Z")
I had a similar idea some years ago about doing a mini-serious based loosely on _Time Enough for Love,_ with several vignettes into Lazarus’ past (e.g. The Tale of the Twins That Weren’t) and incorporating “Methuselah’s Children” into the narrative. I just don’t know how it would all play on television. _Starship Troopers_, it ain’t. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/4 "2018-06-25T18:05:10Z")
Heinlein wrote a lot of short stories. Maybe they could give it the same treatment as Phillip K. Dick’s “Electric Dreams”. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/5 "2018-06-25T20:31:14Z")
Tunnel in the Sky feels doable. And the new media manipulations of the students at the end seems pretty timely. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/6 "2018-06-25T20:50:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I have pretty much given up hope for _Stranger In A Strange Land_ to ever see the light of day, either on screen or on television. Maybe they should focus on another character of his: Woodrow Wilson Smith aka Lazarus Long. Now that there are so many t.v. venues that are uncensored, it would be perfect for multi-episode arcs of various sizes, and the stories wouldn’t have to be shown in any order(_Methuselah’s Children_Would make for a great arc, in my opinion). I think this would work better as a movie, but I think it’s a great idea. Who would be the best actor to play LL? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/7 "2018-06-25T20:54:06Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Heinlein wrote a lot of short stories. Maybe they could give it the same treatment as Phillip K. Dick’s “Electric Dreams”. This. I wouldn’t trust Hollywood with any of the novels, but they could go nuts with some of the short stories. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/8 "2018-06-25T20:56:46Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > I think this would work better as a movie, but I think it’s a great idea. > > Who would be the best actor to play LL? I was just coming back to post that question. 😃 I’m thinking maybe Neal McDonough. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/9 "2018-06-25T21:08:21Z")
I don’t think this is the right time for a dirty old man like Lazarus Long. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/10 "2018-06-25T21:08:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m thinking maybe Neal McDonough. Well, that doesn’t fit my mental image of LL. Needs somebody on the craggy side but raffishly handsome, and maybe a redhead (or would look good as a redhead). And must have a deadly stare…somebody like Clint Eastwood but younger. I dunno…Ed Harris, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/11 "2018-06-25T21:20:40Z")
Never was a big fan of LL. Pretty creepy guy - didn’t he go back in time and boink his Mother? How about Glory Road? ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/12 "2018-06-25T21:24:34Z")
From the first time I saw this image, [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/sites/default/files/lazarus_long_01%255B1%255D.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/author/lazarus-long-fictional-character-created-robert-heinlein&h=266&w=300&tbnid=Oo1LRZMvczCQ1M:&q=lazarus+long&tbnh=177&tbnw=200&usg=__PTWsUWNok33ZN6eUTnME7jdXt8w%3D&vet=10ahUKEwi0xpyZ3-_bAhXspVkKHcPSARkQ_B0IhwEwCg..i&docid=zqLmDqqUeor5sM&itg=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0xpyZ3-_bAhXspVkKHcPSARkQ_B0IhwEwCg) is what LL looked like to me. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/13 "2018-06-25T21:26:40Z")
Predestination worked pretty good as a movie in my opinion. From the 12 page “All you zombies …”, they didn’t really pad it much to get 90 minutes. Didn’t have to leave anything out. Didn’t change the story. In the right hands, I think many of Heinlein’s short stories would work well. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/14 "2018-06-25T23:24:37Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Never was a big fan of LL. Pretty creepy guy - didn’t he go back in time and boink his Mother? > > How about Glory Road? But all in all you had to admit, that he loved his mother. [/TL] ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/15 "2018-06-25T23:26:29Z")
> [@SuperNelson](#): > > Tunnel in the Sky feels doable. And the new media manipulations of the students at the end seems pretty timely. That would be a good one, with the advantage of using young actors to appeal to the Hunger Games audience. Not so many special effects also. Magic, Incorporated might be fun also. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/16 "2018-06-25T23:27:35Z")
I’ve seen two versions of “Jerry was a Man,” one with an ape like in the book and one with an android. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/17 "2018-06-26T01:36:14Z")
_Tunnel in the Sky_ was always one of my favorites of the juvies. I feel like the pacing would work better as a TV series than as a movie, though. Not because you couldn’t necessarily fit it into two hours, but because it has to feel like several years between start and finish. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/18 "2018-06-26T04:39:56Z")
I’d like to see _The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag_. At novella length it could make a solid mini-series. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/19 "2018-06-26T04:51:42Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I’d like to see _The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag_. At novella length it could make a solid mini-series. Yes! And _Glory Road_ and _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ and _Time for the Stars_, please. And _Starship Troopers_ with powered armor, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715/20 "2018-06-26T11:58:47Z")
No, gentlemen. It starts and ends with “Have Space Suit Will Travel”. You’ve got the lesson in education, the fun montage of building the suit. You’ve also got the ‘lonely kids vs the aliens’ and in the end you have that dramatic reveal of the Milky Way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idea-for-heinlein-series/816715.md?page=2)