According to this article (pimped by Slashdot), The Forever War is going to be turned into a miniseries on the Sci-Fi Channel.
Anyone care to lay odds on a studio exec deciding to toss out that whole tricky relativity thing? Or am I overly cynical about the entertainment industry?
Removing relativity from The Forever War is like removing the big from Titanic.
That was supposed to be “the big ship”.
No doubt they’ll also set the entire thing to a techno soundtrack and the entire cast will be composed of suspiciously mature-looking “high school kids.” Don’t forget the monkey sidekick, too…
I’m also kinda geeked, though, that they’re planning on doing a Tripping the Rift series. The Amber series might be neat, too.
Sci-Fi is doing an Amber series?
And, what the hezmana is Tripping the Rift? This is the third MB I’ve been on today where someone is jazzed up about it and I’ve never even heard of this thing. Guess it’s time to go play on Google for a while…
Holy crap! The Forever War. the miniseries?
My god is this thing going to suck. I’m not sure it could ever be done, as a miniseries OR as a move. It’s definitely going to bite as a made-for-TV miniseries…
Forget about relativity. I strongly suspect that the central “wars are pointless” theme will not appear in any movie or TV series made in 2002. The homosexuality elements will probably also disappear.
I foresee a miniseries that’ll be indistinguishable from Starship Troopers which will be ironic considering Haldeman’s novel was supposedly originally written in part as a counterargument to Heinlein’s book. Two SF military novels, each with an opposing political theme, equally castrated by Hollywood.
Of course it is going to suck.
To paraphrase Heinlein: Producers don’t like the taste of anything until they pee in it first.
Tripping the Rift is an animated feature starring a foul-mouthed purple amoeba, a sarcastic gold robot who acts as the ship’s engineer and a sexy woman (voiced by Terry Farrell of Star Trek fame) and their adventures aboard a space ship whose name escapes me at the moment. Their primary antagonist is the Dark Clown Bobo and his suspiciously storm trooper-ish minions.
That’s all you need to know. Go to the web site and download the first episode now: 
It’s worth the download, trust me.
Scene 1:
Interior - Hollywood office (the hill sign is visible through the window)
First Producer (suit smoking big cigar) “Okay, whaddya got for us? Come on, spit it out - time is money!”
The Writer (bespectacled wimp) “Uh, I have the rights to a best-selling book.”
Second Producer (suit cracking nuts with his bare hands) “Don’t yack on - give me a one word summary.”
First Producer whispers something in Second Producer’s ear.
Second Producer (loudly) “Don’t yack on - give me a one sentence summary.”
The Writer “It’s about a lengthy war in space, where the technology keeps changing. It contains a serious thought-provoking message about …”
Second Producer (interrupts very loudly) “OK, war in space with gadgets.”
He ponders briefly.
Second Producer “No, it needs something more than just that.”
The Writer (nervously) “Well there is a parallel with the war in Viet…”
Second Producer (interrupts very, very loudly) “OK, Denise Richards!”
First Producer (enthusiastically) “That’s it - now all we need is a catchy title. What about … the Forever War!”
The Writer buries his head in his hands…