# SciFi doing Ringworld miniseries **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694 "2004-04-07T05:05:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/1 "2004-04-07T05:05:08Z")
SciFi [announced their new upcoming shows](http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Television&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=270355&obj_id=41212) yesterday, in which they confirmed a 4-hour Ringworld miniseries. I am not sure how I feel about this. It could be spectacular, sweeping in scope, and just amzing in visuals. Or, like that _I,Robot_ trailer looks, pure, unadulterated crap. So much potential, both good and bad. So who plays Louis? Teela? And Speaker? Nesus, I am sure, will be CGI. What do you think? yeah, yeah, **Earthsea** , **Farscape** , and Bruce Campbell too, sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/2 "2004-04-07T05:12:35Z")
Is that what Bruce has been up to lately? He’s just so fine… and funny. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/3 "2004-04-07T05:17:34Z")
Woohoo! A Bruce Campbell movie. And Ringworld. Maybe they should borrow from _Halo_, too. It could be 30 minutes of one guy driving around an empty planet. ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/4 "2004-04-07T05:50:29Z")
**SanguineSpider** Yeah, Bruce is cool, but I don’t know about _Alien Apocalypse_, sounds kinda, I dunno, _normal_. The screaming brain one however, that has some potential for some weirdness. **GMRyujin** Yeah, Halo made Ringworld look boring, but at least they have a plot to start with this time (I hope, see _I,Robot_ comment above). ---
**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:** [April 7, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/5 "2004-04-07T19:10:30Z")
There’s so much that could go wrong here, but also so much that could go right. On the one hand, they should be able to deliver some stunning visuals, and a plot consisting of “explore this strange place” gives adapters a lot of freedom. On the other hand, a large part of what makes Niven so great is his attention to scientific detail, and I doubt that his mini physics lectures would work nearly as well on the screen as on the page. And of course, there’s always the possibility that they could fail on both counts: I’ve seen enough other adaptations that should have looked stunning but didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/6 "2004-04-07T19:18:29Z")
Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod … Breathe … breathe … slow down … Whew. Understand, people, I have read everything Niven has ever written several times over (except perhaps for the last few short stories published in magazines that I have missed). Personally, I think stories of Louis Wu’s adopted father (Beowulf Schaeffer) would make for better big screen adventures, but hey I’ll take whatever they throw my way!! Oh boy. Please don’t suck. Please don’t suck. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/7 "2004-04-07T19:36:31Z")
I’m cynical, having followed SF movies and series for years. Given the possibility, they almost _always_ screw it up. On those occasions when they didn’t, despite my expectations ( **The Terminator, RoboCop** ) I was incredibly pleased. But usually we get **The Puppet Masters, Starship Troopers** , and **Riverworld** (The Sci-Fi Channel’s last effort). (The two Sci Fi Channel’s Dune series fell somewhere in between). Getting a good SF series or movie put together requires such an incredible balancing act of so many facets that it’s very easy – unbelievably easy – to screw it up. The deck’s stacked against you. I’d _love_ for tghis to be good, but I have an awful feeling they’ll screw up. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/8 "2004-04-07T19:51:15Z")
I’m a Niven (and Pournelle) fan, but I have to confess that I didn’t think all that much of **Ringworld** … and I really disliked **The Ringworld Engineers**. I agree, the Beowulf Schaefer stories would be more fun. But who could possibly play a seven foot albino who smokes with his toes? ---
**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:** [April 7, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/9 "2004-04-07T19:52:43Z")
Have I mentioned lately that I own a _signed, personally-inscribed_ First Edition of **Ringworld?** 😃 They’re gonna screw it up, but I’ll still watch it. I just hope they don’t do stunt-casting, like getting Johnny Depp to play Speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/10 "2004-04-07T20:00:26Z")
…they’re going to do **The Amazing Screw-On Head**? Oh, I can’t wait to see THAT one… Ringworld. Hm. I dunno about this. If they somehow manage to do it any kind of justice, it’ll be fantastic. On the other hand, I’m not holding my breath for them to be able to do it any kind of justice. The scale of the thing simply defies most people’s ability to be able to visualize it… ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/11 "2004-04-07T20:06:52Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I’m a Niven (and Pournelle) fan, but I have to confess that I didn’t think all that much of **Ringworld** … and I really disliked **The Ringworld Engineers**. > > I agree, the Beowulf Schaefer stories would be more fun. But who could possibly play a seven foot albino who smokes with his toes? As to the first part, I’m actually with you. _Ringworld_ is far from my favorite Niven story, the main reason being, well, there’s really not much to it. It’s a fun tourist romp through a mysterious place, and that’s pretty much it. But for that very reason there’s some hope that SciFi won’t screw it up. Our guys show up, trek across the landscape for a while, get separated, minor plot twist at the police station, Teela finds true love, end of story. What’s to screw up? Of course, this is SciFi we’re talking about, so they’ll find something to screw up I’m sure! Now as to the second part, who could play Bey? Hmmm … an ex-NBA player who’s a yoga afficionado? The albino part you can take of in makeup – or special effects! 😃 Oh, and **silenus** : Bite me!!! I mean that in the nicest way, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/12 "2004-04-07T21:44:27Z")
I have a headache and my vision is a little blurry so everytime I see this thread title I think it says “SciFi doing Ringwald miniseries” and I get scared and ask “Why? Why, god, why?”. Anyway, Ringworld sounds like a much better idea. Some of those other shows look interesting or at least weirdly intriguing. Maybe I will have to invest in cable again… as long as it’s definitely not a Ringwald miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/13 "2004-04-08T01:17:29Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Have I mentioned lately that I own a _signed, personally-inscribed_ First Edition of **Ringworld?** 😃 > > They’re gonna screw it up, but I’ll still watch it. > > I just hope they don’t do stunt-casting, like getting Johnny Depp to play Speaker. Is that the edition where the Earth rotates backwards? Mr Hard Science, indeed… ---
**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:** [April 8, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/14 "2004-04-08T01:30:31Z")
That’s the one…heh, heh. 😃 At least Larry had the good graces to smile and joke about it while he signed it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/15 "2004-04-08T02:17:21Z")
I’m cautiously optimistic. I think the overall trend has been for “genre” movies (the stuff that Cinescape covers, spanning comics, fantasy and science fiction) to be better-made in recent years. There’s still stuff coming out that’s done badly – Daredevil, for example, was disappointing and the later Batman movies are god-awful – but in the past few years we’ve seen directors do very very good things with science fiction and fantasy source material. Spider-Man – excellent X-Men – excellent X2 – excellent Lord of the Rings trilogy – awe-inspiring That said, it’s very easy to screw up a movie. One or two bad casting choices, the wrong director, skimping on the effects budget, and a script that sees seven rewrites because the producers don’t understand it. So… cautious optimism. And the same goes for Screw-On Head, which is a really funny comic. Hope it works in the much longer format of TV… ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/16 "2004-04-08T03:41:30Z")
> [@](#): > > On the other hand, I’m not holding my breath for them to be able to do it any kind of justice. The scale of the thing simply defies most people’s ability to be able to visualize it… Very true. I’ve seen _Ringworld_ illustrations by several different artists, and they almost all have clearly not understood the dimensions given for the structure. Considering what a pale shadow of the written source the “Riverworld” production was, I don’t have high hopes for this. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/17 "2004-04-08T03:52:40Z")
Wasn’t this an inspiration for Halo? I’ve never read any of the books. If the Master Chief and Cortana are in, I’m there man. Wating for Halo2 physically hurts and I need some kind of distraction. ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/18 "2004-04-08T05:59:37Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Very true. I’ve seen _Ringworld_ illustrations by several different artists, and they almost all have clearly not understood the dimensions given for the structure. That’s what bothers me too. It should be sweeping in scope, huge. I mean the damn thing is 100,000 miles across. You’d have no horizon in 2 directions, and an infinitely tall mountain in the other two. How do you visualize that? It’s just the _size_ of the thing that is so epic. Course the storyline is going to suffer, I am guessing, since a lot of the important bits are narrative, not dialog. I will watch and be hopeful, but not optimistic. BTW anybody want to see ILM or WETA get ahold of the space battles from _The Mote in God’s Eye_ and _The Gripping Hand_? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-doing-ringworld-miniseries/238694/19 "2004-04-08T06:16:57Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Of course, this is SciFi we’re talking about, so they’ll find something to screw up I’m sure! No kidding. Did you see what they did to “The Cold Equations”?