"Three young scientists travel around the country in the 25th century after the world has been ravaged by pollution. In their hi-tech RV (called Ark II), they study the land and help out those in need."
You'd have a devilish conundrum at the heart of the show with the occupants of the hi-tech transportation device living easy lives in comparison to the wreckage around them. You'd have a Star Trek-filled landscape of tough moral decisions. You would also have modern relevance with a world in which we have NOT been good stewards and our youth have to take charge.
I remember the episode with the village suffering a failing harvest, and the evil corporate CEO fresh out of suspended animation with his company's super duper fertilizer (toxic side effects at no extra charge).
In retrospect it was astonishing that there was a TV show for kids with a post-apocalyptic premise. On top of that, the post-apocalyptic fiction we were getting, just a few years later, often favored rebuilding the world of capitalist economic progress, just with a few reforms.
Ark II in general, and that episode in particular, directly questioned what we understand progress to mean.
@foolishowl I also suggest taking a look at some of the more radical formulations of the post-apocalyptic future that exist in the 70s and 80s.
Charnas' Walk to the End of the World (1974) and Motherlines (1978) come to mind. I know the first one is a bit earlier than the show... but it's a great one!
@nyrath@SFRuminations I don't think any tv producer would want to film a remake given the planet's current and future ecological condition, it could easily show some inconvenient truths.
@SFRuminations Well, some of these could easily be considered science-fiction, but I don't think there's a serious intention of doing a "realistic" tv series or film like, for example, Threads.
@eldadoinquieto That's not what you originally said. You said that producers now wouldn't make a TV show that would reveal the impact of climate change. There are plenty. Realistic or not, they exist.
It really boils down to whether or not there's some fan base to tap into.
Like, they've been trying to bring back The Black Hole. Even though the movie is generally not regarded highly, and it was absolutely a financial disaster, there's still a certain fan base who remembers The Black Hole with fondness.
Otherwise, it's easier and better to just take inspiration from some of the better ideas and make up a new IP.
@isaackuo Yeah, thinking far more loose interpretation than remake. But there are also lots of remakes that are only vaguely connected to their originals.
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