So did anybody catch this week’s CSI? The murder-victim-of-the-week was an arrogant guy who’d produced a new version of a beloved 40-year-old science fiction TV show called Astro Quest (any resemblance to an actual beloved 40-year-old science fiction TV show with a similar name is purely intentional). Seems there were a lot of potential suspects because this guy’s “redux” was so poorly received by the fans of the original. Where the original had been “antiseptic,” “brightly lighted,” and populated by noble characters that “ordinary people couldn’t possibly live up to,” AQ Redux turned out to be dark and grungy-looking, with angsty, sweaty, deeply flawed, and horribly unlikable characters. The producer justified this as “more realistic,” but the fans who saw his preview reel in a convention setting responded by rioting.
Obviously, the writers of this episode have been thinking about the upcoming remake of Star Trek, but, in an in-joke I’m sure they thought was terribly clever, the fan who starts the riot by shouting “You suck!” was none other than Ron Moore, the executive producer and primary creative force behind the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. In other words, a guy who did in real life exactly what the fictional producer in the CSI episode had done. It was a cute moment for those in the know, but I find myself trying to decide just what was being said here. In other words, at whose expense was this joke made? Is Moore (or at least the writers of CSI) acknowledging that fans of older properties are justified in being unhappy with “gritty” remakes? Or were they slamming grumbly old-school types like myself as buffoons?
Honestly, I think you could make either argument. The episode does include a scene in which one of the regular characters explains to another why fans get upset when people tamper with the things that matter to them, but that same scene also features some dismissive remarks about that behavior. The episode itself closes on a rather sweet note, with an homage to a well-remembered scene from Star Trek, er, Astro Quest, and the CSI crew planning a marathon viewing of the classic show. So I guess you could see it as trying to present an even-handed view of the whole phenomenon, at least as far as is necessary to tell the weekly procedural story. But, while I acknowledge I’m probably too touchy about these things, I can’t help but feel like, yet again, the people like me — who prefer the “cheesy” and “campy” (god, I hate those adjectives!) originals to the slick-but-depressing modern versions — are being dissed.
You damn kids can keep your edgy shit. I assure you it will one day seem as archaic as the stuff where Starbuck is a guy and the captain’s shirt is weak around the shoulder seams. In the meantime, I think it’s really just a matter of taste. As far as I’m concerned, real life is edgy, gritty, and angsty enough. I prefer heroes I can aspire to over tragic, uncertain trainwrecks…
