I’ve spent a lot of time in Hollywood trying to sell various shows.  Everything from a western set in NM in 1840 to contemporary thrillers, to shows about the army’s CID division.  (Yes, I pitched that before NCIS went on the air, but I was a girl and the reaction in the room was “nobody’s interested in the military.  *sigh*).  I’ve also tried very had to sell science fiction shows.  Even had a pilot shot of one of them.

What I ran into over and over and over again was “spaceships don’t sell unless it’s Star Trek.  Only Star Trek can make spaceships work.”  It was received wisdom.  Then Galactica came along to critical reviews and the mantra became.  “Well okay, Galactica worked but that’s because it was a show about real problems and it was a war story.  The spaceships were just incidental.  And anyway spaceships only work in Star Trek and Galactica.”

Now there is a new chance for those of us who love science fiction to have spaceships on our television screens again.  The Expanse is an upcoming show on SyFy based on the best selling novels by James S.A. Corey.  They are terrific space opera — five books now — I’ve read them all, and they were perfect to be translated to film.

And there are spaceships.  Because it’s set in the asteroid belt.  So I’m really, really hoping this show takes off so I will stop hearing.  “Spaceships only work on Star Trek and Galactica.”

My fingers are crossed.