One moment...
Before you start groaning, (and if you've ever watched Moonbeam City I am right there with you) I am speaking of doing this in Literature. This show gave me some good ideas and with proper cultivation and a lot of work in world-building and character-creation it adds up to a pretty interesting idea worth giving a run up the flagpole.
This idea is also heavily inspired as well by the old 'Crimetime-after-Primetime' series 'Silk Stalkings'. Video of it's opening credits below.
The Rules of what I'm doing with this world's development:
1; NO silly-stupid humor. 'Life-Is-Like-That' style humor, because we can all relate to it.
2; Relatable characters. They will have strengths and flaws, private concerns and worries...like we all do.
3; The City and the Independent State it resides in are Crypto-economy; If you work in this state, you get paid in Crypto, not any government currency.
This is a point that will take some thought, I need it to be Plausible, and I strongly suspect the audience wants such also.
I also envision much of the state and city's operations being run/managed/otherwise involving Blockchain tech...especially the elections.
4; If a character blows their top and goes on a rage, there WILL be a genuine, solid reason for it.
5; Characters will have 'expanded wardrobes'...as I don't have to worry about a costuming budget, and it's realistic, people do not wear the same thing day-after-day eternally.
6; NO trope organized crime elements. YES OC exists in this State and City, but I have my own ideas. If you think Narcos and Russian Mafia are bad, just wait and hold my beer for a bit.
7; NOT Dystopian. This is a city that's a mega-draw for Tourism, internationally. The darkest crimes and events can happen on the most beautiful days here.
8; Characters do NOT die without a Proper Death.
What appealed to me about the show was the New-Tech Retro-80's style it had...this surreal blend of Tech-Modern and 80's-Retro.
Now and then some things come along that have some great qualities, but suffer from going in the entirely wrong direction.
The single-season quasi-hit (Now something of a cult favorite) MOONBEAM CITY is a perfect example of this type of error.
It had everything...except it went entirely the wrong direction, and if you've ever seen an episode then you can see what I'm talking about.
It missed being Great by such a thin margin; The choice of direction...they went silly-weird, and they went way too far.
So, what to do...well, I hate seeing great potential wasted.
I also fell in love with the Nagel-esque artwork for the series, it's just gorgeous, Idealized-retro-80's done perfectly.
However I cannot work in that franchise, it's just too silly-weird...and it's dead.
BUT I can use it as an inspirational base-point for something descended from it, literary-based, that operates within a more balanced frame of seriousness with some proper humor here and there when appropriate and characters that are much more developed, interesting and realistic/relatable.
I am withholding names to protect my properties until they are published under copyright protection...sorry for the 'mystery' that causes, but it's necessary and temporary I assure you.
It also let's me sleep without worrying about those things.
THE CAST I AM DEVELOPING
(Thus Far)
1; The female lead--based off Moonbeam City's Pizzaz Miller--is essentially that character much more evolved, balanced and re-developed.
I studied the character in the show, made notes about the teasing little hooks that showed tiny little glimpses into this woman's personal life and deeper personality, then worked up from there...then toned down the psychotically-rageful element to make her more genuinely Human.
Toned-it-down, she still has a temper though, but one that now adds to the character and gives some zest instead of making her less dimensional and unlikeable.
She's Police Chief owing to the untimely death of her predecessor and she was the only one available and qualified for the position, she very much wants to go back to being a Detective and in the meantime searches for a replacement while doing her absolute best as Chief of Police.
2; The male lead I imagine as someone along the lines of a young Rob Estes (Silk Stalkings) combined with Rob Lowe possible and is a character of my own creation who's something of a loose-cannon but still a solid, dependable Cop.
He bends rules, pushes the limits, but doesn't break them.
He's not by-the-book as he comes more from right-vs.-wrong and Justice...both of which at times the laws do not serve.
He is NO 'boy-scout' however.
This is a man who knows how the streets work, how rough it can be working them as a Cop and has seen much he'd prefer to forget. he holds on to his Humanity despite the erosion effects and jadedness that comes with the badge and job.
3; The Mayor is one of the city's more colorful characters, but does genuinely keep the city's best interests always in mind.
Something of an eccentric he is a genuine leader and was elected in based on his strong track record of listening to the Citizens and solving issues intelligently.
THE
MAYOR
THE
SENATOR
He and his corruptly-evil brother are based off characters portrayed and voice-acted by Powers Boothe--an actor of great talent who is no longer with us--and I am doing so as a nod of Respect to two of his portrayals I really enjoyed and to the man himself and his legacy of works.
The setting is a hyper-modern city 'somewhere on the west coast' for the time being, I have yet to finish choosing a good spot for it on the map.
The city exists within an independent and apolitical state, and is the capital city of such.
The city is quite large, one of the top three largest cities in USA and Canada combined.
It's a huge tourism draw and while gambling and casinos are legal in this state, fast shuttle-flights to Las Vegas leave every three hours from the city's municipal aerospaceport.
The aerospaceport is where one can also get orbital-tour flights as well as humanity--like in our world--is beginning to commercialize space.
Firearm enthusiasts, I think, will enjoy the fact that I handle such realistically but have brought in next-generation firearms based on different real-world firearm technologies that have been experimented with that make logical sense and are Plausible to a high degree...and took a LOT of work figuring out.
The devil is in the details after all.
Stories set in this city are about 'what lies beneath the slick super-modern veneer' with regards to grittiness, crime, and all the good stuff that makes Detective Fiction worth reading--and of course, sex.
After all, Mike Hammer was NOT an abstainer nor a virgin...have a look at the movie 'I, The Jury' as example.
Thank-You again for your time and your attention!
As always it is very much appreciated!
