What is this? What's going on here?

[wiseowl]

OWL stands for Other Worlds and Lands. We are, or, more accurately, we WILL BE, a subscription-based science fiction and fantasy television channel. At the moment, we are in the start-up stages of building a new business.

Unless you're digging through the archives years from now to view old and dead posts, you have discovered us at a very exciting time. We have just begun our journey.

We are all avid fans of science fiction and/or fantasy. We all love television. And we all love science fiction and fantasy television series.

We know that millions of others do, too. But for some reason, network executives of established television channels don't really believe that. Real science fiction is getting harder and harder to come by. Old series get canceled, and quality new series don't come along to replace them. Meanwhile, real fantasy has hardly ever even had a chance to get out of the gate. A lot of the stuff put out under the guise of "science fiction" or "fantasy" is really paranormal or other related genres, or sometimes even stuff that has just the tiniest hint of fantasy for a bit of spice on an otherwise mundane story. We often like this stuff very much, but we still crave good, solid science fiction or fantasy on our plates - and we know that millions of others feel the same way.

People who love science fiction and fantasy are smart people. We like to think. We like to be challenged. While everybody also likes a bit of fluff now and then, we like to be presented with fare that has a lot of "meat" to it. In other words, we want entertainment that is as smart as we are.

Sadly, the established kids on the block don't want to give up what we're asking for. They're happy doing what they're doing. But that's perfectly okay. We don't need their permission to go off and do what we want to do, also. All we need is a little bit of initiative and a lot of hard work to make this happen.

That's why OWL was born.

We believe that there's plenty of room for everybody, and that means that there's plenty of room for us. So, today, we at OWL stretch our wings for the first time, and take off. It's a big, scary universe out there, but it's time to find our own little niche in it.


Nobody has ever done anything quite like what we're about to do before. Our success or failure will change history.

[palenoue]

I hope you allow humor into your definition of what is science fiction and fantasy. I am so burned out on grim, fatalistic, depressing science fiction. Give me Hitchhiker's Guide and Red Dwarf over Battlestar Galactica any day.

[wiseowl]

But of course!!!! *GRIN*

(I'm a big Red Dwarf fan myself, as it happens.)

[Euel]

But of course!!!! *GRIN*

(I'm a big Red Dwarf fan myself, as it happens.)

That's a relief! While I can handle "grim & dark" as well as the next fan, all genre need a leavening of humor.

Euel

[otherdeb]

There are people who aren't RED DWARF fans?

[wiseowl]

Hard to believe, isn't it?

[dwileman]

Hi!

I had begun to think this would never happen: that while the Web and other technological advances meant a world of new comics, some as good as any, occsionall fan-produced episodes of _Star Trek_ were as good as it was going to get.

Writers! Where will you find good writers? Special effects seem to have become relatively easy. Even some real actors have made themselves available to fan-produced shows, but the writing...

[wiseowl]

Oh, there are lots of excellent writers out there. Some of them you may have heard of already; people like Joss Whedon and JMS have become famous for putting out an excellent story. Others, however, many of whom are just as talented, simply haven't had the opportunity to shine yet.

The problem is that Hollywood has become a bit of a closed circle. In Hollywood's view, while talent is nice, the main criteria is who you know, and how much they like you (or owe you a favor). The buddy network is great and all, but when it trumps talent, there's a problem.

Anyway, point is, there are an amazing number of talented writers who have yet to be discovered by Hollywood. We are a new network, and so we feel we're a great match for a new writer, too. We'll be giving some of those talented writers you haven't heard of yet their chance to shine.