Charles Stross just kicked up an e-fuss about scifi televison.
I agree that most tech in sci-fi is just geek window dressing for the drama and action. Some cases you could replace the space with sea, planets with islands, transcendent technology with magic, and you would have an Odyssey or Sinbad knockoff.
The latest Battlestar Galactica, despite all its flaws, dealt with a lot of transhumanist issues; cloning, AI, transferring identity. It did human drama and action a lot better than the utopian dryness of Star Trek or the kiddie medieval allegory of Star Wars.
Most commenters suggested Lexx and Babylon 5 to Chas. I can only speak about Babylon 5, currently watching the first season on Hulu. While the acting was uneven, Peter Jurasik’s Londo and Andreas Katsulas’ G’Kar being the top players, The epic and dramatic plot may make for good print fiction.
One show that jumps to mind is the futuristic legal show (my brother would like it as a paralegal) Century City. The show dealt with issues that may arise by the setting of 2030 such as virtual fascimiles of people, theraputic cloning, and mental cybernetic implants.
Alas, Century City was cancelled after nine episodes. I can only guess was to why it didn’t succeed. It was a civil legal drama(-1) in a socially progressive society(-60) that asked ethical questions about transcendent tech instead of railing at socio-legal straw men like pedophiles and honor killers (seriously, how many honor killer episodes does every legal show need?) (-39).
But good news everyone!All of Century City is available to watch on Hulu