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Something that Just Occured To Me...
- Thread starter KoshN
- Start date
KoshN
Super Moderator
Evidently, only me.
That argument's preposterous. The names of these general channels were picked back before there was specialization. Those names were never representative of the programming. You might as well call them General Channels 1, 2, and 3.
If they were available, I would.
Buffy, gone.
Farscape, gone.
Firefly, gone.
John Doe, gone.
In sci-fi/fantasy, all I have left is Enterprise (barely mediocre), Angel (not so great last season), The Dead Zone (pretty good) and SG-1 (traditional SF TV, not too deep, lots of exposition, not much character development).
Nobody's talking about loyalty of viewers to a channel. I'm talking about a niche channel living up to it's niche name, and if it doesn't, it should change it's name to be more representative of what it shows.
Now, whenever I turn to Sci-Fi, if it's showing an in-production series, it's usually the most cheap and/or execrable stuff anybody could imagine (exception: SG-1).
I'm angry because I lost a lot of good shows last season and this season, most of them sci-fi, they were replaced by crap, and the last bastion of sci-fi will have zero sci-fi shows I watch after SG-1 Season 7 is done. All the while, crap (e.g. Reality TV) thrives.
GKarsEye
Regular
Well, yeah. Not everything has to be an "argument"- I was just demonstrating how little importance I place on the name of a channel.
Anyway, SFC isn't the only one that's canceled science-ficiton programming. Didn't Fox have Firefly and Angel? And then there was that Batman thing. I believe they're all gone.
What the SFC is doing is only part of what all TV is doing. For whatever reason, science fiction programming is not profitable, so it's gone from the airwaves. These things are cyclical, though, so in a few years there will be more sci-fi.
I think maybe it has to do with the success of shows like the X-Files, which spawned lots of copycats, which sucked, which scared viewers and TV execs from sci-fi. The declining ratings of Enterprise doesn't help. Yes, I know it's because the show sucks and not because of decreased interest in the genre, but I don't believe TV execs fully understand that.
The best thing that could happen to television science fiction is for there to be a clever, adult, dark sci-fi show on HBO. They have the power and attention to do for sci-fi (or any genre) what they did for crime drama (The Sopranos) and romantic comedy (Sex & the City). It's time for science fiction to break out of the mold of utopian Star Trek and teenage boy fantasy fare like Angel.
Of course, Jeremiah would be perfect, but it's on Showtime (and who the hell watches Showtime for original programming?) and is getting screwed and tossed aside harder than a 2-bit whore.
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
You are not even going to give Statgate Atlantis a try.
Couldn't agree more. As for HBO, this new show (I think it's called Carnivale) sounds very promising. I think it's going to deal more with the occult/weird/mystical side of the genre, or it may be more fantasy... either way, it at least sounds different than anything else on tv. Showtime's "Dead Like Me" sounds interesting too.
But I definitely think you're right about sci-fi breaking out of its familiar mold. I think one of Enterprise's biggest problems is that they've pretty much told every story there is to tell in that universe... and by going with a prequel, they've constrained themselves even more... Of course they could have been a little innovative by giving us a society that wasn't a utopian paradise, but they missed the boat there as well.
As for Angel, Buffy and the like, I think you're right again... the time for pop-culture quoting fantasy shows has had its day as well. Frankly, I wish there were more shows like "The Dead Zone," or shows that went back to what science-fiction really is.... unfortunately, I've seen more anime that was more science-fiction
than anything on American televison...
GKarsEye
Regular
Oops, when I said "teenage boy fantasy fare like Angel," I meant Dark Angel. I was referring to the chick factor- the idea that these shows are for teenage boys and young male adults and that they therefore must show tasty babes like Jessica Alba. I never saw a minute of Dark Angel but looking at the ads it seemed like the whole point of the show was to watch this exotic looking girl with full lips and sexy midriff run around in tight leather and take her sweater off.
Your post is also hinting at another current trend in sci-fi, in film as well as television- there is more of an interest in fantasy and mysticism than in science fiction. The huge success of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Buffy are telling execs that this is the way to go.
It would be really cool if a TV show could deal with some similar concepts and style as Contact or 2001 or Solaris- high concept sci-fi, with an emphasis on the science. Or maybe even an anthology show that brings to life science fiction short stories. I dunno, something other than "band of different wacky characters is space ship/station going on krazy adventures" kind of stuff.
Thank God I read, otherwise TV would depress me.
Your post is also hinting at another current trend in sci-fi, in film as well as television- there is more of an interest in fantasy and mysticism than in science fiction. The huge success of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Buffy are telling execs that this is the way to go.
It would be really cool if a TV show could deal with some similar concepts and style as Contact or 2001 or Solaris- high concept sci-fi, with an emphasis on the science. Or maybe even an anthology show that brings to life science fiction short stories. I dunno, something other than "band of different wacky characters is space ship/station going on krazy adventures" kind of stuff.
Thank God I read, otherwise TV would depress me.
