The slow death of science fiction on the Small screen.

[heisenberg]

I am sure this question has come up a few times on science fiction forums across the globe. During the 90s science fiction was rich and plentiful. It therefore set a very good platform that people were enjoying science fiction on the small screen. However,as the years progressed the number of new proper science fiction shows started to get smaller and smaller and now there is only see up to 3-4 new science fiction shows and a lot of the times none are any good ! However, at the same time, Hollywood is looking at making 2-3 hour science fiction movies more and more with enormous budget(some even more than entire season of a show)- for a two hour blockbuster. How is that, a movie is able to do so well and a series isn't? Would you say that science fiction is a dying art?

 

[heisenberg]

Every year I spend a good amount of time researching new scicence fiction shows that could come to TV, but, unfortuately, it the usual syfy low budget, terrible storyline and acting gibberish.

 

[Overmind One]

This is an interesting subject!

I am sure this question has come up a few times on science fiction forums across the globe. During the 90s science fiction was rich and plentiful. It therefore set a very good platform that people were enjoying science fiction on the small screen. However,as the years progressed the number of new proper science fiction shows started to get smaller and smaller and now there is only see up to 3-4 new science fiction shows and a lot of the times none are any good ! However, at the same time, Hollywood is looking at making 2-3 hour science fiction movies more and more with enormous budget(some even more than entire season of a show)- for a two hour blockbuster. How is that, a movie is able to do so well and a series isn't? Would you say that science fiction is a dying art?

Interesting subject. Actually I think that the "death" of good science fiction has a great deal to do with today's AUDIENCES. That "sweet spot" in the viewing audience that marketers want to reach is a thick segment of the population which fall within the 18-49 age range, males and females. Whereas movies can afford to be more artistic and original, TV shows WILL BE accompanied by advertising breaks selling products and services. Not so much for movies, but things are going in that direction.

So, who makes up this audience for the most part?

• People who work 9-5 jobs. (people who work PERIOD!)
• Young families with children.
• Most of the middle class (country doesnt matter)

The industry makes products for the people who can spend money to buy them. So, TV shows must appeal to that segment of the market, and advertising dollars will be spent accordingly. The success and failure of these shows is analyzed by ratings data, and those which perform are "cloned" and distilled into "formulas" which then get recycled. Science fiction appeals to SMART people. Intelligent people rarely find entertainment in vapid, empty TV shows. Most smart people like to be challenged to think. Many who are tech and science savvy find enjoyment in art which incorporates real science and technology, even if advanced by a century or two. As long as things MAKE SENSE.

Science fiction fans are a relatively small group of very smart people. The Industry appears to be trying to create a product which is smart enough for smart people, but shiny and "hip" enough to appeal to Average Joe and Average Jane with disposable income. Its sad to see this. It reminds me of games like chess, and arts like music (REAL music, played by real musicians playing actual instruments). Lost arts. I know an old lady who is a musical solfeggist, which is somebody who writes musical scores...by hand, using a special calligraphic pen on musical parchment. This is/was an art which was considered a fine art passed down from one generation to another. Now, most every musical program has scoring built in. Play something, and the program creates the score complete with all the notes and even lyrics.

Having said that, it seems that todays faux "scifi" is nothing more than standard drama dressed in space suits or happening in space. I think that Hollywood is in a "trial and error mode" seeing what works and what doesnt.

 

[Rac80]

Just my Humble opinion.

Personally i think tv goes in "trends"...in the early 80's it was all Private eye shows all the time- thanks to magnum pi and others. the sitcom "was dead", then came the Cosby show- and POW! sitcoms everywhere! With a blue collar twist: from Roseanne, to grace under fire, to married with children- there were blue collar sitcoms marching accross our screens. THen we had the 90's and the return of scifi- how many Star Treks? Farscape and Seaquest went in different directions but both were scifi. The scifi shows faded as the cheap-ass so-called reality tv shows began. They share the screen these days with a lot of procedural dramas; but I have hopes that in the future, the wheel of trends will spin our way again and we will find our tv screens full of interesting and well done scifi again.

 

[general grievous]

Personally I think that back at the time the world was fascinated with the 'futuristic' concept as modern technology just got into everyone's lives and so on.

Now it's sort of taken for granted and people aren't excited about 'monsters from outer space with beaming technologies' anymore.

About the movies, there's the Imax and 3D effects (e.g. the recent Tron incarnation, a sequel is already planned by the way), if it wasn't for that I doubt these movies would be a hit.

 

[general grievous]

The scifi shows faded as the cheap-ass so-called reality tv shows began

Yes today it's all about giving viewers a reflection of themselves, albeit a twisted one. So reality shows, stars that aren't as good looking as before, broken heros etc.

SGU actually tried to do that, the idea itself isn't that horrible (although personally I dislike it), but the implementation in SGU's case.. epic fail..

 

[Gatefan1976]

Personally, I feel there is just a lack of people in the industry willing to pick up books on the subject matter and run with it. It's not like scifi as a genre is dead, just people don't read enough and are too scared to do the genre justice. Instead they just go with whatever is popular at the time which breeds half arsed "reality shows" and neverending "X procedurals" (not that I mind some of those)

Lack of vision and our seeming increasing desire to live within our own bubble is what's going to kill scifi. One excellent (or popular) series of movies "HP style" would do wonders for the Genre, and the books exist to do them, just no one will damn well read them

 

[shavedape]

Yes today it's all about giving viewers a reflection of themselves, albeit a twisted one. So reality shows, stars that aren't as good looking as before, broken heros etc.

SGU actually tried to do that, the idea itself isn't that horrible (although personally I dislike it), but the implementation in SGU's case.. epic fail..

I remember studying scifi in an English class back in highschool. The main point was how scifi showed mans interaction with technology and the effects of that technology on mans world. In many ways it was about the hardware, all the ethical and philosophical questions the stories were based on derived from that point. (This shouldn't be confused with "fantasy" fiction which employs magic as a basis for much of the stories) With Stargate, the working scifi theme was the technological wonder of travel thru stargates and how that technology affected humans here on Earth.

Now though what passes for scifi on TV is all about human drama and the hardware (technology) is window dressing. BSG could have been done as an old Roman tale or Greek tragedy, it didn't have to take place in space. Think about it.

 

[heisenberg]

Interesting subject. Actually I think that the "death" of good science fiction has a great deal to do with today's AUDIENCES. That "sweet spot" in the viewing audience that marketers want to reach is a thick segment of the population which fall within the 18-49 age range, males and females. Whereas movies can afford to be more artistic and original, TV shows WILL BE accompanied by advertising breaks selling products and services. Not so much for movies, but things are going in that direction.

But what about shows like Eureka and warehouse 13? They are doing quite well in the ratings...

So, who makes up this audience for the most part?

• People who work 9-5 jobs. (people who work PERIOD!)
• Young families with children.
• Most of the middle class (country doesnt matter)

But..didn't people work in the 90s too? They were probably younger at starting a family than today.

The industry makes products for the people who can spend money to buy them. So, TV shows must appeal to that segment of the market, and advertising dollars will be spent accordingly. The success and failure of these shows is analyzed by ratings data, and those which perform are "cloned" and distilled into "formulas" which then get recycled. Science fiction appeals to SMART people. Intelligent people rarely find entertainment in vapid, empty TV shows. Most smart people like to be challenged to think. Many who are tech and science savvy find enjoyment in art which incorporates real science and technology, even if advanced by a century or two. As long as things MAKE SENSE.

That is true.

Science fiction fans are a relatively small group of very smart people. The Industry appears to be trying to create a product which is smart enough for smart people, but shiny and "hip" enough to appeal to Average Joe and Average Jane with disposable income. Its sad to see this. It reminds me of games like chess, and arts like music (REAL music, played by real musicians playing actual instruments). Lost arts. I know an old lady who is a musical solfeggist, which is somebody who writes musical scores...by hand, using a special calligraphic pen on musical parchment. This is/was an art which was considered a fine art passed down from one generation to another. Now, most every musical program has scoring built in. Play something, and the program creates the score complete with all the notes and even lyrics.

I wouldn't call sci-fans a niche market :p. The number of people who love stargate/star trek/farscape and other sci-fi shows are quite astronomical. It's very obvious how big the scicence fiction fanbase is just have a look of how many people got upset when SGA as SG-1 were cancellled? But...one thing you do have to realize, that most of the fanbase is now residing outisde the US. I think it's just that humankind is just getting dumber.

Personally, I feel there is just a lack of people in the industry willing to pick up books on the subject matter and run with it. It's not like scifi as a genre is dead, just people don't read enough and are too scared to do the genre justice. Instead they just go with whatever is popular at the time which breeds half arsed "reality shows" and neverending "X procedurals" (not that I mind some of those).

Oh hell yes! There are millions of books that can be turned into sci-fi stories(I would love all of Issac Asmov stuff to be shown on TV! for example)..

Lack of vision and our seeming increasing desire to live within our own bubble is what's going to kill scifi. One excellent (or popular) series of movies "HP style" would do wonders for the Genre, and the books exist to do them, just no one will damn well read them Having said that, it seems that todays faux "scifi" is nothing more than standard drama dressed in space suits or happening in space. I think that Hollywood is in a "trial and error mode" seeing what works and what doesnt.

I think here lies the problem.

 

[I Miss Fri Night SCIFI]

Personally i think tv goes in "trends"...in the early 80's it was all Private eye shows all the time- thanks to magnum pi and others. the sitcom "was dead", then came the Cosby show- and POW! sitcoms everywhere! With a blue collar twist: from Roseanne, to grace under fire, to married with children- there were blue collar sitcoms marching accross our screens. THen we had the 90's and the return of scifi- how many Star Treks? Farscape and Seaquest went in different directions but both were scifi. The scifi shows faded as the cheap-ass so-called reality tv shows began. They share the screen these days with a lot of procedural dramas; but I have hopes that in the future, the wheel of trends will spin our way again and we will find our tv screens full of interesting and well done scifi again.

I agree wholeheartedly. Like everything in life, it's cyclical. But this reality show B.S. has just gotten out of control. It's to the point where it's tiring, annoying and not the least bit inventive! Ghost Hunters and that Psychic Mother show...C'mon!!!

 

[Rac80]

I agree wholeheartedly. Like everything in life, it's cyclical. But this reality show B.S. has just gotten out of control. It's to the point where it's tiring, annoying and not the least bit inventive! Ghost Hunters and that Psychic Mother show...C'mon!!!

hey you can't forget Bio channel's "psychic kids" It's cheaper than "real" programming but hopefully it will start to go the way of the dinosaurs soon.....

 

[Overmind One]

It was much different.

But what about shows like Eureka and warehouse 13? They are doing quite well in the ratings...


But..didn't people work in the 90s too? They were probably younger at starting a family than today.

The 1990s is the decade of the Birth of the Internet. There was no YouTube, no Hulu, no Cable Internet or FiOS, and the UseNet was nothing like these forums and the others which came before them. No Google, and email was only widely in use on AOL and Produgy and CompuServe, IIRC. It was a whole different world. Not only that, but in that decade science fiction could be considered mainstream. It was on several broadcast networks as well as the infant cable networks as well as in the theaters. So, the demographic was hitting baby boomers and their children elsewhere (mostly on broadcast TV and radio).

I wouldn't call sci-fans a niche market :p. The number of people who love stargate/star trek/farscape and other sci-fi shows are quite astronomical. It's very obvious how big the scicence fiction fanbase is just have a look of how many people got upset when SGA as SG-1 were cancellled? But...one thing you do have to realize, that most of the fanbase is now residing outisde the US. I think it's just that humankind is just getting dumber.

Good point. But I dont think that humankind is getting dumber, its just that fewer people are making use of their intellectual birthrights because their brains are not being challenged to do so...at least in America. There are too many businesses actively competing instead of innovating. Its more tempting for producers to create products for the "mainstream", and that is no longer science fiction. Its drama and mindless reality shows like "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and "Ghost Hunters". Its sad to see.

Oh hell yes! There are millions of books that can be turned into sci-fi stories(I would love all of Issac Asmov stuff to be shown on TV!

Somebody could make a MINT on creating movie versions of many of Asimov's stories!

 

[Overmind One]

Are you shittin me?

I agree wholeheartedly. Like everything in life, it's cyclical. But this reality show B.S. has just gotten out of control. It's to the point where it's tiring, annoying and not the least bit inventive! Ghost Hunters and that Psychic Mother show...C'mon!!!

Youre kidding, right? I cancelled my cable in November of 2009 because of Stargate Universe, and so I dont know these things...are you kidding me? Psychic Mother show? Really?

 

[Stonelesscutter]

Personally i think tv goes in "trends"...in the early 80's it was all Private eye shows all the time- thanks to magnum pi and others. the sitcom "was dead", then came the Cosby show- and POW! sitcoms everywhere! With a blue collar twist: from Roseanne, to grace under fire, to married with children- there were blue collar sitcoms marching accross our screens. THen we had the 90's and the return of scifi- how many Star Treks? Farscape and Seaquest went in different directions but both were scifi. The scifi shows faded as the cheap-ass so-called reality tv shows began. They share the screen these days with a lot of procedural dramas; but I have hopes that in the future, the wheel of trends will spin our way again and we will find our tv screens full of interesting and well done scifi again.

You forgot to mention police series and hospital series.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

One excellent (or popular) series of movies "HP style" would do wonders for the Genre, and the books exist to do them, just no one will damn well read them

Does this mean what I think it means or does it mean Harry Potter?

 

[Stonelesscutter]

I remember studying scifi in an English class back in highschool. The main point was how scifi showed mans interaction with technology and the effects of that technology on mans world. In many ways it was about the hardware, all the ethical and philosophical questions the stories were based on derived from that point. (This shouldn't be confused with "fantasy" fiction which employs magic as a basis for much of the stories) With Stargate, the working scifi theme was the technological wonder of travel thru stargates and how that technology affected humans here on Earth.

Now though what passes for scifi on TV is all about human drama and the hardware (technology) is window dressing. BSG could have been done as an old Roman tale or Greek tragedy, it didn't have to take place in space. Think about it.

I must disagree with you on the bolded sentence. In my opinion Stargate is about the adventure of discovering new places, the possibility of venturing out into unknown space. The gate itself is just a means to an end created by the writers of the original movie to make the story they wanted to tell possible. It's not like they thought up a stargate and then thought "hey what's this, hmmm what could we do with this?".

I agree with you on the second part. These days a lot of tv shows seem to be about nothing else but drama. Personally I'm a bit sick of it, I never really was a fan of drama. Ofcourse the largest chunk of the population eats it whipped cream with chocolate sprinkles on top. At least for the moment. Now a drama show about the romans, hmmm, I might be interested in actually watching that. As long as it doesn't take place in space.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

But...one thing you do have to realize, that most of the fanbase is now residing outside the US. I think it's just that humankind is just getting dumber.

Hehehehehehehehehe!
So you're saying that people outside the US are on average smarter than people in the US ey?
I can live with that.

 

[mzzz]

Wish there was something we could do to kill reality tv bs effectively.

 

[shavedape]

Wish there was something we could do to kill reality tv bs effectively.

Me too but the economics of producing reality BS pretty much trumps anything we can do. Just gotta hope that reality TV becomes more expensive to produce someday. Hell, it's all scripted anyway so eventually someone will make a stink that they aren't being paid union scale, blah blah blah and then things will get shaken up good and hard for reality TV.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Does this mean what I think it means or does it mean Harry Potter?

Harry potter

I don't think the world is ready for a Lovecraft inspired TV show