Science Fiction TV Shows

Mendel · Mar 19, 2013

Some of my favorite science fiction TV shows were/are:

Earth: The Final Conflict
The 4400
Kyle XY
Touch (with Keiffer Sutherland)

From what I hear, Touch may get cancelled due to poor ratings. IMHO, I'd rather watch Touch than the many lousy reality shows (especially anything to do with the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, and many many more.)

Why do science fiction shows typically falter after a few seasons? Do the writers back themselves into a corner? Is the target market too segmented?

shave/brush · Mar 19, 2013

I too love science fiction shows. I wondered the same thing, why do they seem to struggle to stay on the air? I enjoyed so many. Eureka was different. I enjoyed that. All the "Star Trek" spin-offs were good. I can't stand the reality shows either.

buffdaddy · Mar 19, 2013

Battlestar Galactica (the reboot). Never been a big Scifi TV guy but this one blew me away. Fringe was OK as well.

Shadowsforbars · Mar 19, 2013

It's The Jetsons for me.

Gammon · Mar 19, 2013

Blake's 7.

ThePatrician · Mar 19, 2013

Mendel said:
IMHO, I'd rather watch Touch than the many lousy reality shows (especially anything to do with the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, and many many more.)

Mendel said:
Why do science fiction shows typically falter after a few seasons? Do the writers back themselves into a corner? Is the target market too segmented?

I would rather perform dental surgery on myself than watch any reality television. I actually enjoy Gordon Ramsey on the British Kitchen Nightmares, since the restaurants aren't ready to collapse in two days. But I digress.

I feel that science fiction has always been a rather niche genre of television. The huge majority of fiction television is sitcoms, legal drama, crime drama, and family television. Science fiction has to be intelligent, structured, and have a good story. Because it has to bring so many things to the table that the rest of the dross doesn't, it walks a dangerous tightrope. If one of the elements is off, the whole thing collapses.

Firefly had everything: science, story, intelligence, humor, and great likeable characters. Unfortunately, FOX screwed up (again) by not airing them in order, so big things never made sense. Watching them in order it makes a lot of sense, and it's a great show. What I like about Firefly is that for the most part, the science is correct. If the science is wrong on a show that trumpets about how correct the science is and its wrong, then it's a HUGE turnoff for me. That's why I LOVED the new Battlestar Galactica: we are just now discovering that faster-than-light travel is possible: http://gizmodo.com/5942634/nasa-starts-development-of-real-life-star-trek-warp-drive. It's just really hard.

I do agree with you that sometimes they raise the bar for themselves so high that they simply can't jump over it anymore. Look at Star Trek Enterprise: they flew in the face of established Trek canon, and they lost the hard-core Trek audience. I almost feel bad for some of these sci-fi writers: if they don't end up painting themselves into a corner, they try to wing it, build story upon story upon story, and either get to a point where they burn out and say "to hell with it, I'm gonna go get hammered!" or paint themselves into a corner again.

I have all three seasons of original Star Trek on DVD, as well as the new Battlestar Galactica. Also, Star Trek TNG and DS9 are on Netflix, so I'm set for quality sci-fi.

Sir Lurkalot · Mar 19, 2013

X Files, BSG (new version), all Star Trek shows, Twilight Zone

barrycv · Mar 20, 2013

BSG (new) is best sci fi TV show ever IMO. Most would say Firefly is the best, I liked it a lot, but not as much as BSG.

Khelben · Mar 20, 2013

Babylon 5. I would get up early in high school to catch two episodes on TNT. Now, I own everything that has been released on DVD for it and watch through the show at least once a year. I'm a big fan of the story arcs and it didn't seem like there was a single important character without some kind of major personal flaw. Conversely, most of the adversarial characters had some kind of redeeming characteristic about them, too.

I also enjoy any flavor of Star Trek, the X-files, Twilight Zone, and the Outer Limits. Some lesser known series I keep around are seaQuest and Space: Above and Beyond. I haven't had a chance to watch all of the new BSG, but I did enjoy the episodes I was able to catch at friends' places.

k2clones29 · Mar 20, 2013

I wouldn't say all sci-fi shows are short-lived. Doctor Who's first episode was in 1963 (I believe it aired the a day or two after JFK's assassination). Aside from a hiatus of 10-15 years, it's still going strong. The rebooted series began in 2005. But many are (alas, Firefly, I can only watch your 14 episodes so many times).

Overall, though, I think sci-fi is not as appreciated among the masses. It's not the creators or writers, IMO. I feel that it doesn't get outstanding ratings, so executives demand changes, the quality of the show diminishes to the point where it loses its base, and the show is cancelled.

AllenG · Mar 20, 2013

I thought Honey Boo Boo was science fiction.
Isle of Dr. Moreau, the next generation. Or something of that ilk.

Kinja · Mar 20, 2013

I think they should take Spielberg's approach: mini-series. The perfect example is Taken.

AllenG · Mar 20, 2013

Edcculus · Mar 20, 2013

I never watched Firefly when it was on TV. I wasn't really into Scifi that much then. I just found it on Netflix though, and love it. Too bad its only 1 season and a movie. One of the best tv shows I've seen in years. So much more to explore too. I feel like the movie did a rush patch job of trying to explain River. Wash's death was a little anti climactic for my taste too.

skijor · Mar 20, 2013

Edcculus said:
I never watched Firefly when it was on TV. I wasn't really into Scifi that much then. I just found it on Netflix though, and love it. Too bad its only 1 season and a movie. One of the best tv shows I've seen in years. So much more to explore too. I feel like the movie did a rush patch job of trying to explain River. Wash's death was a little anti climactic for my taste too.

Same goes for Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. Simply too much depth to convey even in a long movie (3+ hrs) or trilogy.

Dave in the basement · Mar 20, 2013

Supposedly a lot of the sci fi shows fail because they are so expensive to produce. The cast and crew want the show to look good, and all of those effects aren't cheap.

I loved BSG and can't wait to watch Blood & Chrome!

AllenG · Mar 20, 2013

Edcculus said:
I never watched Firefly when it was on TV. I wasn't really into Scifi that much then. I just found it on Netflix though, and love it. Too bad its only 1 season and a movie. One of the best tv shows I've seen in years. So much more to explore too. I feel like the movie did a rush patch job of trying to explain River. Wash's death was a little anti climactic for my taste too.

Speaking to the Tornoto Sun, the director stated that he'll never let hopes of a
Firefly resurrection die. "I'll never really accept it," Whedon said. "And I always, in the back of my head, think, 'What if I could get the old gang back together?'"
Read more at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/GraphicCity/news/?a=73345#tKo5lehZ9tRSiwqA.99

Edcculus · Mar 20, 2013

AllenG said:
Speaking to the Tornoto Sun, the director stated that he'll never let hopes of a
Firefly resurrection die. "I'll never really accept it," Whedon said. "And I always, in the back of my head, think, 'What if I could get the old gang back together?'"
Read more at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/GraphicCity/news/?a=73345#tKo5lehZ9tRSiwqA.99

That would be amazing. I've been thinking about how they would bring it back. Would they pick back up after the movie (Shepard and Wash are dead), or go in between and fill in the gaps...

Haggises · Mar 20, 2013

Gammon said:
Blake's 7.

Best
SF
Ever.

Doctor Who comes in a distant second.

AllenG · Mar 20, 2013

Edcculus said:
That would be amazing. I've been thinking about how they would bring it back. Would they pick back up after the movie (Shepard and Wash are dead), or go in between and fill in the gaps...

Start it back as a series and leave the movie out of continuity. Or if it is a movie, have the opening sequence start with the following scrolling across the screen: Reboot, Wash and Book never died, now let's get on with it.
Or best, run it as a web series. I'd even except b-grade special effects. Stick with the old west outworlds themes.