Originally posted at PSFK.com
What's inspired the recent influx of fantasy-scifi TV programming? Here in the States, fantasy shows like Heroes, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and True Blood claim a surprisingly large viewership, while creators continue churning out new pilots and series ideas around the undead and the strange. And in the UK, the trend is even more apparent, with more than a handful of scifi shows slated for the Fall season. The Guardian takes a look at the growth of scifi on UK networks, suggesting today's audiences are looking for more from their TV shows and characters - high-drama reality shows having upped the wow factor to levels standard sitcoms and dramas can't meet:
What has prompted this plethora of fantasy programming? Julian Murphy, the producer of Demons and the BBC's Merlin, views the schedules as a victory for classic British creativity rather than showing a fad for sci-fi or horror drama: "...Reality TV is a factor. X Factor and Big Brother create some amazing human drama, and you have to ask how scripted drama can compete. As a result I think it has to offer something more, something bigger."
The article also points out how the current political and social climate might be adding to the appeal of moralistic, allegorical fantasy storylines:
And yet fantasy writing often contains a core of reality. When Rod Serling created The Twilight Zone in the late 1950s, it contained subversive anti-nuclear war, anti-McCarthyite tales; at the height of the war on terror, Lost, Battlestar Galactica and even Heroes carried messages that attacked the triumph of the right. So should we expect lots of messages with the latest shows? "They're escapist but they deal with serious topics," says Ben Stephenson, controller of drama commissioning at the BBC.
Scifi's unique capacity for metaphor and spectacle is nothing new - and likely explains why the big budget film industry is still ruled by fantasy-scifi (E.T., Jurassic Park and the Alien series are still some of the longest reigning box office hits). What could be driving this shift in TV programming, then, may be more a matter of perception than of changing interests: networks are treating the once stigmatized scifi genre (and its followers) as the powerful, profitable force it has grown to be.
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Even though SciFi has certainly evolved with the help of special effects. But I believe something has gotten lost over the last 15 years or so in SFi: the art of story telling and great dialouge. This is what made episodes IV, V and VI of the Star Wars saga so appealing. It was the ebb and flow of the story and how the characters related to each other, not just the "wow factor" with special effects.
I guess this is why I really like SciFi shows like "Lost" and the original "Stargate" series. Both are different in terms of their dialouge, but I love that they both tell a story, a great story. "Lost" is hands down the best SciFi show on tv. And the best thing about the show to me is that it's compelling, and riveting, and boasts the most diverse cast in television history. There is a lot to love about that metaphorically-rich show.
Good piece Ms. Huang...
True Blood? That's an erotic thriller. I don't have any idea what's driving people to visualize vampires as sex object but I see no sci in that fi. Heck, they have no problem with mirrors or crosses and can come back from being melted by the sun! Nonsense.
As to Lost as Sci-Fi, the show seems bent on positioning itself as something other. Heck, I am so lost watching it, that I don't have any clue what it is. But to avoid a dispute, if you insist it's Sci-Fi, I won't argue.
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The article also points out how the current political and social climate might be adding to the appeal of moralistic, allegorical fantasy storylines:
And yet fantasy writing often contains a core of reality. When Rod Serling created The Twilight Zone in the late 1950s, it contained subversive anti-nuclear war, anti-McCarthyite tales; at the height of the war on terror, Lost, Battlestar Galactica and even Heroes carried messages that attacked the triumph of the right.
]
Good point. If the general appeal of fiction is to live vicariously through characters who are able to solve complex problems similar enough to our own that we identify with them and enjoy their victories, it stands to reason that science fiction would be no exception.
In my relatively short lifetime of 60 years, I have seen numerous examples of yesterday's fiction becoming today's fact. This whole process that's happening right now...me composing my thoughts into words on this incredibly sophisticated electronic device...and instantly sending them out to potentially millions of readers around this planet is truly astounding but it's just a part of normal daily life for so many of us. I can be just as guilty as anyone for taking all this for granted...but all it takes is a few seconds of slightly deeper thought and all of the jaw-dropping awe returns.
I fail to understand how anyone could NOT be a fan. We need MORE! We need it to be even BETTER! We need it NOW! Get rid of that god-awful so-called "reality" TV and give us something to really think about and something to inspire us to define and manifest a better future.
Now, if only The Sara Connor Chronicles can hold on. I need my Lena Headley and Summer Glau fix.
The stories started going "whack a mole" with WHO is the next 'secret' Cylon. The fleet started going in circles. Then the EX-O became another secret Cylons I quit watching. It just got weirder and weirder as though the writers had no idea of what to do. WHICH is what happened. A writer who left the show said they were making it up as the show was shooting.
The ratings showed it as well with fewer and fewer watchers every week.
With Sara Conner Chronicles I see the same thing happening. MORE and MORE terminators showing up on every corner and a kid who just whines all the time. I really had high hopes for that show. But Summer makes the show although I hope someday they bring back FIREFLY.
It's as though the show writers don't have a clue.
I think the reason behind both shows lagging is that NONE of the writers really understands the genre of science fiction. Science fiction literally has the universe at it's fingertips but the writers can't see beyond their noses and write what is standard drama fare ala TVDrama script writing 101 with some robots and space ships thrown in..
Torchwood and Dr.Who have writers who get it.
The U.S. TV studios don't and they won't until they actually hire someone who gets science fiction, to be in charge of hiring NEW writers.
I actually agree with you on the Sarah Connor Chronicles, but I still enjoy the ride. Summer is doing good work--some of it actually remarkably good. And Lena is just Lena.
I don't think the writing in SF series HAS to be any worse than in any other TV series type. It's the network executives and producers who define the shows and they are the ones who don't get SF. Firefly was killed by network interference, not by anything about the show itself. Also, since SF involves creating a entire universe or internally consistent reality, it takes time for it to develop. That can't occur if a series is going to be canceled after three or four episodes.
Let's not even discuss Flash Gordan! The SciFi channel should just buy the BBC stuff and leave it at that.
My husband and I teach special topics courses in film and popular culture at Kent State University. Articles like this intrigue us; we also use them for our classes. We also use articles such as this to justify our courses with our bosses. For instance, my husband teaches four different courses on classic Hollywood movie monsters, and is introducing a new course on classic science fiction films. Popular culture always reflects the time in which it was created. The hardest thing to do is to look at contemporary pop culture and assess where it is.
We liked this article; however, it doesn't specifically identify events being reflected in pop culture. For instance, could Obama have been elected president if the TV show 24 didn't have a black president? We look at True Blood as an allegory of society's view of outsiders; for instance, the beginning credits of the show has a sign saying "God Hates Fangs;" leave out the "N" and you have an anti-gay message.
Would you be willing to write a follow-up that expands on the signs, symbols and meanings in these scif/fantasy shows and how they reflect specific issues or situations in contemporary culture? If so, we'd love to read it and use it in our classes!
Sincerely,
Robert and Traci West
Would love to continue the discussion. feel free to send me an email at christine -at- psfk -dot- com.
The BBC does a MUCH better job with science fiction than American TV.
Movies have always been a good money make for the SciFi genre if done right (Big budget, tons of cool special effects)
On TV however they have a tendency to not understand the genre and keep trying to turn it into a typical drama or sitcom. Usually with disasterous results. Occasionally they get it right but then refuse to support it.
Take FIREFLY for instance. One great TV show with a truly unique look at our possible future and still have a great take on today.
There are countless others who came and went because TV and the Suits did not have a CLUE as to what makes a good scifi show work and kept trying to turn it into something THEY understood.
The recent idiocy that was called Flash Gordon on SCIFI is a PERFECT example of cheapness and poor writing.
Oh well not enough room here to get into it.
That absolutely lame and EMBARRASSING Flash Gordon from Sci Fi was what they preferred to Firefly??? Or any of the other lame attempts at scifi they keep coming up with as opposed to just getting the Serenity crew back together.
IF for no other reason than maybe a six part mini series.
SciFi Channel would be good but even the BBC would do it better.
I always thought a good way to do a mini series if they won't do a full season, that would also bring back the two deceased characters would be a trip back to Earth That Was with a few episodes of retrospective on Walsh and Shepard.
OH well I can dream.
And the thing is there are SO many great sci fi stories that could be brought to the (TV) screen.
I'd like to see more of them. Mostly I find the current SCI FI channel rather unwatchable, it's all serialized stuff, star trek ripoffs, and strange reality type shows, cmon there's great stuff out there why isn't it coming to the screen?