Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Crichton" data-source="post: 1300422" data-attributes="member: 4779">Just as an aside, I think we can throw X-Files into the 90's sci-fi success stories. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Looking back at the history of sci-fi on TV, it simply seems that we are in another one of those lulls. It was bound to happen. As fans, the 90s spoiled us; there was always something to watch. You may not have been a big fan but there were always options to watch established shows. Come 2003 we are left with Enterprise, Stargate: SG-1 and Andromeda as the only sci-fi shows with at least 2 full seasons of running. 2002 saw the death of Firefly, Farscape, The Outer Limits, Dark Angel, Roswell and numerous other shows with smaller fan bases. The problem appears to be that nothing has stepped to replace them. The only new sci-fi show that has survived into 2004 has been Jake 2.0, which I cannot comment on the quality of. 1987-2002 was basically sci-fi TVs finest consistant run. I believe we are now currently in the domain of the fantasy/paranormal/superhero TV run. Shows like Buffy, Angel, Xena, Hercules, Smallville and Alias (not to mention others I am surely forgetting). There is no true leader or top dog for the sci-fi fan to look to like Star Trek was. That said, I look at mini-series as something that could be an answer, but only a temporary solution. The sci-fi fan can only hold on to a mini-series for so long before he or she gets bored. Personally, I'd rather see a full-feature than a mini-series but I'll take a mini-series. Problem is that only one network (as someone mentioned) is even trying sci-fi minis. There are only so many times you can show it in reruns before the fans start looking for a new development. Most networks get by on talk shows, reality TV, sitcoms and dramas most of which are relatively cheaper to produce. This hurts sci-fi as fans want to see a show that looks like the movies, or at least reasonably close. Some of the shows in the fantasy/paranormal/superhero category have strong ties to sci-fi but are more of a variant. Not to mention that they are cheaper to produce than, say, a space opera. I think we will see more of these shows pop up, especially superhero-type shows. With Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter being so big now I'm sure there are tons of people out there working on ideas for fantasy (medieval) shows. Some will fail and others will be embraced but these shows won't hit the air until late 2004. Typical, space-based sci-fi as we know it will continue to be in a lull for a bit. It was bound to happen. I even remember a time, near the end of end of DS9's run where I commented to a friend that this (speaking of the "Golden Age" of sci-fi TV) couldn't last forever. There was just too much good stuff on the air. But mini-series will continue to fill a stop-gap, IMO. If there were a proliferation of them, something like in the number of a half-dozen per year then maybe that would do the trick but networks like to make things like these events, rather than make them regular programming. The SFC has fallen in love with them, but they are the only ones. It doesn't help that the big sci-fi movies of the last 5 years have been The Matrix which wouldn't translate in TV very well at all and Star Wars. There aren't many good role-models, so to speak. Not a high-time for sci-fi in my mind. I will just wait it out. :: edited formatting ::</blockquote>

Verification