What's new this fall in sci-fi/fantasy style programing?

[John Crichton]

Oh dear God!

I just had this horrible vision of Pirates of the Carribean: The TV Series.

Starring two young pretty boys who can't act trying to pretend they're Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. With a jacked up version of whats-her-name.

I'm going to go wash out my brain before that image sticks.

Heheh, like a buddy-cop show trying to be a like Lethal Weapon. Just with pirates.

But seriously, in the right hands those concepts are very cool. Let one of the good TV producers take a shot at it and I think we have a prime-time winner.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Thank god for DVDs and boxed sets is all I can say. I see that I'll be watching more CNN, History Channell, Discovery Channel and Cartoon Network.

Man, TV is really going the way of the dinosaur here.

 

[Look_a_Unicorn]

<mild rant!>
It seems that that it is just far more productive to churn out mindless reality TV shows and teenie dramas that titillate the most common denominator than it does to create truly interesting, new TV- or even continue old favourites with an enthusiastic fanbase. (by that I mean MY old favourites )
I know I'm simplifying hugely, but from my POV: Farscape has been axed. Futurama has been axed. Family Guy has been axed. Scrubs is axed. Buffy & Angel aren't on until 10pm & I have to work mornings. Firefly wasn't even shown. Stargate was going to be axed, but now isn't YAY. That means that on Oz TV, the only good things shown at a decent hour coming over from the US are the Simpsons & South Park

Is there some conspiracy out there to either a) make me watch television or b) (much more evilly) make me sit down & watch Big Brother to get my hour of vegetating per week *vomits, looks at tv guide, vomits again*.
<end rant>

And I am terribly sorry if Eric Noah's grandmother is offended by mention of Big Brother. I know I am.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'm gonna agree with John Crichton - nothing is really blowing my skirt up.

I'm definitely going to be watching Angel, that much is certain. I'll definitely be watching Jeremiah when it starts back up in September. SFC is putting out a series based on Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, I'm gonna check that out when it airs (don't know when). Might try and get back into Andromeda and Stargate, but since I don't watch much TV anyway I doubt that will happen.

I'm still disgusted with SFC (and networks in general) over the Farscape debacle. Thought someone (Henry maybe?) mentioned in passing starting a company called One Million Fan Productions, and everyone donates $23 dollars, which would cover the production cost of most any scifi show out there, Farscape included. I've daydreamed about starting that up, but in the end I don't think it would work. And I don't have start-up capital. Besides, in the end Farscape wasn't even averaging one million viewers.

 

[John Crichton]

After reading through this thread again it got me thinking - perhaps the 90s spoiled us a bit? Specifically, the last 10 years have been really kind to the science fiction/fantasy genre. Even with all the cancellations. Let me recap and I'm sure I won't hit all of them.

I'm not listing my favorites here, I'm listing the stuff that was considered good by the majority of genre fans. A few of these are still around, others were cancelled but that doesn't mean that we didn't get to enjoy them to some extent. I have also not listed shows that did not make it at least one full season. Also included are some that are a mixed bag to most folks but are still genre shows and do have a fan base:

• X-Files
• Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
• Angel
• Babylon 5
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Farscape
• Futurama
• Roswell
• Stargate: SG-1
• Smallville
• Alias
• John Doe
• Jeremiah
• The Tick (animated)
• Invisible Man
• The Chronicle
• The Pretender
• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
• Xena: Warrior Princess
• Witchblade
• The Outer Limits
• First Wave
• Profiler
• Highlander
• Star Trek: Voyager
• Forever Knight
• Earth: Final Conflict
• Charmed
• Sliders
• Andromeda
• Lexx
• Dark Angel
• Millennium
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
• Mutant X
• SeaQuest DSV

These are just the shows that have aired in the last 10 years, some lasting longer than others. With the exception of a few (Star Trek Next Gen being the most notable) all of them began and ended their runs in the last 10 years. That's alot of TV in there, especially when compared to the 10 years before it.

I guess a lull was coming. This may be a slow year but I'm sure things will pick up within the next few years. Reality TV I think is a fad. It will be big for a while then people will get tired of it. It won't go away but we probably won't see as much of it. Unless they start pulling some "Running Man" type stuff on us....

EDIT - made a few additions to the list

 

[theT0rmented]

I highly recommend Stargate: SG-1. I wasn't a fan until I started borrowing my friend's DVD collection (seasons 1-3 are available here in Canada). I'd never realized how good it was! The whole plot line is intricately connected; they'll re-use characters from previous episodes (seasons), integrate everything together. It's really good.

But you're right Jon, there has been a lot of Sci-Fi shows in the last decade.

BTW, anybody know of plans for Pretender DVD boxed sets?

DVD boxed sets are very nice (though an expensive habit ). I'd never watched Buffy (don't kill me!), but now I have seasons 1-4 on DVD. And boy do I enjoy the show (though season 4 wasn't as good as the previous 3). And Angel season 1 (can't wait 'till August for Season 2). But your milleage may vary on the boxed sets... for example, some TNG boxed sets sell for 118$Can, while Stargate is in the 50s$Can... ok, enough rambling.

 

[2d6]

I have to agree, SG-1 is an excellent show, I just discovered it myself and it does not disappoint.

I don;t know if deadzone qualifies, I know there are new episodes coming up, though I hear they are retooling the show to be less relient on the metaplot.

I too hope Enterprise is much better this season. It's a shame, this is the first summer I haven;t watched the reruns.

 

[Umbran]

Thought someone (Henry maybe?) mentioned in passing starting a company called One Million Fan Productions...

I'll take the blame for that concept. Nobody said it would be easy to start.

 

[John Crichton]

I'll take the blame for that concept. Nobody said it would be easy to start.

I've got my $23 waiting.

 

[Dimwhit]

TV is getting depressing lately. Fortunately, I still have The Simpsons. I know, not fantasy/scifi. But even going into its 15th season and not as good as its prime, it's still better than most (IMO all) of what's out there.

I never watched many of the fantasy/scifi tv shows. Never seen an episode of Buffy and the likes. I started watching Stargate way back when if first aired on Showtime and I was single, but while I liked it, I didn't watch it for long. I would like to see a nice fantasy show, but I'm not hopeful. Maybe LotR will inspire a good tv producer to develop something of quality.