sf/f TV development news - 2013

[Greg Cox]

Kegg wrote:

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^
But those multitudes don't see eye to eye. Not all fans of Gene Roddenberry are fans of Joss Whedon (who as far as vampire TV goes seems to have more Trek fans than any other vampire TV show guy).

True. People have different tastes and not everybody's an omnivore where sf/fantasy/horror is concerned. I was just objecting to the weird sort of hostility some sf-only fans seem to have toward vampires as such . . . as though they think that the supernatural stuff is somehow taking the place of their beloved space operas, and that sf somehow deserves to be on TV more than horror.

I mean, does anybody really think that if VAMPIRIE DIARIES or TRUE BLOOD hadn't been greenlighted, HBO or the CW would be airing space operas instead? Or is it more likely that cop shows and reality shows are taking up more time slots than the occassional tv spook show?

Look, I feel your pain. I wouldn't mind another FARSCAPE or FIREFLY either. But it almost seems like some fans are blaming the poor vamps and werewolves for the lack of "proper" sf, so that every time some new supernatural soap opera gets announced, the response around here always seems to be: "Damnit, creepies don't belong on TV, spaceships do!"

Can't we all just get along?

[Distorted Humor]

I am just tired of all the fantasy and science fiction being

Vampires, Zombies, or yet another end of the world show.

Right now the only fantasy or SF show I can think of in production that I know of that is not one of the above is "Game of Thrones"

[Christopher]

Distorted Humor wrote:

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I am just tired of all the fantasy and science fiction being

Vampires, Zombies, or yet another end of the world show.

Right now the only fantasy or SF show I can think of in production that I know of that is not one of the above is "Game of Thrones"

You're forgetting Fringe, Person of Interest, Warehouse 13, Alphas, Haven, Doctor Who, Lost Girl, Continuum, Grimm, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, 666 Park Avenue, The Neighbors, Touch, and the upcoming Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, and Primeval: New World. Not all of those are worthwhile, and some are more borderline genre than others, but they greatly outnumber the vampire, zombie, and post-apocalyptic shows.

[RJDiogenes]

^^ And, hopefully, RHW's new show. Defender, I think it is.

stj wrote:

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The equation sex=death is remarkably popular but I'm sure it's not versatile. It is always profoundly conservative.

It's not conservative at all. Poets and writers and philosophers have always made use of that metaphor. La petit mort, and all that. (I don't get it, myself-- seems more like enhanced clarity to me-- but then, I've never been dead.)

If you really have no problem with semen you don't need blood=semen.

Well, by that line of thinking, there would be no need of metaphor at all. "Just say whatcha mean," as my Uncle Joe used to tell me.

[stj]

Hey, no fair counting poets from days when there was censorship or exile! But seriously, tristesse is a pointless compound of guilt, shame and obsessive-compulsive self-degradation. Unless maybe chickens are involved.

But as a matter of fact in things like True Blood the blood=semen metaphor is indeed unnecessary, since they are not making TV at the beginning of the 19th century. They've got naked actors who can fake orgasms. A useless metaphor is indeed artless, and a confused metaphor is worse. In the case of True Blood the perceived need for a nonexistent thrill from spurting blood=semen completely wrecks the ongoing fangs=fags metaphor. The result is that the series is an esthetic mess that can only be watched as a lowbrow sex farce with repeated distasteful missteps into bloodlust. I'm pretty sure the makers are so confused they think they are stylish! Stupid metaphors are never stylish.

[Distorted Humor]

Christopher wrote:

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You're forgetting Fringe, Person of Interest, Warehouse 13, Alphas, Haven, Doctor Who, Lost Girl, Continuum, Grimm, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, 666 Park Avenue, The Neighbors, Touch, and the upcoming Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, and Primeval: New World. Not all of those are worthwhile, and some are more borderline genre than others, but they greatly outnumber the vampire, zombie, and post-apocalyptic shows.

Fair enough, I had thought that Fringe had finished its run and Person of Interest I think of as a cop show.

But, on the others I will stand corrected.

[Christopher]

Distorted Humor wrote:

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Fair enough, I had thought that Fringe had finished its run and Person of Interest I think of as a cop show.

Fringe is currently two episodes into its final 13-episode season. Person of Interest is basically a crime/conspiracy drama, but built around a conjectural "twenty minutes into the future" computer technology that's just, as of the start of the current season, been revealed as something significantly more science-fictional than we'd originally been led to believe.

[RJDiogenes]

stj wrote:

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Hey, no fair counting poets from days when there was censorship or exile! But seriously, tristesse is a pointless compound of guilt, shame and obsessive-compulsive self-degradation. Unless maybe chickens are involved.

I think the connection between sex and death runs deeper than an outlet for repressive societies-- after all, reproduction and individual mortality go hand in hand on a biological level. Of course, religious repression of sexuality and denial of oblivion complicates matters on an artistic level, but that's true of many things.

The result is that the series is an esthetic mess that can only be watched as a lowbrow sex farce

No doubt about that, but I always figured that was the point.

[Temis the Vorta]

The sexual metaphor exists because audiences are too jaded on literal sex. If that was what they wanted, there's always porn or even having real-life sex.

Variety is sexy, especially variety that transcends what is literally possible in real life. Even repression is sexy. Anything that mixes it up can be sexy to someone.

[Temis the Vorta]

Someone wanna dis vampires now?

Dan Knauf, creator of the cult HBO series Carnivale, has joined NBC’s upcoming 10-episode series Dracula as showrunner/head writer

Jonathan Rhys-Myers is set to play Drac, I guess they're going for the girly-man approach after all...

[JD]

Greg Cox wrote:

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I mean, does anybody really think that if VAMPIRIE DIARIES or TRUE BLOOD hadn't been greenlighted, HBO or the CW would be airing space operas instead? Or is it more likely that cop shows and reality shows are taking up more time slots than the occassional tv spook show?

Look, I feel your pain. I wouldn't mind another FARSCAPE or FIREFLY either. But it almost seems like some fans are blaming the poor vamps and werewolves for the lack of "proper" sf, so that every time some new supernatural soap opera gets announced, the response around here always seems to be: "Damnit, creepies don't belong on TV, spaceships do!"

Can't we all just get along?

Yeah, I don't see what is so horrible about "vampire shows". I'm willing to admit that I have fallen in on the "vampire craze", I'm a huge fan of True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Lost Girl, and I'm even in the process of writting an urban fantasy story. But for me it's not the Vampires so much as it's just the fact that I have found that I like the kinds of stories that are told in these universes, and the characters (witches, werewolfe, ect. not just vamps) that tend to populate them. It's not about metaphors or sex, it's just about good stories with the types of characters that I like.

[xortex]

Greg Cox wrote:

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True. People have different tastes and not everybody's an omnivore where sf/fantasy/horror is concerned. I was just objecting to the weird sort of hostility some sf-only fans seem to have toward vampires as such . . . as though they think that the supernatural stuff is somehow taking the place of their beloved space operas, and that sf somehow deserves to be on TV more than horror.

I mean, does anybody really think that if VAMPIRIE DIARIES or TRUE BLOOD hadn't been greenlighted, HBO or the CW would be airing space operas instead? Or is it more likely that cop shows and reality shows are taking up more time slots than the occassional tv spook show?

Look, I feel your pain. I wouldn't mind another FARSCAPE or FIREFLY either. But it almost seems like some fans are blaming the poor vamps and werewolves for the lack of "proper" sf, so that every time some new supernatural soap opera gets announced, the response around here always seems to be: "Damnit, creepies don't belong on TV, spaceships do!"

Can't we all just get along?

I think horror belongs with fantasy and sci-fi should be seperate at least on tv, just like I don't want to hear jazz or hip hop interspersed with classical music on the radio.

[Nerys Myk]

xortex wrote:

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I think horror belongs with fantasy and sci-fi should be seperate at least on tv, just like I don't want to hear jazz or hip hop interspersed with classical music on the radio.

Not apt analogies. The lines between Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy have always been blurry. Frankenstein is a seminal work in Science Fiction and Horror. Alien is a Horror film in Science Fiction setting. Vampires, werewolves and other Horror staples are often seen in Fantasy stories.

[Bob The Skutter]

Zombie Cheerleader wrote:

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Not apt analogies. The lines between Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy have always been blurry. Frankenstein is a seminal work in Science Fiction and Horror. Alien is a Horror film in Science Fiction setting. Vampires, werewolves and other Horror staples are often seen in Fantasy stories.

Not to mention the fact that there are hip hop songs that use pieces of classical music...

Since when are genres separate pure specimens anyway? Since when does something have to be one genre and one genre only? Tragicomedy goes back to ancient times and as you pointed out here Frankenstein is horror and sci-fi. There's no reason things have to be one or the other.

[Greg Cox]

Yeah, since when do we worry about maintaining strict standards of genre purity? Me, I like getting chocolate in my peanut butter . . .

Bring on the scifi-horror-Bollywood-westerns!