recent trends in TV sf/f

[Temis the Vorta]

Here's the chart, which seems to prove what we've suspected - sci fi is taking a nose dive since the heydays of the mid to late 90s.

The chart could be misleading, however, since it tracks numbers of themes rather than numbers of shows. Maybe what we're seeing is single-theme sci fi. Heroes = mutants/aliens, Lost = time-travel, Terminator = robots but Star Trek used to have em all in just one episode...

PS, the chart to the left only lists some of the shows they surveyed, so don't fret if you don't see Supernatural or Lost. The whole list is here.

 

[Mr Light]

I do wish the heydey of the SF/F was back. Back when I was in high school and college there were so many shows to pick from!

 

[sidious618]

I do wish the heydey of the SF/F was back. Back when I was in high school and college there were so many shows to pick from!

Problem is, most of the sci-fi shows back then weren't very good. We don't have as many now but we sure have a lot of quality ones.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Fascinating.

I'd say a good part of the decline in sci-fi has to do with the rise of reality TV. Also, considering the opportunities for web content, a lot of sci-fi has moved into that medium.

 

[Trubinator]

We seem to have an overabundance of Sci-Fi these days but none of it is any good.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'd say a good part of the decline in sci-fi has to do with the rise of reality TV.

I think reality TV has had more impact on everything else on TV besides sf/f - I don't see how the two types serve at all the same audience interest or need.

Also, considering the opportunities for web content, a lot of sci-fi has moved into that medium.

The Internet has done a lot more to steal the attention span and free time of sf/f TV's audience than reality TV has - but it also represents an opportunity for the two mediums working together much more than the networks have capitalized on. Just posted an extended rant on that topic here.

 

[Greg Cox]

I do wish the heydey of the SF/F was back. Back when I was in high school and college there were so many shows to pick from!

Problem is, most of the sci-fi shows back then weren't very good. We don't have as many now but we sure have a lot of quality ones.

Good point. LOST, CHUCK, the new DOCTOR WHO, etcetera all outclass pretty much everything produced back in the seventies. (Trust me, it was a dark time for sf tv . . . .)

 

[Greylock Crescent]

think reality TV has had more impact on everything else on TV besides sf/f - I don't see how the two types serve at all the same audience interest or need.

I'd say it affected sf/f in the sense that reality TV crowded the marketplace. In a sense, sci-fi in the mid 90s was a kind of "fad" or "boom" and as a result, it captured the attention studio execs. Now their attentions are turned elsewhere. The core sf/f base remains the same, but there hasn't been as much of an attempt to reach larger constituencies.

The Internet has done a lot more to steal the attention span and free time of sf/f TV's audience than reality TV has - but it also represents an opportunity for the two mediums working together much more than the networks have capitalized on. Just posted an extended rant on that topic here.

I think we're going to see a *lot* of really high-quality sf/f stories on the web. In fact, there are already a number of very good ones out their already. Afterworld and After Judgment are two solid examples. And last year's Gemini Division was released in conjunction with NBC.

 

[Mr Light]

When I say when I was in high school / college I mean the mid 90s to early 00s. I'm not that old

 

[23skidoo]

Interesting survey, though odd that they missed Torchwood (one of a few shows that were missing).

I'd like to think that it's more a case of quality vs. quantity, coupled with the fact people are so demanding in terms of SFX these days that SF shows generally are far more expensive to produce than, say, a sitcom or something like Law & Order.

Another reason we don't have as much SF on at least mainstream networks is because the people who watch mainstream networks -- at least since the rise of the Internet -- don't tend to watch SF or Fantasy. Merlin is a giant hit in the UK and elsewhere, but landed with a dull thud when shown on a US network on Sundays. Defying Gravity required financing from at least 3 countries, yet it's bombing in the US, which probably means it could score a 100.0 rating in the UK or Germany or Canada and not survive. And fans of Terminator and Firefly and dozens of other shows can name further examples. The fact Dollhouse got a second season was more or less a fluke (as was TSCC's second year). If you want your SF/F series to survive you need to go to niche cable. Or the BBC.

It is rather sad because, while our jaded, 2009 eyes seem to think anything that isn't as hard-hitting as BSG or as "clever" as Firefly doesn't deserve to be on the air, I still have very fond memories of the original BSG (without which...), and Buck Rogers and Six Million Dollar Man. Were they hard-hitting shows like BSG2000s? Of course not. But I've had a chance to see these shows in recent years, and I think they generally stand up well and shouldn't be condemned just because they are "old". Star Trek TOS has run into this - it's one of the reasons why Paramount was compelled to change the 40-year-old series with sparkly CGI so today's young audiences would give a damn about it.

That said, for every SMDM there were at least two "Quark"s (a show I had heard nothing but good things about... until I finally saw it on DVD and understood exactly what Galaxy Quest was lampooning).

Alex

Alex

 

[Temis the Vorta]

think reality TV has had more impact on everything else on TV besides sf/f - I don't see how the two types serve at all the same audience interest or need.

I'd say it affected sf/f in the sense that reality TV crowded the marketplace. In a sense, sci-fi in the mid 90s was a kind of "fad" or "boom" and as a result, it captured the attention studio execs. Now their attentions are turned elsewhere. The core sf/f base remains the same, but there hasn't been as much of an attempt to reach larger constituencies.

The Internet has done a lot more to steal the attention span and free time of sf/f TV's audience than reality TV has - but it also represents an opportunity for the two mediums working together much more than the networks have capitalized on. Just posted an extended rant on that topic here.

I think we're going to see a *lot* of really high-quality sf/f stories on the web. In fact, there are already a number of very good ones out their already. Afterworld and After Judgment are two solid examples. And last year's Gemini Division was released in conjunction with NBC.

Thanks, I bookmarked those for later inspection.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It is rather sad because, while our jaded, 2009 eyes seem to think anything that isn't as hard-hitting as BSG or as "clever" as Firefly doesn't deserve to be on the air, I still have very fond memories of the original BSG (without which...), and Buck Rogers and Six Million Dollar Man. Were they hard-hitting shows like BSG2000s? Of course not. But I've had a chance to see these shows in recent years, and I think they generally stand up well and shouldn't be condemned just because they are "old". Star Trek TOS has run into this - it's one of the reasons why Paramount was compelled to change the 40-year-old series with sparkly CGI so today's young audiences would give a damn about it.

Of course, changing the CGI doesn't make the show any more clever or hard-hitting or any less dated where it matters.

BTW, as far as today's young audiences, Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place was the highest watched (or maybe second most watched) thing on all of TV. see article

 

[sojourner]

When I say when I was in high school / college I mean the mid 90s to early 00s. I'm not that old

<Get's on old timer's soapbox> Son, you don't know what bad SF/F is!

The 90's were the heyday of SF/F on television. TNG, DS9, X-files, Hercules, Xena, Babylon-5, Space Above and Beyond, Stargate SG-1, nuOuterlimits, um, I know there are more....

Wait, was SA&B in the 90's? has it been that long?

 

[Greg Cox]

The 90's certainly marked a boom time in syndicated sf and fantasy. There was amost more genre tv than one person could watch. And lot of it was pretty good.

(The less said about the short-lived CONAN live-action series, the better!)

 

[Aike]

Sci-fi killed itself. Too many shows in general and way too many shows where you have to see every episode because of huge arcs and continuity.

But this could be positive news for a new Star Trek show.

A fun and easily accessible Star Trek show could rejuvenate the genre.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

LOST, CHUCK, the new DOCTOR WHO, etcetera all outclass pretty much everything produced back in the seventies. (Trust me, it was a dark time for sf tv . . . .)

Maybe where you were. UFO, Space: 1999, Timeslip, Survivors, Blakes 7, Sapphire and Steel are all excellent programmes, and better than anything I've seen in recent years. And seventies Doctor Who pisses on the modern version.

 

[Yoda]

I think we're going to see a *lot* of really high-quality sf/f stories on the web. In fact, there are already a number of very good ones out their already. Afterworld and After Judgment are two solid examples. And last year's Gemini Division was released in conjunction with NBC.

I clicked on the Afterworld link and watched maybe a third of it. The premise is somewhat interesting but my lord is the webisode format annoying. 2 minute episodes, the little introduction about the main character at the beginning of each episode, the interface trying to load the next episode with its unintuitive scrolling, it's just all so obnoxious to deal with.

The lack of budget also hurts. The actual content is like some weird cross between low budget anime, comic books, and video game cut-scenes of 10 years ago.

It's like they take a random post-Apocalypse cliche, condense it into a dozen lines of narration and dialogue, then call it an episode.

I don't get it, I know attention spans have shortened over the years, but is there really anyone out there who won't be frustrated by a story told in 2 minute chunks?

 

[darkwing_duck1]

The 90's certainly marked a boom time in syndicated sf and fantasy. There was amost more genre tv than one person could watch. And lot of it was pretty good.

(The less said about the short-lived CONAN live-action series, the better!)

The key word is "syndicated". Sci-Fi and fantasy took off in syndication as "schedule filler" that was only expected to produce modest ratings and did it very well.

When the syndication market flooded out in the late 90s, it killed off the demand for sci-fi/fantasy.

 

[Blamo]

This chart isn't really valid though, it's missing off far too many shows.

90's
Space Above and Beyond
Voyager
Codename: Eternity

00's
Chuck
True Blood
Ghost
Enterprise
Supernatural
Smallville
Fringe
Lost
Dollhouse
Medium
Warehouse 13
Stargate Atlantis
Angel
Surface

The main problem is it's based off what they consider to be iconic, which in itself is debatable.

 

[Aike]

This chart isn't really valid though, it's missing off far too many shows.

90's
Space Above and Beyond
Voyager
Codename: Eternity

00's
Chuck
True Blood
Ghost
Enterprise
Supernatural
Smallville
Fringe
Lost
Dollhouse
Medium
Warehouse 13
Stargate Atlantis
Angel
Surface

The main problem is it's based off what they consider to be iconic, which in itself is debatable.

They are all part of the graph to the right. Temis linked in the first post to the page where you can see every show they included.