Sy Fy orders Zombie Apocalypse series - over kill?

[DarthTom]

I thought this deserved its own thread because I'm curious what other posters think when it becomes too much saturation of this genre?

Granted - not that the premise of this show sounds bad because this one is based on 3 years after the ZA.

Is this show destined for failure? We've got Resurrection now on broadcast TV which is kinda sorta a ZA themed show, the new Walking Dead series in 2015 and the return of TWD in the fall.

Syfy orders ZA series

To feed the people’s fascination with (or fear of) a zombie apocalypse, Syfy announced Monday it has ordered a new show based on just that.
The 13-episode series, Z Nation, will follow the struggle for humans to survive post-zombie apocalypse. Produced by The Asylum, the company who brought us the gem that is Sharknado, Z Nation “will take viewers where no zombie has gone before,” showrunner Karl Schaefer said in a statement. “[The show adds] a sense of hope to the horror of the apocalypse — our everyday heroes take the fight to the zombies.”
Instead of picking up immediately after the apocalypse, though, the show will focus on what is happening three years after the zombie virus hits America. Only one survivor of the plague lives on, but he has to be transported across the country to a lab where a sample of his zombie-free blood can hopefully create a vaccine. But — plot twist! — the survivor has a secret that could be the end of them all.
Z Nation is set to premiere this fall.

 

[Starbreaker]

It's the Asylum. It's going to be terrible. I don't even have any interest in checking out the pilot.

 

[RoJoHen]

I was never really into the zombie genre much in the first place. I'm just waiting for it to die off.

I wonder what fad will be next?!

 

[auntiehill]

The Asylum = The suckitude will be massive.

 

[dansigal]

I would say no. TWD is the only zombie show in town right now. Sure there are a few others in development, but nothing actually on the air, and I think TWD Spinoff and this new SyFy show are the only two that have been officially picked up. Am I missing any others? Resurrection is in no way zombie related at all. That's like saying the New Testament is a zombie story.

 

[DarthTom]

I would say no. TWD is the only zombie show in town right now. Sure there are a few others in development, but nothing actually on the air, and I think TWD Spinoff and this new SyFy show are the only two that have been officially picked up.

3 shows all on simultaneously is a lot don't you think based on the same theme?

Am I missing any others? Resurrection is in no way zombie related at all. That's like saying the New Testament is a zombie story.

Resurrection is based on the dead coming back to life so while it isn't about killer zombies it is about the the dead returning. I dunno IMO - I see it loosely as similar.

 

[Reverend]

I would say no. TWD is the only zombie show in town right now. Sure there are a few others in development, but nothing actually on the air, and I think TWD Spinoff and this new SyFy show are the only two that have been officially picked up.

3 shows all on simultaneously is a lot don't you think based on the same theme?

You mean like back when there were two Trek shows and about three or four other space related shows all around the same time? Most people on this board look back at those days as some sort of golden age.

Now what about the 20 or 30 procedural crime dramas that are around these days? Or the dozen or so lawyer shows. Or the slew wacky domestic sitcoms....and the list goes on...In short, no. Two zombie shows is not overkill.

Bit academic since it's being made by SyFy and will probably be total garbage.

 

[dansigal]

I would say no. TWD is the only zombie show in town right now. Sure there are a few others in development, but nothing actually on the air, and I think TWD Spinoff and this new SyFy show are the only two that have been officially picked up.

3 shows all on simultaneously is a lot don't you think based on the same theme?

Am I missing any others? Resurrection is in no way zombie related at all. That's like saying the New Testament is a zombie story.

Resurrection is based on the dead coming back to life so while it isn't about killer zombies it is about the the dead returning. I dunno IMO - I see it loosely as similar.

I think the potential for over saturation is certainly there, especially if like CW picks up izombie. But right now there is only one zombie show on the air and it's wildly successful, so I just don't think when this airs in the Fall and becomes the second, it will mean the market has been over saturated.

As for Resurrection, the dead returning can happen a dozen different ways that have nothing to do with zombies. Zombies are reanimated corpses. Science Fiction shows bring back the dead through cloning, aliens, time travel, magic, alternate universes, religion, anything the mind can imagine. I think it's really stretching to say any time the dead come back in a tv show, it's a type of zombie show.

 

[DarthTom]

I think the potential for over saturation is certainly there, especially if like CW picks up izombie. But right now there is only one zombie show on the air and it's wildly successful, so I just don't think when this airs in the Fall and becomes the second, it will mean the market has been over saturated.

A great example of this is when ST Voyager launched while DS9 was still on the air. One show pilfered viewers from the other - I can show you the charts ifr you'd like - and despite the fact that ST fans can be the most rapid and loyal to the genre and the series.

We'll see - as others have said up thread the people put in charge of launching this series [Z Nation] created nothing more than a mockery of a mini-series with Sharknado - which many people, despite it's initial popularity, thought was just stupid and poorly done slapstick comedy/horror.

 

[Silvercrest]

I was never really into the zombie genre much in the first place. I'm just waiting for it to die off.

Then it will just reanimate.

That sort of passive attitude is what causes civilization to collapse, you know.

Bit academic since it's being made by SyFy and will probably be total garbage.

Word. I'd have more interest if I thought they were even trying.

Resurrection is based on the dead coming back to life so while it isn't about killer zombies it is about the the dead returning. I dunno IMO - I see it loosely as similar.

Sure, if "loosely" = "a three-word description that doesn't bother qualifying the category".

You could use "the dead return" to describe King Kong Lives, Groundhog Day, E.T., Batman Returns, The Princess Bride, The Abyss, Alien Resurrection, Highlander: The Quickening, The Matrix, Crank 2, Star Trek III, The Lord of the Rings, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Zha'ha'dum arc in Babylon 5, Stargate and Stargate SG-1 (Daniel Jackson's numerous deaths), and any of the Terminator sequels.

In all of these, the dead return. I assume you would "loosely" classify every one under the zombie genre just as you do Resurrection.

Right?

Although I can do you a favor and drop the Terminator films, I suppose. It's a different iteration of the character each time and he's not actually alive ... but still, he'll be back.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think there's always been periods where there are a lot of similar shows on at the same time, particularly of a genre that's currently popular. There were times we once had lot of westerns, cop shows, hospital dramas, and even space shows (although most of those were short-lived). Zombie shows are just continuing the long-held practice of TV capitalizing on what's presently hot.

 

[Professor Zoom]

A great example of this is when ST Voyager launched while DS9 was still on the air. One show pilfered viewers from the other - I can show you the charts ifr you'd like - and despite the fact that ST fans can be the most rapid and loyal to the genre and the series.

Yeah, I'd like to see those charts. Unless the charts explicitly say people stopped watching DS9 because Voyager was on the air, and they could only watch one Star Trek show...

I doubt one show pilfered from the other. A more logical answer: people stopped watching one...

To answer your question though:

Meh. Probably. But what will happen, this new one will sink. TWD will continue on. It's not like suddenly people are gonna choose... i.e., they can only watch ONE zombie TV show...

 

[DarthTom]

 

[davejames]

Well if nothing else, this new show will probably make us have an even greater appreciation for TWD. Because as frustrating as that show can sometimes be, it's probably a safe bet that the characters in the new series won't be half as rich or interesting, and the storytelling and direction not half as elegant or artful.

 

[DarthTom]

Well if nothing else, this new show will probably make us have an even greater appreciation for TWD. Because as frustrating as that show can sometimes be, it's probably a safe bet that the characters in the new series won't be half as rich or interesting, and the storytelling and direction not half as elegant or artful.

I'll watch the pilot. It will be interesting to see if SyFy will be as willing as AMC has to stretch the limits of violence and profanity.

IIRC BSG was not as edgy as TWD has been.

 

[dansigal]

There's absolutely nothing in that chart that shows that one show pilfered viewers from the other. All it shows is that the numbers dropped. It's one theory to explain the chart but it's no more valid than a half a dozen other theories for why the numbers dropped.

 

[Trekker4747]

As noted above I don't think the "Zombie Series" "genre" is becoming over-saturated when you consider there's really only ONE zombie TV series on the air right now with at least one more in the pike, the TWD spin-off. This new series would make a grand total of three.

Now, the "Zombie Apocalypse" thing as a whole is probably played a bit considering other forms of entertainment it has gotten in from movies to video games but, still, probably not too "overly played."

As noted above there's dozens of shows in the "Police Procedural" genre, dozens in "Medical Drama" genre, family genre, "Legal Procedural" and so may other more "common" every-day areas of life and occupation. So I think two or three zombie shows on all of TV isn't much to consider.

As for this series? Things from Asylum can be deliciously corny and fun if for nothing more than the sake of riffing on it. I'll certainly check it out until I tire of making fun of it.

 

[Professor Zoom]

That doesn't say one show was taking viewers from another. That shows an overall decline in viewers.

 

[The Wormhole]

The Asylum, huh? So the cast will consist of a bunch of talentless pretty people who may very well in their first "professional" roles plus a has-been who may or may not have some talent.