"The third great SF franchise"??

[RAMA]

Saw this phrase bandied about on a thread, and my first thought was what it could be after SW and ST...but then I realized there's probably a lot more than that, based on popularity, money, whatever criteria you want.

1. SW-Obvious. It's an icon and Hollywood trend-setter
2. ST- Popularized space opera and legitimized regular, ongoing scifi characters. 13 movies, 6 TV series with a 7th coming.
3. Twilight Zone- Well known by both scifi fans and non-fans. It has had a movie, movie adaptations of stories(Real Steel) , 3 series, copycat movies and shows.
4. X-Files- I'm personally not a fan, but it ran longer than most scifi shows of the time. Failed spinoff. Had two movies and now a follow-up series.
5. Avatar-Highest grossing movie of all time with another 2 or 3 sequels coming.
6. Halo- 4 movies, video games, books, novels. It's huge
7. Terminator- 5 movies, a TV series
8. Alien- 7 movies and counting.
9. Stargate- A movie, 3 TV shows and a remake coming
10. Lost in Space- TV series, failed pilot, animated series and a big budget movie. Coming Netflix series
11. Outer Limits- 2 TV series running over 200+ episodes
12. Godzilla-30 total films with 2 more on the way. Longest continuously running movie franchise.
13. Babylon 5- One series, a spinoff series. 5 TV movies.
14. War of the Worlds- 7 movies, TV show.

Additions:

15, Doctor Who- 2 Series, 35 seasons, 261 stories. TV Movie, several specials. 2 movies
16. Transformers-4 films, one on the way. Animated movie. At least 15 animated series.
17. Planet of the Apes. 5 original movies. 1 TV series. Animated series. Two reboots. with a further 4 other films.

 

[Venardhi]

SW and ST basically corner the markets of Space Sci-Fi universes. One is Space Fantasy set in what amounts to a far away magical kingdom, and one is Speculative Fiction set in the future with the premise that humans stop sucking for 5 minutes and bother to sort out our shit. You don't really need a third option there when it comes to big world-building franchises and I doubt one will come along any time soon (unless you count the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

However, LotR and Harry Potter provide nice Fantasy counterparts. One an epic "historical" fantasy and the other a contemporary look into a parallel magical world.

 

[tenmei]

I think you'd be tough pressed to not put Doctor Who as the third great sci-fi franchise - the initial twenty six seasons, the ten new seasons (and a whole host of specials), four seasons of Torchwood, four seasons of the Sarah Jane Adventures, comics, novels and hundreds of audio-dramas.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Saw this phrase bandied about on a thread, and my first thought was what it could be after SW and ST..

i'll repeat what was posted in the "Netflix/Lost in Space" thread:

Of any older properties, only the original Planet of the Apes was a true, third great SF franchise, as it instantly spawned a massive fanbase, aggressive studio support with film sequels & TV series, undoubtedly set the phenomenal merchandising model of success later picked up by Star Wars (and all that followed for decades), and managed to have a catchphrase ("Go Ape!") temporarily enter the lexicon.

Moreover, as we would see with Star Wars not long after its release, Apes was so instantly embraced by the culture that actors in character make-up (the actual cast or stand-ins) appeared at everything from awards shows to popular talk and/or variety series of the period. They were that known by the average member of the culture, which means it was not languishing on the "nerd fringe" of awareness and acceptance.

There was a period where Apes was almost everywhere to a degree Alien, Terminator, Back to the Future (series I've found some either love, or hate), and others have not. They come and go, but did not take hard root in the culture for any extended amount of time.

Doctor Who is another franchise that while long lived, is still stuck in a sort of isolated stepchild status of sci-fi fandom. Although I watched DW decades ago, and was well aware of the actors, writers, et al., it can be argued that most people--particularly in North America--were not even aware of the show's existence. There were no instantly recognizable character names, faces, storylines or even soundtracks that were familiar even to non-fans in the manner of the true big sci-fi franchises.

 

[atlantalliance]

Number 3 is easy and its Marvel, some of it is drama, superheroes with capes, fantasy but I think there is enough scifi in Marvel to rank it as a Scifi Franchise...Ironman, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy and the toons...easily takes that 3rd spot, but there are arguements if its more low-scifi and of course studios like Fox own Marvel's copyright for different characters...Marvel I feel is easily number 3 and possibly challenges 2nd and 1st spot depending how you add up all those comics, toons and movies, the Bond books and movies and DC universe should also challenge for third..not sure why DC's scifi universe doesn't work so well or why movies like Green Lantern were done so bad

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Marvel is not sci-fi--the concepts only use random sci-fi elements, but the heart of their creations are superhero fantasy.Beyond some characters being the creation of a science accident or experiment (e.g. Hulk or Captain America), others, such as Thor, Dr. Strange, Scarlet Witch, and others are based in myth or supernatural fantasy--but all are framed in and guided by the conventions of the comic book / superhero genre.

Bond is an espionage series with some sci-gadget or sci-fi accents, but that's as far as it goes. Its not sci-fi.

 

[JoeZhang]

From a money point of view? Transformers?

 

[atlantalliance]

I agree Apes is up there, its possible they have yet to cash in on good Planet of the Apes toons and Video Games

How is Agents of Shield or Guardians of the Galaxy any less scifi than Star Wars?

I WILL CHANGE YOUR QUOTE

Star Wars is not sci-fi--the concepts only use random sci-fi elements, but the heart of the Star Wars creations are muppets, king arthur, religious fantasy, dam dusters and kurosawa.

Look what I did there

I think the "crossover" has got people maybe a little muddled, a little confused even
Crossing over random company characters like Hulk, Punisher, Dr Strange Marvel may seem a little messy as a Universe but if you go back to its roots it was very much pulp scifi, and retro scifi fantasy, the whole Strange Worlds, Tales of Suspense, Space Squadron, Journey into Mystery Space Worlds...heritage
GoTG is part of that heritage
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MiHXn8KDI...LQsVUmB-Kg/s1600/AstonishSuspense_montage.jpg
http://www.sellmycomicbooks.com/images/263xNxtales-of-suspense-1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.84vwwdrH_j.jpg
http://40.media.tumblr.com/095429ef3861962aa96eda6ffa9fe9b0/tumblr_mtnyf3JnUO1sndzdgo1_400.jpg
http://36.media.tumblr.com/0ddfac4c9045cf882b8053cd4877fc7e/tumblr_mp9knnyD991s792qyo9_500.jpg
http://41.media.tumblr.com/6cf09bd836b8e1d70ea198f2995fcaac/tumblr_mp9knnyD991s792qyo4_1280.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f1/09/ee/f109ee87c472794150bd0326c0aed30e.jpg
http://36.media.tumblr.com/c559086a59897b01a5ce59b013195a84/tumblr_mp9knnyD991s792qyo3_500.jpg
http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdt9wuFEJ11rn55nzo1_500.jpg
http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/...e_knight_sci_fi_picture_image_digital_art.jpg

some links to old issues, they even used to print Logans Run comics and BSG back in the day

From a money point of view? Transformers?

good point but I think Bond is still ahead, maybe not by much I remember it being very close, Bond also had top selling video games on the old playstations and nintendo if i remember correct

 

[Klaus]

Dr. Who, no contest....

 

[Gaith]

This question is a serious and compelling one, and its discussion needs more puppies.

 

[RAMA]

Updated!

Film franchises:

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchises/

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I'm not sure what the criteria are. So I'm thinking: longevity, popularity and the ability to transcend its original medium, branching out into all other areas of entertainment. Plus of course the breadth of imagination in its conception, and the spawning of a long-lasting and vibrant fandom. By which, the greatest franchise is and can only be:

1. Doctor Who

I'd put the others like this:

2. Star Trek
3. Star Wars

and if I had to go one further (and why not?), I'd have to say:

4. Anderson/APF/Century 21

 

[dahj]

When it comes to general public awareness, there isn't a third one on the same level as those two.

When it comes to any other criteria, that's gonna depend entirely on what the person you asked likes best.

 

[Kegg]

Gundam, sometimes called Japan's Star Trek, is as solid an alternative to Doctor Who in the 'third sci-fi franchise' column both for popularity and cultural longevity (they built one of those things life size for whatever reason.)

 

[RoJoHen]

I wonder how the world's perception of Doctor Who would be affected if it actually had a major motion picture released in theaters.

I don't know if Doctor Who is #3 behind Star Trek and Star Wars, but I think it absolutely would be if it was being produced by Hollywood instead of the BBC.

So...maybe Alien?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

If you're going to use box office gross as a measure of public awareness you should be using inflation adjusted figures. Any blockbuster franchise is going to appear toward the top if it came out in the last ten or so years otherwise. But Avatar is #2 (Worldwide, only #14 Domestic) even if you do adjust for inflation.

For #3, it depends whether by 'Biggest' you mean 'Most devoted fanbase' or 'Most popular'. For most devoted fanbase, Dr Who is easily #3, it just has a very niche fanbase. #3 in terms of widespread popularity, then probably Marvel. Although, Marvel may have more current awareness, a lot of people have a lot stronger emotional attachment to some older franchises like Back To The Future, which you could argue has had a tremendous impact on culture. October 21, 2015 became a big deal just because it's the date they went to in BTTF2, I can't imagine anything like that happening in 30 years with Marvel.

I know Zemeckis has put his foot down forbidding any further Back To The Future movies, but if Back To The Future 4 were announced tomorrow, I think it would be a bigger deal than the next Marvel movie.

 

[Taylirious]

Superman
Transformers
Star Trek
Terminator
Jurassic Park

My favs from the top 25 of the link RAMA posted.

ETA: Honorable mention would be Back to the Future franchise.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

When it comes to general public awareness, there isn't a third one on the same level as those two.

Certainly not Doctor Who--its an isolated stepchild of sci-fi not recognized as part of the backdrop of culture. Contrary to DW fans, DW references on TV shows targeting nerd culture, etc., is not mainstream recognition to the point where it becomes part of the landscape.

 

[bigdaddy]

I'd say Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate and Doctor Who are all the great sic-fi franchises.

 

[RoJoHen]

When it comes to general public awareness, there isn't a third one on the same level as those two.

Certainly not Doctor Who--its an isolated stepchild of sci-fi not recognized as part of the backdrop of culture. Contrary to DW fans, DW references on TV shows targeting nerd culture, etc., is not mainstream recognition to the point where it becomes part of the landscape.

Maybe not, but I can't walk into a store without seeing Doctor Who merchandise everywhere. I can't go out in public without seeing somebody wearing a Doctor Who T-shirt.

Doctor Who is everywhere right now.