Why is humor lacking in so much modern sci-fi?

[Jimi_James]

As to your comments on the original BSG, why do you guys cling to the false claim that that series was campy? It was not. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it so. It just means that you don't like it.

I think that works both ways though. Just because you don't find it to be campy, doesn't mean that others don't. It just means that you don't find it campy.
Like just about anything else, it's camp factor is entirely subjective depending on how the viewer sees the show.


Getting back to humor, I thought SGU was often funny, more so once the actors and characters had settled into their roles aboard the ship and relationships had started to set in. It was different from the way that SG-1 and Atlantis had used humor though and was never right on point. It was a bit more subtle and dry and to that effect trying to be funny in the same way as its predecessors wouldn't have worked due to the story and tone they were tying to achieve.

 

[Kegg]

As to your comments on the original BSG, why do you guys cling to the false claim that that series was campy? It was not. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it so. It just means that you don't like it.

Because it's not false. There was more to the original BSG than camp, but it did also do episodes that were basically camp. And the Ovoid casino planet one was a pretty campy episode.

 

[Gaith]

Okay, I have to ask: can anyone cite an example of this pervasive new trend in humorless sf besides BSG and its spinoffs? Or are we extrapolating an entire trend from one high-profile example?

Not agreeing with the OP, but since you asked...

The Bourne Legacy

Inception

Terminator Salvation

 

[Starbreaker]

There is a very funny scene in Inception where JGL kisses Ellen Page. Technically not humorless!

 

[DWF]

As to your comments on the original BSG, why do you guys cling to the false claim that that series was campy? It was not. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it so. It just means that you don't like it.

Because it's not false. There was more to the original BSG than camp, but it did also do episodes that were basically camp. And the Ovoid casino planet one was a pretty campy episode.

That was a part of the three hour series premiere and I didn't think it was campy nor do I think the series was campy. The campy sci-fi series at the time was Quark and that didn't last for very long.

 

[Gaith]

There is a very funny scene in Inception where JGL kisses Ellen Page. Technically not humorless!

Please - Enterprise did the same joke just as well years prior!

 

[Harvey]

As to your comments on the original BSG, why do you guys cling to the false claim that that series was campy? It was not. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it so. It just means that you don't like it.

For the most part, I like the original series. That doesn't mean it wasn't frequently campy. "The Lost Warrior," with its Western trappings and silly quick draw climax is a prime example, but it's far from the only one.

 

[Nerys Myk]

As to your comments on the original BSG, why do you guys cling to the false claim that that series was campy? It was not. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it so. It just means that you don't like it.

Because it's not false. There was more to the original BSG than camp, but it did also do episodes that were basically camp. And the Ovoid casino planet one was a pretty campy episode.

That was a part of the three hour series premiere and I didn't think it was campy nor do I think the series was campy. The campy sci-fi series at the time was Quark and that didn't last for very long.

Quark was a situation comedy and a satire of Science Fiction.

 

[DWF]

Because it's not false. There was more to the original BSG than camp, but it did also do episodes that were basically camp. And the Ovoid casino planet one was a pretty campy episode.

That was a part of the three hour series premiere and I didn't think it was campy nor do I think the series was campy. The campy sci-fi series at the time was Quark and that didn't last for very long.

Quark was a situation comedy and a satire of Science Fiction.

Yes I know and it was also a campy series and meant to be that way, Battlestar Galactica took their subject matter far more seriously.

 

[Harvey]

Quark was a half-hour situation comedy from the co-creator of Get Smart, which satirized the excesses of the science fiction genre. Of course it didn't take its subject matter seriously. That was the point.

 

[Deckerd]

I think the answer has to be "Because there isn't any modern sci-fi"

 

[Kegg]

Camp does not preclude taking your idea seriously. You can try to take a ridiculous idea seriously, like that casino planet.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Maybe we need to create a "camp" scale, so people have a sense of what we're talking about.

So say Quark at 1, Xena at 2 or 3, Eureka at 4, Stargate at 4-5, TOS at 6 , DS9 at 8, BSG at 10

And the old BSG Casino episode... i think it COULD have been more serious (perhaps the intent)..if it had played later, it might make more sense. After being oin the run for a while, people might drop their defenses and buy into the Casino hype (i.e. having real fun after weeks or months of suffering). Kind of like Lotto fever. We hear the stories of the many 'winners" who wound up making poor decisions...this would be similar.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I think the answer has to be "Because there isn't any modern sci-fi"

Under Sci-Fi or Fantasy there are plenty of modern shows. And most aren't humourless and even BSG, the biggest example, had its own dark humour there.

I mean off the top of my head the SF&F shows that are currently on...

Being Human
Doctor Who
Misfits
Eureka
Warehouse 13
Haven
The Almighty Johnsons
Merlin
Once Upon A Time
Alphas
Supernatural
Fringe
True Blood
Game of Thrones
Fallen Skies

Yes, most of them are more Fantasy than Sci-fi but most of them are also far from humourless.

 

[Deckerd]

Most of them are fantasy, which was not addressed in the thread title. If he had said "sci fi and fantasy" your list would be relevant.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Most of them are fantasy, which was not addressed in the thread title. If he had said "sci fi and fantasy" your list would be relevant.

The conversation seems to have gone to SF&F in general rather than just sci-fi. But Doctor Who, Falling Skies, Fringe.

 

[Sci]

The highest-grossing film of 2012 was a science fiction adventure film -- The Avengers. I don't think anyone would argue The Avengers lacks for comedy.

 

[DWF]

Maybe we need to create a "camp" scale, so people have a sense of what we're talking about.

So say Quark at 1, Xena at 2 or 3, Eureka at 4, Stargate at 4-5, TOS at 6 , DS9 at 8, BSG at 10

And the old BSG Casino episode... i think it COULD have been more serious (perhaps the intent)..if it had played later, it might make more sense. After being oin the run for a while, people might drop their defenses and buy into the Casino hype (i.e. having real fun after weeks or months of suffering). Kind of like Lotto fever. We hear the stories of the many 'winners" who wound up making poor decisions...this would be similar.

The food in Galactica's fleet was breaking down and I doubt if they had time to plaint and grow seeds in the agro ships.

 

[RandyS]

Camp does not preclude taking your idea seriously. You can try to take a ridiculous idea seriously, like that casino planet.

Exactly. Camp (Which I still maintain that original Galactica was not), is not, contrary to popular belief, automatically bad.

 

[FPAlpha]

I don't really see it that way.

It depends on the show itself how much humor will be a factor. The Stargate shows (maybe apart from Universe) were pretty light and funny at times which was part of their appeal, Firefly was funny as hell and i think many other shows which i don't watch have occasional one liners or funny scenes to break the mood.

TNG was "serious" Sci Fi.. it tried at least and did its best to be taken seriously. They had their fun moments (especially with Q as already mentioned) but overall it was pretty serious.. sometimes too serious if you ask me.
DS9 had a better balance.. it was still serious at times, sometimes pretty dark and grim in the later seasons but they didn't forget the humor and levity and sprinkled it in between freely or outright made the occasional fun episode.

With shows like BSG or Dark Skies the theme itself is a bit counter-humoristic. BSG has humans on the verge of extinction after a genocidal war which they lost.. not much room for fun when you're constantly on the run from your enemy and mistakes cost lives.
Dark Skies has Earth taken over by hostile aliens, civilization as we know is shattered and the last free humans are in a constant struggle for safety and ressources.

Earlier SF shows didn't have such dark themes.. they were "just" adventure shows set in space and as such could be written lighter and with more fun in mind. So perceptions can be misleading and i think current SF is pretty much ok if not better because it has much more variation to suit more tastes.