Are we witnessing the death of American Science Fiction?

[RJLCyberPunk]

One has to wonder with all the shows being canned.

My evenings during the school year as a kid were pretty much scripted. I’d get home from school, go mess around with friends, come home for dinner, do homework, and then watch Star Trek on TV. I was into Firefly before most people knew what a Browncoat was, and to this day search the web for a Qualta blade replica that will shift from blade form to gun form. It’s a fascination, a love, and, for some, and obsession.

The beauty of science fiction is that you can escape reality long enough to enjoy the adventure. All growing up, I felt like there was always a show on that was worth watching. In college there would often be heated discussions about the “best” sci-fi show on television. So, what happened to the “good old days” of sci-fi on American television? Has the “Golden Age” of televised science fiction ended?

It seems like we’ve finally given up on rebooting Star Trek and Stargate. Joss Whedon seems to have given up on television for the moment, and moved on to projects like The Avengers. The closest thing we have to aliens causing trouble for the stars is V, and I don’t even think anyone was aware that the second season aired, much less talked about a third season. The SyFy channel killed Eureka — can anyone explain to me why the WWE is on that channel? Battlestar Galactica was rebooted and put back on the shelf already, and Terra Nova is on its way out the door.

Most recent attempts at televised science fiction have failed within a year or two. Heroes, Flash Forward, Dollhouse… none of them seemed to have whatever the networks thought was necessary to keep them alive, despite each being pretty good shows in their own right. So, if sci-fi is going to continue to disappear in the US, where will geeks get their TV fix?

Cancelled stampThe BBC is a powerhouse of sci-fi right now, most of which is brought to the US (often at a delay). Merlin, Being Human, and Doctor Who are all among my “must watch” shows when they are made available. On top of these, the BBC re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes has been a welcome breath of fresh air.

BBC America released episodes of the recent seasons of Doctor Who on the same day that they release them in the UK, creating a gap of only a few short hours between the original air time. SyFy has even seen fit to remake Being Human, as a show with the exact same name but with actors that lack a British accent. Merlin is also syndicated on SyFy, but they manage to keep their British charm for this one.

It seems that, like the US’ space program, science fiction on TV is getting a serious downgrade. For the first time that I can remember, the US does not really have any shows that compete with those listed above.

I, for one, refuse to believe that the genre is on its way out. Instead, the problems seems to be a lack of immersion. Think about shows like Farscape or Andromeda — you are thrown into a world from day one that gives you a clear understanding that your view of the world does not apply in this scenario. You must quickly detach yourself from the “real world” in order to answer the question of “what would I do in this situation?” Of course, the biggest problem with shows like these are the expense. Computer Graphics, massive, incredible stages, and the writers capable of weaving this story into your mind are much more expensive then following around a meter maid with a camera and watching as she gets verbally assaulted by people who don’t want tickets (this is actually a TV show, if you didn’t catch the reference)

Hulu and Netflix are both in the process of testing original content on their networks, maybe one of these guys should pick up the sci-fi flag and wave it around a bit. Otherwise, what will the guys from The Big Bang Theory have to talk about each week?

Article here.

[jelgate]

More like a change of science fiction. The scifi of the 60s is quite different then the scifi of the 90s and I think that holds true for the present

[Gen. Chris]

Death? No...Torture of it? Yes.

[Snowman37]

The death of American science-fiction? No. I've got over twenty stories in development. Once I get my first book published, science-fiction won't be the same. That's not to say I think of myself as brilliant. I just believe I have something new to offer, something that will hopefully revitalize the genre.

[Gatefan1976]

The problem with scifi *as a genre* is simple.
Scifi fans are, by and large Tech fans as well, and with the state of tech *right now* we can get pretty much what we want, when we want, ad free. Of course, the problem with that is, shows don't live or die via how many people watch them, they live or die via how much money is made by that "filthy and annoying thing" called advertising.
Then there is the DVD market, ya know, the one people avoid like the plague because it's so much easier to just rip or "grab" the show for nothing. Of course the problem is still the same. People don't want to watch "live", they don't want to "pay" for thier shows in the way they are actually paid for, so shows die and the fans have the utter TEMERITY to DEMAND these shows stay alive while they dodge every way to pay for them.

Scifi fans really have to look at thier own behavior a bit more before slagging off at *anyone* else.

[Snowman37]

Bingo!

[DigiFluid]

The problem with scifi *as a genre* is simple.
Scifi fans are, by and large Tech fans as well, and with the state of tech *right now* we can get pretty much what we want, when we want, ad free. Of course, the problem with that is, shows don't live or die via how many people watch them, they live or die via how much money is made by that "filthy and annoying thing" called advertising.
Then there is the DVD market, ya know, the one people avoid like the plague because it's so much easier to just rip or "grab" the show for nothing. Of course the problem is still the same. People don't want to watch "live", they don't want to "pay" for thier shows in the way they are actually paid for, so shows die and the fans have the utter TEMERITY to DEMAND these shows stay alive while they dodge every way to pay for them.

Scifi fans really have to look at thier own behavior a bit more before slagging off at *anyone* else.

It's a two-way street.

Networks and advertisers have been cutting back program time in favour of increased advertising for decades now. Where an hourlong show in the 60s ran for ~51 minutes, today we're lucky to see 42. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

Networks and advertisers, for whatever reason, desperately cling to dying means of market analysis. Case in point: the Nielson ratings system. It's about as deeply flawed as any method of measuring, but they act like it's the only way of doing things. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

Networks and advertisers cling to dead and dying business models--traditional broadcasting being the most obvious. Where advertising was a necessary evil of watching TV, the process was made obsolete by the advent of VHS decades ago. Even moreso now, when TiVo and DVR are widespread and convenient.

Plus there's the glut in all industries to embrace the minimal investment/maximum ROI mindset. This manifests itself, of course, in the endless iterations of garbage reality and contest shows. Meanwhile shows that actually have a cost behind them (generally, scripted television) are cancelled at the drop of a hat for not performing up to nebulous and inexplicable expectations. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

Not to mention the absurdity of regionalism--exclusive US-centrism for the vast majority of programming, region locking both website streaming and online purchasing, inexplicable broadcast delays from one country to the next--all to satisfy a clusterfrak of copyright laws that are antiquated and built around a set of circumstances which are no longer the reality of any of the entertainment industries. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

And it's not even all on them, studios and publishers insist on continuing to do their best to gouge paying and potentially paying customers. DVDs and Blu-rays are consistently overpriced and/or given ludicrously high SRPs (when it costs literally pennies to press each copy), they repeatedly double-dip by releasing barebones versions only to release a better version later on for more money, they try to charge regular retail prices for digital copies which cost NOTHING to manufacture, the various industries engage in legal practices that from a group of private citizens would be called racketeering and extortion, the list goes on and on and on. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.



It's hardly something that can be dumped on the shoulders of the fans. The entertainment industry as a whole is stuck in the mindset of what worked 30-40 years ago and is petrified of change, choosing rather than to adapt, to harass and bleed and terrorize its own consumers. It's a self-destructive attitude and it's really no wonder that the collective response from their consumer base is essentially 'go frak yourselves.'

[Gatefan1976]

It's a two-way street.

Of course it is Digi.

Networks and advertisers have been cutting back program time in favour of increased advertising for decades now. Where an hourlong show in the 60s ran for ~51 minutes, today we're lucky to see 42. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

Sure, and as well it should, but the problem is, and always will be, who is PAYING to get shows on TV? Is it the networks? Hell no, a program is merely a vehicle to sell adspace, and as costs of doing so rise, the space needed to cover the costs rise. Do either side hit a point where they are simply being "greedy" oh hell yeah.

Networks and advertisers, for whatever reason, desperately cling to dying means of market analysis. Case in point: the Nielson ratings system. It's about as deeply flawed as any method of measuring, but they act like it's the only way of doing things. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

Provide an alternative.
This is the guts of it. EVERY man and his dog agrees the system is garbage, but where is the alternative? In 3 years of talking and discussing ratings and shows from a survival point of view I have not heard ONE viable alternative to the neilson system. The BEST one is the HBO style subcription system. Unfortunately, Scifi fans, as I said, probably know more ways to get around paying for it than anyone else.

Networks and advertisers cling to dead and dying business models--traditional broadcasting being the most obvious. Where advertising was a necessary evil of watching TV, the process was made obsolete by the advent of VHS decades ago. Even moreso now, when TiVo and DVR are widespread and convenient.

So where is your revenue stream coming from then?

Plus there's the glut in all industries to embrace the minimal investment/maximum ROI mindset. This manifests itself, of course, in the endless iterations of garbage reality and contest shows.

They stay because the fulfil a (admittedly outdated) cost analysis. Here is the thing, NO-ONE is forced to watch "mindless reality junk", people just do for some reason I, much as you, will never fathom. quite simply, people watch crap.

Meanwhile shows that actually have a cost behind them (generally, scripted television) are cancelled at the drop of a hat for not performing up to nebulous and inexplicable expectations. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

What is "nebulous" about a cost VS performace analysis?
I can have X show that makes me 100 bucks or I can have one that makes me 1000 bucks, gee, so nebulous and hard to understand...................
If you want to talk "branding" a-la "syfy network", then sure, it becomes an act of "viewer loyalty" Vs "cost of loosing them", can I make 900 bucks and keep my core customer base happy. Thing is though, the "core customer" wants to give you no money and still get what they want.

Not to mention the absurdity of regionalism--exclusive US-centrism for the vast majority of programming, region locking both website streaming and online purchasing, inexplicable broadcast delays from one country to the next--all to satisfy a clusterfrak of copyright laws that are antiquated and built around a set of circumstances which are no longer the reality of any of the entertainment industries. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

Oh yes, I agree, but that is each countries Censorship boards to deal with isn't it?

And it's not even all on them, studios and publishers insist on continuing to do their best to gouge paying and potentially paying customers. DVDs and Blu-rays are consistently overpriced and/or given ludicrously high SRPs (when it costs literally pennies to press each copy), they repeatedly double-dip by releasing barebones versions only to release a better version later on for more money, they try to charge regular retail prices for digital copies which cost NOTHING to manufacture, the various industries engage in legal practices that from a group of private citizens would be called racketeering and extortion, the list goes on and on and on. This pisses viewers and potential consumers off.

No argument here.

It's hardly something that can be dumped on the shoulders of the fans. The entertainment industry as a whole is stuck in the mindset of what worked 30-40 years ago and is petrified of change, choosing rather than to adapt, to harass and bleed and terrorize its own consumers. It's a self-destructive attitude and it's really no wonder that the collective response from their consumer base is essentially 'go frak yourselves.'

Hey, I'm not saying the consumer has no right to say "get your crap togeather", they really, REALLY do, but if you cut the legs out of the system wholesale, the system, well, falls on it's arse.

Back when I was working in the Alcohol trade there was ONE thing we had to have "on hand" at any given time, and that was Beer. Beer made us around 1 buck per carton, and most of the time, much less, more like 10 cents a carton, it took more time and more energy to make that buck than ANY other product we sold. If you think of original "science fiction" content as "beer", Syfy SHOULD have beer, all the time, but when the beer isn't selling, or being ripped off the truck before you even see it, you shift to something "easier to deal with and make money from". Does it suck for the person who just wants "good beer", yeah, it does, but no one will keep a product that they cannot see a return on.

[Thunderstorm]

It's hardly something that can be dumped on the shoulders of the fans. The entertainment industry as a whole is stuck in the mindset of what worked 30-40 years ago and is petrified of change, choosing rather than to adapt, to harass and bleed and terrorize its own consumers. It's a self-destructive attitude and it's really no wonder that the collective response from their consumer base is essentially 'go frak yourselves.'

And what's even crazier is that the music industry already went thru this and almost collapsed before they finally changed. Surely people in the movie/tv industry are aware of what happened. Now I realize that movies are much bigger than bigger (size) to download than a song or album but the speed you connect to the internet have increase alot too so time wise to download a movie now vs a music back when they changed is probably not a lot different.

Also we have gobs of advertising for ipads, phones, tablets etc for fast speeds, telling how you can get what you want NOW, you don't even have to wait minutes. And yet when you can't get it now legally they are suprised and shocked that people will use non legal means.

We can now talk on a regular basis to people around the world. Yet entertainment industry sticks to the old method of releasing shows at various times throughout the world. It can take months or even years for some areas to be able to view a new show. When I was younger, I didn't even know they released movies/tv and various times around the world. In the old days (), if you wanted to share something you had to make a physical copy (usually vhs tape) and send it thru the mail it was time consuming costly and there were limits to how many copies you could make. Now you can just upload to the internet, and it can be downloaded in minutes and doesn't cost anything or very littlle. This makes it way too tempting for many people to pass up if they know the shows are out there but are forbidden access for months. Whereas if they released shows around the world at the same time, it would be one less reason to resort to illegal downloads. (I'm not saying it's okay to download illegally but in the age of NOW, many people will get it now and if it's not available legally, they will search out illegal means)

[Thunderstorm]

Provide an alternative.
This is the guts of it. EVERY man and his dog agrees the system is garbage, but where is the alternative? In 3 years of talking and discussing ratings and shows from a survival point of view I have not heard ONE viable alternative to the neilson system. The BEST one is the HBO style subcription system. Unfortunately, Scifi fans, as I said, probably know more ways to get around paying for it than anyone else.

3 years? Try 10 yrs.

The answer could be something similar to Tivo/DVR. DVR numbers are already included in some Nielsen ratings. Internet usuage is big enought that they could develop a cross between whatever nielsen uses to collect its data and tivo system to record what most people watch and have it sent across the phone lines and/or internet. Now some people might not want the intrusion into there privacy and they could decline to use it, but I bet many people would be happy to do this and even pay $20 or so to buy this item if it meant their tv preferences were being counted. Now the downfall is you wouldn't necessary know the age or gender of all these viewers even that could be programmed into the new product.

[escyos]

"I like da tv with the pretty colors and the not thinky usin'."

Society is essentially getting dumber; if the viewer can think less, they feel better. As far as people are concerned tv is just something to focus on and shut your brain off. And producers know this and find putting a bunch of "alternative" people from some "alternative" suburb in a kitchen to cook food most people would never eat in a million years much easier than actually writing something complex and getting actual actors to act.

[Gatefan1976]

3 years? Try 10 yrs.

I was just talking about me, but sure

The answer could be something similar to Tivo/DVR. DVR numbers are already included in some Nielsen ratings. Internet usuage is big enought that they could develop a cross between whatever nielsen uses to collect its data and tivo system to record what most people watch and have it sent across the phone lines and/or internet.

Umm, what makes you think that this does not happen already? It may not have an "impact" we can see, but I really doubt such huge gobs of information are ignored.

Now some people might not want the intrusion into there privacy and they could decline to use it, but I bet many people would be happy to do this and even pay $20 or so to buy this item if it meant their tv preferences were being counted.

See, heres the thing.
FANS always say that, and at the same time they are ripping the content for free or, *more likely* they are watching one program on a channel via DVR/Tivo/whatever, and then complaining that "thier station" (which they watch for 42 minutes a week, ROFL!!) don't care about them.

Now the downfall is you wouldn't necessary know the age or gender of all these viewers even that could be programmed into the new product.

True, but it depends on exactly WHAT you are trying to guage. if it IS pure "bums on seats" age/gender etc don't matter that much. If you really want "demographics", that is a larger problem.

[rlr149]

What is "nebulous" about a cost VS performace analysis?
I can have X show that makes me 100 bucks or I can have one that makes me 1000 bucks, gee, so nebulous and hard to understand...................
If you want to talk "branding" a-la "syfy network", then sure, it becomes an act of "viewer loyalty" Vs "cost of loosing them", can I make 900 bucks and keep my core customer base happy. Thing is though, the "core customer" wants to give you no money and still get what they want.

maybe the core customer would(possibly begrudgingly) pay if they weren't ALWAYS charged 'as much as we can possibly get away with'.

a game from back in the day is getting a follow-up, its called 'wasteland2', nothings been made yet, but funding for the project was gained from 'kickstarter'. where 'customers' donate money to get what they want, made. the target was $900k-$1m, within 10 days they have $1.5m.
this PROVES that people will pay for what they want, i'm sure most donations were under $50, but some are $10k+ (yes, some won't pay as well). the minimum donation of $15 will get you a digital download of the finished game. so why are people paying more than they have too?

so maybe instead of "can I make 900 bucks and keep my core customer base happy" they could try "I can make 500 bucks and keep my core customer base happy".

don't try and con me and wonder why i'm attempting to reverse the situation

[Shpinxinator]

I don't believe we're witnessing the death of American Science Fiction, I personally believe it's already dead. I can think of one...ONE true sci fi show going strong on tv right now. In my own personal opinion Science Fantasy or pure Fantasy seems to rule the televised roost right now, it seems very much like the early 90s to me.

So again televised american sci fi is dead, that doesn't mean though that it won't be reincarnated in the coming years but for now, it's pretty much gone, again it's a matter of opinion but mine is right.

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

"I like da tv with the pretty colors and the not thinky usin'."

Society is essentially getting dumber; if the viewer can think less, they feel better. As far as people are concerned tv is just something to focus on and shut your brain off. And producers know this and find putting a bunch of "alternative" people from some "alternative" suburb in a kitchen to cook food most people would never eat in a million years much easier than actually writing something complex and getting actual actors to act.

Maybe on the major channels tv is dumber, but elsewhere it's never been more intelligent. Shows like the Wire, Deadwood, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Treme, to name just a few, are fiercely intelligent. There is an audience, a large audience for these shows, but they've gone to HBO, Showtime, AMC etc, and abandoned channels like syfy, FOX or NBC.

As for the OP's question, it seems to assume scifi tv = all scifi, which clearly isn't the case. While U.S scifi tv may have waned, there are still plenty of scifi films, scifi books and scifi games being released.

As for scifi tv, I think this is just part of the general shift away from the major channels, ABC, CBS FOX, etc, have gone for the lowest common denominator, and if it isn't a reality show, or cop show number 5483, then it struggles. Syfy, seem to be following their example. But there are a growing number of premium and cable channels putting out excellent content. HBO, Showtime, Starz, FX, AMC, TNT, Cinemax, all either have or are making scifi and fantasy shows. None of them are space opera at the moment, but I think soon enough they will start to. You have gone from a situation where a channel like HBO wouldn't go near scifi or fantasy, to the point now where they air Game of Thrones and True Blood, and are making adaptations of American Gods, and the Dark Tower. I am convinced that we are very close to seeing an HBO space show.