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What happened to space opera?

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    What happened to space opera?

    Back in the 1990s and 2000s we had space operas like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly and Babylon 5. Why don't we see space opera shows on TV anymore? Did the network execs decide the genre was dead? Did people lose interest in space travel? Why is this genre dead on TV? If the genre does not appeal to anyone anymore what can be done to revitalize the genre? What can be done to make the genre more relatable? Do you think this genre should be revived? Either way I think we need more epic space battles and political intrigue on TV. It was long thought that fantasy was a genre once thought reserved for geeks but Game of Thrones has garnered a huge audience. Perhaps a well written space opera with a huge budget could appeal to a diverse audience.

    #2
    I imagine one of the issues with the Space Opera is simply cost. Sci-Fi these days is expensive enough - audiences are far less accepting of low-budget tv, and they expect a lot more, so take a show that is entirely set in a fictional environment/universe, there's massive cost involved.

    For me, one of the saddest recent Space Opera stories was the failure of SG:U. That show had great potential, and some great stories, but ultimately just took too long to establish itself. The potential was there, but for the wider audience it just didn't deliver enough generic Flash Gordon.

    I'd like to say that Space Opera lives on in Doctor Who (2005 - ), but let's face it - the Doctor has only gotten off Earth maybe 5 times in 8 years... so it's hardly worthy of the title any more.
    back on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@The-Cosmic-Hobo
    "How Doomsday Should Have Ended!" • "Bigger on the Inside?" • "The Doctor Falls - With Hartnell!"
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      #3
      What's funny is that Two And A Half Men, a practically aimless comedy that nobody talks about is now in its 12th season.
      "I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care... or why it should be necessary to prove it at all."

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        #4
        Few viewers and high production costs make for a very poor investment...

        One of the problems is that sci-fi viewers are more likely than average to timeshift their viewing or illegally download the show. Either way it puts advertisers off and makes networks less interested in making the shows.

        I´m really hoping that "The expanse" does well and proves that sci-fi shows can work.

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          #5
          Originally posted by cosmichobo View Post
          For me, one of the saddest recent Space Opera stories was the failure of SG:U. That show had great potential, and some great stories, but ultimately just took too long to establish itself.
          Indeed, so sad. Was just writing about it:
          Originally posted by Brother Freyr View Post
          Given more time, SGU might well have become an epic series that earned a place among the best. IIRC, TPTB intended each season to be a distinct chapter with its own characteristics. It was a bold plan that I would have loved to watch to completion. Alas, the vision didn't align with the business of television. TPTB had a long-term plan that could have elevated SGU to the pantheon of great science-fiction. The very same plan condemned it to the short-term demands of the television business. Anyway, yes: SGU had greater originality than SGA, but it didn't survive long enough to fully flower. (Brother Freyr feels sad now.)
          sniffle, sniffle.

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            #6
            Sitting here trying to put together a cohesive reply RE piracy... Keep tripping over myself. :}

            Yes, piracy does impact the film/tv industry. DVD sales (film & tv) and foreign (tv) sales are each worth about 10% of a production's budget, so when people pirate a DVD, or when people (in foreign lands) pirate a tv show, then it does cut into the production of our entertainment.

            (I exclude domestic tv piracy, as I don't think it would be in the same league as piracy in foreign lands - These days most major networks offer time-shifted viewing of new content for free, so the need to pirate domestic content is far less strong. It can however still take years for content to be broadcast in a foreign land, thus people get tired of waiting, and look for other methods...)

            But... The other side of the coin with regards to advertisers, is that network tv has a tendency to push sci-fi shows around in the schedule, making it hard for the shows to coalesce an audience. Once you make it hard for people to watch the show, ratings drop as people start to tune out, and certainly advertisers will be less keen to put their money on the line.

            What comes first? The time slot change, or the ratings drop?


            Originally posted by Brother Freyr View Post
            Indeed, so sad. Was just writing about it...

            sniffle, sniffle.
            Yes indeed - SG:U presented a great premise, with great cast, and so much potential... Whilst there was the main characters, due to the faceless extras, they had room to bring in new people and kill off some of the regulars if desired... It's just a shame they ultimately had a few slow stories/storylines that probably turned off a few too many viewers...
            Last edited by cosmichobo; 22 November 2014, 11:35 PM.
            back on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@The-Cosmic-Hobo
            "How Doomsday Should Have Ended!" • "Bigger on the Inside?" • "The Doctor Falls - With Hartnell!"
            "The War Games - In 10 Minutes" • "Announcement of Jon Pertwee's death" •
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              #7
              There was a thread, a couple of years ago, in which we explored the forces lined up against new space opera.
              Did the RDM BSG kill ship-based SF on TV?

              It begins with the OP's question but quickly turns to the many obstacles to what we're calling space opera. Including my little contribution:

              Originally posted by Brother Freyr View Post
              TV execs don't want to pay extra money for a show with fewer viewers. Not while they can pay less for a greater number of viewers for shows like "America's Got Talented Master Chefs Dancing with Starred Island Survivors."
              I believe the situation has improved since I wrote that, but as cosmichobo said, the demand for higher quality also means greater expense.

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                #8
                When you can produce cheap reality tv, or moderately cheap scripted dramas or sitcoms, then indeed, making expensive sci-fi, and in particular, space-bound sci-fi... it's just gonna be a hard sell.

                You would think therefore, that if they actually go ahead and produce something expensive, that they would be invested in giving it every opportunity to succeed...?

                I can only assume that tv execs know a thing or two about ratings... (Meh?) I presume that these shows start to get the shunt because ratings don't meet expectations, and the initial hope is that it may do better in another slot... But of course, I'm sure there's plenty of situations where the shunting is simply to protect the more desired shows against competition, than to benefit the sci-fi...

                I'm sure people have written books about this... (And if they haven't yet... by the Gods, I think I will!)
                back on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@The-Cosmic-Hobo
                "How Doomsday Should Have Ended!" • "Bigger on the Inside?" • "The Doctor Falls - With Hartnell!"
                "The War Games - In 10 Minutes" • "Announcement of Jon Pertwee's death" •
                and lots more!

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                  #9
                  I think it making a come back over the next year, certainly Syfy has three shows in the works that could be called space operas.

                  An I think BSG did scare a lot of people off because for all the good quality that happen in front of the camera it pretty obvious there were major problems behind the scenes, budget overruns and schedule overruns were a frequent occurrence on the show and execs not just at Scifi and but at other channels would know a lot more about those than we do.

                  HBO has just announce Foundation series.

                  Space 1999 and Blake 7 remake rumors still doing the rounds.
                  Last edited by knowles2; 29 November 2014, 03:31 PM.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by cosmichobo View Post

                    I'd like to say that Space Opera lives on in Doctor Who (2005 - ), but let's face it - the Doctor has only gotten off Earth maybe 5 times in 8 years... so it's hardly worthy of the title any more.
                    Have we been watching the same Doctor Who? He most definitely has gotten off Earth more than 5 times in 8 years!
                    Orphan Black: Join the Clone Club Dance Party!

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by knowles2 View Post
                      HBO has just announce Foundation series.
                      Are you frakking kidding?!?! Awesome!
                      Orphan Black: Join the Clone Club Dance Party!

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Angela V View Post
                        Have we been watching the same Doctor Who? He most definitely has gotten off Earth more than 5 times in 8 years!
                        You're right. It was 6.

                        Spoiler:
                        2005 - Yes, they got to a few space stations, but was still revolving around the Earth.
                        2006 - We finally left Earth, and visited... New New New New New New New New York... and we had the Satan Pit.
                        2007 - Revisited New New New New New New New New York... and had a trip in a non-Earth orbiting space ship. And some little planet at the end of the universe called Utopia.
                        2008 - Ok, we finally get 4 whole stories set on alien worlds, plus the Daleks hijack a few dozen more...
                        2009 - One dead planet, and Mars...
                        2010 - A whale, a planet of statues, and some christmas schmuck...
                        2011 - A pocket universe, some fleshy place, couple of space ships...
                        2012 - An asylum and dino zoo...
                        2013 - Akhatchoo, the TARDIS, Disneyland... some place called Trenzalore... twice.
                        2014 - A Dalek, an intergalactic bank, some train in space, and... the North Pole.. Oh wait, that's Earth.


                        Yes, ok, more than 6... but seriously, not a space opera.
                        back on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@The-Cosmic-Hobo
                        "How Doomsday Should Have Ended!" • "Bigger on the Inside?" • "The Doctor Falls - With Hartnell!"
                        "The War Games - In 10 Minutes" • "Announcement of Jon Pertwee's death" •
                        and lots more!

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Wyrminarrd View Post
                          I´m really hoping that "The expanse" does well and proves that sci-fi shows can work.
                          I had no idea what you were talking about, but just saw Chad from Walking Dead talking on Talking Dead briefly about "bringing Space back", so yes - hopefully this may be something worth watching!

                          http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3230854/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_4
                          back on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@The-Cosmic-Hobo
                          "How Doomsday Should Have Ended!" • "Bigger on the Inside?" • "The Doctor Falls - With Hartnell!"
                          "The War Games - In 10 Minutes" • "Announcement of Jon Pertwee's death" •
                          and lots more!

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                            #14
                            Another thing that happens with any kind of SF show, not just space-based, is that there is usually a lot of negative buzz in the geek community even before a show premieres. Too many people bash things preemptively because it's not the show they want to see, too much like something else they didn't like in the first place, that network cancelled their favorite show, etc, etc. Shows start out in the hole and never seem to be able to overcome it.

                            They say that the geeks shall inherit the Earth, but for most of them it just won't be good enough.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by ecgordon View Post
                              Another thing that happens with any kind of SF show, not just space-based, is that there is usually a lot of negative buzz in the geek community even before a show premieres. Too many people bash things preemptively because it's not the show they want to see, too much like something else they didn't like in the first place, that network cancelled their favorite show, etc, etc. Shows start out in the hole and never seem to be able to overcome it.

                              They say that the geeks shall inherit the Earth, but for most of them it just won't be good enough.
                              you are mostly right. but can you judge people for what they want? yes they are tired. yes they are fed up. why they should not be?w2hat they have seen as science fiction the last , at least, 4 years? time trave,(l am bored!), some post apocalyptic shows which can't even tell a coherent story (revolution, falling skies) and plenty of shows that are soap operas and not sci fi? So yes they are angry, i'm angry !!! but beyond that the networks must accept that modern audience is diversified and they can not impose their prerogatives. different people want different shows so they must be ready for that.
                              Last edited by pakar; 20 February 2015, 03:31 PM.

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