The Teeny Bopper Element in Sci Fi Shows

[Dave2]

As a middle-aged fan of realistic science fiction genres I am a bit disappointed in the heavy element of what I would call a "teeny bopper" element in the Canadian-American shows such as Warehouse 13, Continuum and Alphas.
I guess they have sacrificed realism to targeting an audience under 40. Why do they have to have the majority of main characters young women just out of their teens??

[jelgate]

The majority of television is like that. Always has been.

[escyos]

Could you maybe explain this "teeny bopper" element in more detail and cite some examples.

[Ukko]

Joanne Kelly (WH13) is 33 and Rachel Nichols (Continuum) is 32. Just out of their teens? Where did you get that?

[Snowman37]

As a middle-aged fan of realistic science fiction genres I am a bit disappointed in the heavy element of what I would call a "teeny bopper" element in the Canadian-American shows such as Warehouse 13, Continuum and Alphas.
I guess they have sacrificed realism to targeting an audience under 40. Why do they have to have the majority of main characters young women just out of their teens??

I don't watch any current science-fiction dramas on TV. However, I can't think of many that involved "teeny bopper" elements. There were a few teenage characters on Jericho, but they were just trying to survive. There was Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Jake Sisko and Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Does that count? There was John Connor and the blonde girl (Riley?) on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but it was hardly traditional teeny-bopper affairs. The only show that I can think of that heavily involved realistic teenagers is Surface.

[Tesla93]

Not exactly teeny bopper, its just a more female element. They have to do it to appeal to a broader audience. The whole thing with cameron from continuum with her son doesnt really appeal to me or you, its targeted at the female audience, its a trend you can see more and more, sci-fi shows such as warehouse 13 or alphas, its good as a whole, if done well it'll bring in a new audience and get more viewers putting more funding into other new shows like a new stargate series or some new space epic sci fi haha

[maneth]

About time networks paid attention to more than just the 15-49 male demographic.

[SeaBee]

My main problem with a fair number of SF shows is the hammering in of emotional relationships between characters.

For example, in last weekend's Doctor Who:

Spoiler:

In the middle of the show, with all the danger of being trapped in the Dalek asylum, the story grinds to a halt while Amy and Rory have a shouting match about why their marriage is in trouble.

Yes, I know that people have relationships, and sometimes they can be crucial, but it seems to me that in some shows the emotional aspect is pushed to the front of the show at the expense of the actual story.

[The Flyattractor]

As a middle-aged fan of realistic science fiction genres I am a bit disappointed in the heavy element of what I would call a "teeny bopper" element in the Canadian-American ??

Not exactly teeny bopper, its just a more female element. haha

About time networks paid attention to more than just the 15-49 male demographic.

My main problem with a fair number of SF shows is the hammering in of emotional relationships between characters.

For example, in last weekend's Doctor Who:

Spoiler:

In the middle of the show, with all the danger of being trapped in the Dalek asylum, the story grinds to a halt while Amy and Rory have a shouting match about why their marriage is in trouble.

Yes, I know that people have relationships, and sometimes they can be crucial, but it seems to me that in some shows the emotional aspect is pushed to the front of the show at the expense of the actual story.

All of this is VERY MUCH The case of the point. I can relate with Dave2 (probably in the same age group) with being old enough to remeber when GIRLS didn't really watch tv that much. Or at the least they hadn't yet reached the same level of "Geek or Nerd" as boys did back in those days.
This really started to chance in the mid 90's.
And The Entertainment Industry being the Pimps that they are will quickly change to to get as much cash out of these new groups that they can.

*Especially true with Dr.Who since its rebirth. It has been more guilty of this then any of the others. mainly because teeny bopper drama is cheaper then sci fi effects*


Stupid Geeky Girl Nerds!!!

[Flyboy]

I'm going to throw this out here,

But what I'm seeing here is nothing short of sexism and ageism.

Sacrificing realism? Oy vey...

Now, anyone who's known me on this forum for a while, knows I DETEST the 'young and hip' approach to programming (see my rants about Spooks: Code 9). HOWEVER. There are some very qualified, very capable and very competent young people, and particularly young women around. Why should his not be reflected in television and media?

The fact the phrase 'teeny bopper' is floating around is demonstrative of the fact this stems from a mere prejudice, I would assert that most of the shows referenced don't ACTUALLY have teenage stars. Those that do, well if it's relevant, why not - i.e Claudia in Warehouse 13.

Doctor Who has ALWAYS had young companions alongside the Doctor. Always. That's not a new thing.

And as for 'pausing the drama' in Asylum of the Daleks:

Spoiler:

Let's be honest, you think your nearly-ex-wife is about to die, who you're still in love with, you're GOING to start an argument about things. At the end of the day, that's realistic, if you ask me. They were RELATIVELY safe, yet it was expected that Amy was about do die... come on... cut them some slack

This thread just seems to be to be a combination of sexist and ageist ignorance. I'm sorry, but that's how I feel about it.

To be a junior officer in the Royal Air Force, you need to be over 18. I know MANY female junior officers under the age of 25, with important jobs, often with many personnel under their command. A medical student has to be 18 to start studying, usually on a five year course - you can be a Junior doctor at the age of 23. What IS the problem here? Sci-Fi focuses on hi-tech professional roles quite often, there are a LOT of young people in these roles, and an increasing amount of women. Accept it. Or we could just go back to the sixties, you know, with Star Trek, when Rodenberry couldn't convince TPTB to let him have a female command position on the show because it was unrealistic....

[The Flyattractor]

[QUOTE=Flyboy;13487649]





Doctor Who has ALWAYS had young companions alongside the Doctor. Always. That's not a new thing.

And as for 'pausing the drama' in Asylum of the Daleks:

Spoiler:

Let's be honest, you think your nearly-ex-wife is about to die, who you're still in love with, you're GOING to start an argument about things. At the end of the day, that's realistic, if you ask me. They were RELATIVELY safe, yet it was expected that Amy was about do die... come on... cut them some slack

This thread just seems to be to be a combination of sexist and ageist ignorance. I'm sorry, but that's how I feel about it.

QUOTE]Yes. Dr.WHO always had young companions,but I don't recall too many times when they stopped trying to save the universe to discuss thier relationships with each other. Even with ....Very Expresionable Characters like Tegan who did complain alot. She did complain about the circumstances they were caught up in and how they were being delt with and how they were being treated by them but never once do I recall her whining about the guy she shnogged behind the tardis not calling her the next day. Even with Ace. She did complain too but with her it was more about social issues like racisim and injustice in the universe. Sure she had issues with her mum and old boy friend but that never took precident over what ever monster was trying to KILL PEOPLE at the time. And both tegan and Ace were VERY strong female characters that I liked very much.
Not that there have really been that many on the new series.
Rose being the worst in IMO.

I just miss the days of Sci Fi tv and movies that dealt with THE ACTUAL ADVENTURE and not the Romance first.


For me that is what "Teeny Bobber" stands for me now adays.


And it is also a much more polite word combo to use then I normaly would.


But hey thats just me.

[Flyboy]

Yes. Dr.WHO always had young companions,but I don't recall too many times when they stopped trying to save the universe to discuss thier relationships with each other. Even with ....Very Expresionable Characters like Tegan who did complain alot. She did complain about the circumstances they were caught up in and how they were being delt with and how they were being treated by them but never once do I recall her whining about the guy she shnogged behind the tardis not calling her the next day. Even with Ace. She did complain too but with her it was more about social issues like racisim and injustice in the universe. Sure she had issues with her mum and old boy friend but that never took precident over what ever monster was trying to KILL PEOPLE at the time. And both tegan and Ace were VERY strong female characters that I liked very much.
Not that there have really been that many on the new series.
Rose being the worst in IMO.

I just miss the days of Sci Fi tv and movies that dealt with THE ACTUAL ADVENTURE and not the Romance first.


For me that is what "Teeny Bobber" stands for me now adays.


And it is also a much more polite word combo to use then I normaly would.


But hey thats just me.

You simply can't compare 'snogging behind the bike sheds' to...

Spoiler:

a couple who are on the verge of divorce because the one party was left baron because of alien intervention. It's actually quite interesting to see the consequences of travelling with the Doctor. This is a very important element of the characters' lives, not just a fling.

The action and adventure is STILL first in Doctor Who, but a bit more of a more comprehensive approach is *not* a bad thing.

I will, however, grant you that Rose was a pain in the sodding arse.

[The Flyattractor]

*Post edited due to turning into a nerdy rant*

[Snowman37]

I don't care if a TV show has a few teenage characters among the cast. It's when the whole cast is composed of teenagers or worse, people in their twenties pretending to be teenagers when they're obviously not. However, what I find even worse to deal with is when you tune into an adventure show only to find that the characters spend more time talking about relationships than they do working on solving the problem of the episode. YAWN

[Flyboy]

I don't care if a TV show has a few teenage characters among the cast. It's when the whole cast is composed of teenagers or worse, people in their twenties pretending to be teenagers when they're obviously not. However, what I find even worse to deal with is when you tune into an adventure show only to find that the characters spend more time talking about relationships than they do working on solving the problem of the episode. YAWN

Snowman, for someone capable of very interesting and educated posts and insights, can you *please* drop this anti-SGU thing. I *know* you didn't mention it this time, but I know it's what you're referring to. There are different kinds of adventure show and one which takes a deeper and more critical approach to how the 'adventure' affects the humans involved is no less legitimate.