Did internet ruin the Sci-fi genre?

[randomguy]

What some scifi writers seem to forget is, you don't necessarily need bombs and boobs to have a good scifi show.

haha ya but those are always good too

[SGFerrit]

haha ya but those are always good too

There needs to be a good mix!

[garhkal]

Sometimes its for the better. For example, I would never buy a video game without reading a review on the internet or playing the demo. Same with Stargate DVDs. If I have never seen an episode, I'd like to know if it's worth buying on DVD.

I always used to buy them before even seeing anything on them, but nowdays i am like you. I wonder if i am missing out on good stuff cause of it.

[Shan Bruce Lee]

I think I agree with the general statements most of you have made but, personally, I think a bigger problem is "influence" of each other.

ex.1) Have you ever been hanging out with somebody and a song comes on and your friend says "Oh I hate this song!" and you said "I think it's alright" then a few days later you see that same person bobbin their head (bad example) to the exact same song? The internet makes that 100x worse.

ex.2) Hypothetically, if I was dissapointed that Jonas was written out of SG-1 at the beginning of Season 7 I probably wouldn't make as big a deal out of it as I would if I saw a thread about it on a website.

ex.3) Does 'Revenge of the Sith' really suck just because JarJar was in 'The Phantom Menace'? No but how many times have you seen something or someone on a website say "the prequals sucked"?

[the_dark_light]

I don't think the internet has much of a bearing on ratings for scifi on TV. Doctor Who and Torchwood are huge hits, with Torchwood being BBCAmerica's top rated show.

Of course, the writing for those is a tad better than SGA.

I'd call that a serious insult to SGA indeed - As IMO Dr Who is seriously dumbed down and Torchwood is just terrible.

LOST is big, but Bionic Woman sank because it was just plain dumb. Flush Gordon was the worst thing ever on TV.

lol but Flush Gordon makes for a great Viz cartoon

t isn't the genre, its the writing. If the writing is high calibre, the shows will succeed. There is a huge audience for Scifi, but that audience is usually higher educated. What some scifi writers seem to forget is, you don't necessarily need bombs and boobs to have a good scifi show.

I agree. If you look at classic Dr Who, it didn't have the flashy effects of modern TV, in fact it had a shoestring budget, but it was a success (Cybermen - long before the borg)

Lately the writers seem to have dropped the ball but once they realise that it'll pick up (hey! I'm an optimist!)

[Queenie]

I don't think the writers should compromise at all, if they're not going to fulfill their vision of what they want the series to go like then what's the point? The most uncompromised works of fiction are always the best anyway, better than ending up with some watered down, lowest common denominator crap, there's enough of that on TV as it is.

I agree, if the writers followed the popular opinion then lots of great story lines wouldn't have got into the show. Daniel's death, the introduction of Vala, the dissultion of the Tok'ra - I imagine none of these were popular with the fans when they first happened, but they all added to the development of the SG universe. I think it's cute that the writers have blogs and interact with the fans, but if you wrote to try to please everyone you would have a very dull show.

And while I agree that spoiler-obsessing and previews and leaked information can ruin the excitment of a new episode, I still believe the internet is a great tool for sci-fi. You can weave in different sorts of media, like the comics released on the Matrix website, and have interactive games like the internet treasure hunt that's on for the new Batman film. And of course, you can have the pleasure of discussing the show with people from all over the world.

[ShadowMaat]

X-Files had (or maybe still has) a huge online presence. I was a die-hard X-phile, hung out on the phorums, played in the chat rooms, went to the XPA fan cons and all that fun stuff. I'm also pretty sure that the various Treks have had massive internet followings.

Does it ruin the genre? I don't think so. Or at least I don't think that the effect on the scifi genre is any different than the effect for any other type of show. Sure, maybe some would say that knowing every little scrap of detail about a show's production might have a detrimental effect, but there are also those who'd say that it makes the experience even better. *shrug*

People who close their minds to a new character are just as likely to do so whether they're in an online fandom or not... and vice versa. Sure, some close their minds to the new, but others are happy to accept it. All being online does is give you advanced warning. But if die-hard Daniel fans hadn't known their favorite character was going to die until Meridian aired, do you REALLY think that would have made them more accepting of Jonas? I doubt it.

Anyway, it's STILL a case of having to accept whatever TPTB serve up. As much as fandoms may like to think they run a show, the truth is that TPTB are the ones in charge. THEY make all the decisions and if "fandom" doesn't like them, that's too bad.

[ToasterOnFire]

Yep, but it is easier said than done. It can be hard to get that balance.

Difficult to impossible I'd wager, especially depending on the kind of fandom and the people that make up a PTB.

I agree, luckily the Stargate ptb are like that, IMO. I know some people are going to now say 'Joe Mallozzi isn't he is disrespectful to them etc...' but the fact is, the only people he hasn't been diplomatic with are the idiots who talk rubbish and are insulting either to him, his cast or crew, or other fans. He doesn't discriminate against any one group of fans, he lets everyone have their say. Atleast I think he does. He has been painted as the big bad guy by some. i personally think that is unfair.

I see your point, but in my opinion true diplomacy is not returning tit for tat but instead rising above it and attempting to restore honest communication when possible.