Comments on: The Great Sci-Fi Divide: Why don’t we want science fiction on TV?

By: Denis

Denis — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:28:48 +0000

I know I’m late to the discussion but I’m dropping my two cents anyway. The networks are just doing a cost-benefit analysis and realizing that while we may enjoy our favourite scifi show its cheaper to do reality/gameshow/lowbudget offshoots of established shows/ or thinly veiled variety shows with no substance. Some reality shows cost in production less then a hundred thousand $$$. that means no actors to pay, no production team, no extraneous lighting or film to purchase just straight profits. When you weigh that to a sci fi show that may cost millions per episode, a great many good creative shows get cut despite the incredible following. There is only one sure-fire ratings nuclear explosion per year and that’s superbowl. So networks will start an ad campaign for new shows every fall, in order to get you to tune in. After they have your atention with the new and shiny (at least enough to satisfy the advertisers) they could care less whether your satisfied with the product or even if u’d be miffed at your show being canceled mid season. Farscape was originally in a line-up with the invisible man and lexx. Two shows below the quality farscape rated. Now think about your favourite show. Where does it fall in a lineup? What show comes before it? After it? And what advertisements do you see the most? It tells you a lot about how highly the network in question regards the show you love and whether it’ll be canceled. (Wow I wrote a lot….) I live in ny, and don’t get home til after 11 so I never get to see any of my shows when they aire. (Except for true blood) So unfortunately I contribute to the decline in scifi

By: JimC

JimC — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:25:35 +0000

A couple of things.
First, networks seem to not understand their audience for this programming. I bought Degree deodorant for a year because they sponsored Eureka. I never bought it before but I appreciated the effort.
Second, I am one of the lost viewers to BSG. They tried to cram too many commercial into each show…the two hour shows got rediculous.
Third, SyFy loses because they carry a lot of non-scifi crap. So much that I do not even bother much to look for new programming. I usually find out about the shows I want to watch on SyFy on commercials on other networks.
Lastly, I am still bitter about the cancellation of SGA. I know I should get over it, but they kept wrestling and rid themselves of origianl programming. If your going to be a niche station, stay true to your roots and viewer will watch.

By: Monkey

Monkey — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:30:16 +0000

Science Fiction has to be imaginative, not politically incorrect, and it has to be have a social message not soap operatic interactions between blandely acceptable cast members. TV Sci Fi is really bad teeny-boppery or dumb middle-class-adult garbage, a few episodes of Doctor Who aside (foreign).

By: chris

chris — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:21:34 +0000

It’s pretty simple actually… most Americans are nothing more than sheep..reality shows are what entertains america. The best sci-fi was clearly babylon 5 because you couldn’t solve all the universe’s problems in 30 minutes. the networks assume americans all have ADD so they make shows that have a greeting, plot and conclusion within 30-60 minutes. dr. Who and Torchwood both are the current winners imho. As for sci fi catering to geeks, I think not..it’s just that the average american wants to sit in front of the idiot box and vegetate. I am a sci-fi fan.. but I’m also a combat veteran so that kind of kills your theory on geekdom. Anyway, “Reality TV”, as the network calls it, is what has pretty much killed entertainment. I mean seriously do you really care if a football player can dance? This kind of entertainment is bottom feeding and if americans want better entertainment will simply just have to tune out and play dvd’s. That and write a well authored letter to your networks.

By: Nora

Nora — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:33:58 +0000

Some of my favorite sci-fi series are The X-Files, Twilight Zone, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, BSG, Buffy, Angel and Firefly! The problem is that most of the todays sci-fi shows are unoriginal!

By: BC

BC — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:35:21 +0000

We do want scifi on TV and we want the scifi channle, Atlantis was good scifi doing well, MGM and Scifi were ready to do season 6 but BW convinced them ti kill it in favor of a new unproven show, Big Mistake!!!!!!!
Scifi has been turning out cheese scifi that makes the B rated shows of the 1960s look good, Scifi has also been airing wat to much horror and none scifi programing such as wrestling, this with there cheesy movies has been driving there viewers away!!!
There 4 and 5 hour block of programming has been drivinf fans a way too, as most do not want to watch 4 and 5 hours of the same show!
Scifi needs to go back to strickly a scifi line up with quality scifi shows, there are plenty of good scifi tv series out there from the 1950s thru the 2008, and good scifi movies to pull in and keep a decent audiance, ( 4 to 10 million) This is the type of programing Scifi had the first few years of its life and why it was able to take hold!

By: marika

marika — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:07:48 +0000

Chuck, TTSCC and Dollhouse to name but a few that really MUST BE RENEWED!
I’m a Brit who loves US sci-fi shows, to be honest I rearely watch trashy UK TV. However I don’t wait for them to finally air in the UK!(perhaps I’m contributing to the poor ratings) But more likely because I’d be unlikely to catch them on UK channels due to the fact they seem to have little promotion prior to their air date, most of my friends had never heard of Chuck or Dollhouse untill I raved on about them… perhaps the lack of global promotion is contributing to the short lives of these GREAT shows!?!

By: ATMD

ATMD — Sun, 10 May 2009 22:16:40 +0000

The reason so many of these science fiction shows have failed is b/c they’re BAD. Terminator sucked, Ever since season 2, Heroes has sucked, LOST sucks, Dollhouse sucks, need I continue? BSG lost its viewership not b/c its arc-driven format drove people away but b/c SciFi ordered the writers to make the show more “standalone” in Season 3 after the New Caprica story. When SciFi execs realized their mistake, it was too late, and Galactica bled ratings until the (amazing) yet bitter end. If you build it, they will come. They came to Star Trek (eventually, they came to BSG, they came to the brilliant Farscape. The only time they leave is when studio execs (like GOP political advisers) want those shows to “expand” their audiences to include EVERYONE – which is impossible. Remember, BSG & Farscape were getting acceptable numbers until the execs broke their writing styles into standalone format for 1 season & it killed them. Plus, you need a quality product.
Inter arma enim silent leges,
ATMD

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:34:00 +0000

The reason that sci-fi dies on TV is simple. The people who watch it tend to be self proclaimed “geeks”. They invest in the latest computer technology, are ahead of everyone else when it comes to the internet, and they tend to become interested in programs that may not be high profile, or even aired in their region. As a result, most viewers of sci-fi have turned to downloading in order to get their fix. I’m not saying that piracy is wrong and all torrenters should be hunted down and have their files stripped. I am saying that if you truly like a show and are worried that it will be canceled, watch it in real time occasionally, buy the dvd box set, watch it online from the networks website. We can try and petition all we like to get shows renewed. I’m sure that NBC must love the sandwiches, and that FOX responds well to angry letters and blogs about how they are all a bunch of tools. However, money speaks a lot louder than a list of names stapled to a sob story about a canceled show.

By: Erum

Erum — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:39:59 +0000

I don’t think we don’t want Sci-Fi on our TV. We don’t want BAD shows on TV. Each of the shows that failed had a good reason. “TTSCC” was a bad show. The acting was wooden and it was slow, as well as poorly written. “Dollhouse” is just now hitting it’s stride, but it’s buried on Friday nights. “Pushing Daisies” never recovered from the writer’s strike. “Battlestar Gallactica” had over a year long hiatuses, so by the time it came back, no one even cared anymore. “Chuck” is a good show, but it has it’s quirks – quirks that can be oft-putting to people and not make them want to invest an hour of every week to follow. (And it’s the kind of show where you can’t just watch one week and then forget about it – it’s not a stand-alone show.) And it’s on Monday nights, which is already pretty crowded with hit shows.
So, in general, the fact that these shows are Sci-Fi is not what is hurting them. Witness “Supernatural” and “Smallville” on the CW. “SV” is still their highest rated show.