on scifi tv: where have all the space operas gone?

[xparrot]

Or rather, how come the best scifi I can find on Western TV these days is in kids' cartoons? This isn't a total problem for me, because as you know I have an undeniable adoration for silly kids' superhero cartoons (my brother and I are possibly the only people over 30 in the world who get excited about new eps of Ben 10. But it's so much fun!) But it gets frustrating because there are no fandoms for these to speak of. The cartoons based on existing properties like Marvel and DCU have followings, but not the original stuff.

Which is a shame because I just got into Generator Rex and want fic for it and there is none to speak of, because it is a silly kids superhero cartoon. (But it is a silly kids superhero cartoon with Agent Six and César!! Sigh...) It's also got some of the better scifi I've seen on TV in a while - super-mad-science technobabble-laden scifi, little to do with realism (except when it has a space elevator, which was pretty much spot-on, down to the mobile base station) but everything to do with the intriguing possibilities of humans intersecting with technology (it's set in the near-future, five years after the nanite-pocalypse, in which every living thing on the planet was infected with nanites that usually are dormant but occasionally get activated and mutate their hosts into nightmarish monsters. Yes, it's very anime, down to the hero's pre-canon amnesia, though the characters and general sensibilities are much more American superhero.) It makes me miss scifi shows - especially space shows; with BSG and SGU off the air, as far as I know there are no TV shows currently set in space, no Star Trek, no Farscape or Firefly. (Doctor Who only halfway counts, because it's not always in space and not always in the future.) I like fantasy too, don't get me wrong, but I miss my space future shows something fierce.

The brother hypothesizes that procedural dramas have primed audiences to expect "realism" in their TV - the sort of plausible semi-pseudo-science that sounds convincing, that can be hard to write. Scifi shows couldn't get away with just crying "tachyons!" and having time-travel, in the current TV environment. gnine suggests that it's due to reality outpacing the past's vision of the future. We don't have a moonbase or FTL, but a lot of the trappings of classic space opera, the giant computers and video phones and such, have become ordinary or even quaint in this age of ever-advancing electronics. So a modern space opera would have to reinvent the old tropes, and maybe no one's figured out a good way how yet, or no one's dared to take a risk on a show that might have. Except on kids' shows where realism isn't considered a concern - and cartoons can more easily present futures anyway, when all sets and such are drawn from scratch anyway.

Personally I really want the USA network to do a sci-fi show - I doubt they'd have a budget for space opera, but maybe a smaller show, set it on a colony world - Mars? - in the nearish future (say a century ahead?) - and in keeping with their other shows, character-focused rather than f/x, mostly small enclosed sets. Make it a crossover-genre, perhaps, cops, or doctors, or whatever - but show me the future, show me where we could be going, the endless possibilities humanity has to look forward to.

Meanwhile, at least I've got my silly kids' cartoons! (I could also ask why American kids' cartoons are doing better than most TV on the race front - the eponymous hero Rex is a fairly obviously non-white Latino, though I'm pretty sure the toys are marketed to any kids that'll buy 'em - can't figure out if that's because it's a kid's show and they think kids won't care, or because it's a cartoon so they they think no one will notice, or something else, but kids cartoons are still some of the only non-specific-racial-demographic-targeted American TV in which the lead character isn't always white?)

Comments

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

I doubt they'd have a budget for space opera, but maybe a smaller show, set it on a colony world - Mars? - in the nearish future (say a century ahead?) - and in keeping with their other shows, character-focused rather than f/x, mostly small enclosed sets. Make it a crossover-genre, perhaps, cops, or doctors, or whatever - but show me the future, show me where we could be going, the endless possibilities humanity has to look forward to.

That certainly sounds a lot like Terra Nova. Have you been watching it? It's not in space, but it's certainly based on citizens of a futuristic earth forming a colony.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, Terra Nova is the dinosaur show, yes? No, I haven't watched it...worth seeing? (and is it actually set on another planet, or back in time? I only saw a couple of commercials, couldn't quite tell what was going on! ^^;)

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched it...worth seeing?

I am enjoying it. Mainly, what I like most about it is that it stars a happily married couple, both of whom are highly skilled (cop + doctor).

and is it actually set on another planet, or back in time?

From what I gather, neither...it's set in the age of dinosaurs on a parallel earth. (That way they don't have to worry about their actions changing their own timeline.)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Eeee, happy married couple! I would totally watch it for that! Might check it out (probably will wait until the season's end - I hate getting into shows in s1; I'll watch something that got cancelled after only 1 season, but I like to know beforehand that that's what I got into...)

Parallel earth, ahhh, I see...(and it has dinosaurs! I admit to have been wanting to see the dinosaurs... ^^)

[sholio]

I regret the lack of space shows, too! That's an interesting hypothesis about procedural dramas priming audiences for realism -- I think there might be some truth to it, but I think in general, the whole cultural gestalt is really geared towards the real world right now. Audiences are more focused on the problems at home and aren't in a looking up, looking forward sort of mood. The popular spec-fic genres for the last ten years or so have been urban fantasy and steampunk, with sci-fi and epic fantasy slipping by the wayside. And when it comes to TV, there are budgetary issues as well; space shows are expensive to produce, and don't have a particularly large audience right now, so it's probably a whole lot easier to get a show produced when it's about, say, a demon-hunting cop rather than an alien-hunting cop on a spaceship!

Having said that, I do miss space shows terribly. For me, there is nothing quite like space opera and the whole wide-eyed sense of wonder that goes along with it! I hope that even if we have to suffer through a few sci-fi-less years, it'll come back into vogue again. (Ironically, special effects have finally caught up and can produce a totally convincing illusion of spaceships and alien planets ... just as audiences stop wanting spaceships and alien planets! Maybe cardboard sets were less threatening or something ...?)

[naye]

...omg synched brains! XD Except you said it much better.

[sholio]

heeee~~~, I just saw your comment as well! :D Same idea, basically, and yeah, you said what I was thinking: audiences are worried about their savings account and their job and the state of the world, and they're seeking comfort in things close to home, rather than speculating optimistically about the future!

I think we're also living in a time when a lot of the current technology is frightening to people -- GMO crops, and human cloning, and global warming, and privacy issues with the government able to snoop into everyone's mail ... it's no longer the heady days when space exploration captivated everyone's imagination. (And yet the things that we're doing right now are amaaaaazing -- we have live pictures from Mars! We have incredible medical tech ... but I don't think it's caught on in the popular imagination quite like the doom, gloom, we're all gonna diiieeee mentality has.)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Oddly, given the economic climate and such, I would expect more escapist entertainment - in general when things start going downhill in the real world, Hollywood et al tends to start accentuating the positive (while some of the more famous movies of the '30s and '40s are darker dramas, comedy and romantic fluff was the order of the day?)

...Though I wonder if that is part of it - that scifi is seen as darker nowadays? BSG and SGU were both quite dark; hard sf often tends to be. Maybe the problem is that we need a revival of the light scifi, the true space opera, Star Wars-style adventures or Star Trek-style wonder and spirit of exploration?

Ironically, special effects have finally caught up and can produce a totally convincing illusion of spaceships and alien planets

Yes, exactly! Siiigh...though they also allow for (fairly) convincing magic, which is something we haven't been able to pull off much before, so that could also be part of it; it's the first time fantasy TV for more than kids has really been feasible?

[naye]

Ooh, the rec you got for Terra Nova sounds cool. :D

Otherwise... mmph. Yes. Missing my space shows. Future shows... I don't know. Seems we're living in an age of urban fantasy (though not enough gets made into good tv!) and glamorous vampires. Maybe because it's closer, safer... And maybe because the future is in such flux right now that it is easier to turn to the modern monsters hiding right outside the safe light of our hearth fires and breathe a sigh of relief when we don't find them under our bed than it is to try and look further than that.

So, other than that, what else are you watching right now? I have been having a very low-key tv year, and feel behind on everything except Sherlock. XD Skuld's showing me 30 Rock now, which I am finding surprisingly fun and endearing.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I know, dinosaurs + married couple, sounds like a win! ^^

Hmm, yes, I do wonder if fear of the future is part of why scifi has come out of vogue...technologies that used to be distant pipe dreams are suddenly a lot closer and more possible, and scary for it? But the dreams are still cool! (And space is still so far away - need to remember that it's there, need to keep reaching for it, it's our destiny!)

I haven't been watching all that much new stuff, and too busy with my own stuff to be looking for a new fandom. Other than the cartoons (oh why do I love cartoons so much? it's so annoying to want fic and there to be none!) Did watch the first ep of a Canadian urban fantasy show, Lost Girl, that has potential for nice female friendship/femslash (canonical and otherwise; the main char's a succubus learning about herself and fae ways, who teams up with a human girl and...does something, only have watched the first ep so don't actually know what yet!)

And hee, yeah, 30 Rock can be cute, Tina Fey is amazing!

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

Did watch the first ep of a Canadian urban fantasy show, Lost Girl, that has potential for nice female friendship/femslash

I'm watching this one as well. I don't particularly care for where the romantic relationships have been going, but I do like the complexities of the fae world, and the humor is great.

I have to say that, out of all the genre TV on right now, my favorite is A Gifted Man. It only barely qualifies as fantasy (the main character can see the ghost of his dead ex-wife), but there's just something about the characters and the positive message of the show that appeals to me. I particularly enjoy the interaction between the main character, Michael the brain surgeon, and the easygoing shaman Anton.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

We've now seen the first half of s1 of Lost Girl and it's been much fun (Kenzi is made of hilarious awesome!)

Oh, is that what A Gifted Man is about! I've seen previews but not enough to be able to tell whether it was fantasy or straight drama or what...

[nikojen.livejournal.com]

Quick second-ing of the rec of Terra Nova. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy a dinosaur show quite this much. The relationship between the married couple (and also watching both of them interacting with their three children) is just adorable.

It's actually only having a 13-episode first season, so the finale is coming up Dec. 19. Probably won't know if it's cancelled or not until into the new year, though. :(

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, a short 1st season actually makes me more likely to check it out! And the recs - married couple with kids, in a scifi show, yeah, I want to see that! ^^ (also dinosaurs...they were tempting me anyway...)

[cynaravurzyn.livejournal.com]

I think the sparkly vampires might be inhabiting the same place as some of the Gold Digger romantic comedies did in the 30s. Stablizing gender roles while seeming daring. He's a vampire! He wants a virgin.

TOS was pitched as a Western in space, and sometimes it really does wallow in some unreconstructed tropes. But it used that to get some really radical things into people's living rooms, including there is a place for women and other people, not just white men, in the future.

I think it'll take a bit for someone to figure out a new dream, a new star to seek, to steer by.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're right, that's what we need - something that does what TOS did, that uses some old, hoary, comfortable tropes to lay down the tracks to new ground, show us a new way of looking at the future. Maybe make it less scary than it can seem now, with our tech rapidly advancing to places we've barely had the chance yet to imagine? Hopefully something will come up soon!