Why Sci-Fi Should Not Be On Network Television
Not all network sci-fi shows are a pile of space junk, but the place for sprawling mythos, amoral alien races, zombie gore and challenging social mores is not as a lead-in to Dancing with the Stars.
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September 3, 2010
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No Promotion
Recognize this vessel to the right? Probably not. It's the Phaeton from Ron Moore's Virtuality. Wait, you've never heard of Virtuality? That's probably because the pilot aired on the 4th of July last year, when most people, even diehard sci-fi geeks, were not in front of a television.
FOX decided to run the two-hour pilot as a "movie," which is often the case with backdoor pilots (created to run as one-of's before going to series). The "movie" ends with a nasty cliff hanger, which pilots tend to do, leaving fans wanting more. But the date and lack of a real push from FOX sealed the series' fate. When you've got the wife of a cast member pleading with fans online to tune in, the network is not pushing the show.
But it's not surprising, when you take into account the reaction Moore got from FOX regarding the show's socially progressive tone. "Ultimately I think the communal reaction was that they were impressed by the production value of the show, they were challenged by the story material and they just didn’t know if it was going to work on the FOX network or not," said Moore according to SciFiPulse.
As far as critics were concerned, Virtuality was a success (here's my take), but how do you think an ostensible series premiere touted as "a movie" did on a July 4th Saturday? At least they could have given the crew of the Phaeton a fighting chance at going to series. But as Moore pointed out, the network was tentative about the subject matter to begin with.
But I wonder if Syfy would have had the same problem pushing a series with a gay married couple.
It's too bad, as like just about anything from Ron Moore and Friday Night Light's Peter Berg (who directed the pilot), Virtuality had very real potential.
All Style No Substance
Here's a promo pic from FlashForward. Kinda cool, right? We've got Joseph Fiennes, standing in a dark, dusty looking living room turned topsy-turvy, tossing a squash in the air. What the heck does it have to with the show? I have no idea.
What made sci-fi shows like LOST, The X-Files and (the first season) of Heroes hits, was not slick, artsy promo material, splashy effects and under-developed characters trying to unravel some nebulous conspiracy.
We've been hearing TV series touted as "events" for some time. Heck, now we've even got a show called The Event. When network genre shows begin to focus more on compelling characters and less on global disasters, nefarious corporations and shadow goverments, they'll finally find the Island they've been searching for.
"The Next LOST"
They think we want it, but we don't. The interesting thing about LOST is that it was inspired by Survivor among other shows. The key word there is "inspired." LOST was not "the next Survivor."
When the end date for LOST was announced, network execs scrambled to find a series that would resonate with fans at the same level and lure the coveted 18-34 demographic. You don't want me to run through a laundry list of shows that have tried to be LOST.
What's funny is the only show that's managed to get close to achieving the same level of fandom is about a bunch of high schools kids singing Journey songs.
