Is Science Fiction Dead?

[TheOrangeCat]

Hollywood Science Fiction is dead.

It died with god.

(small 'g' intentional)

Some would say Science Fiction never even breathed life in Hollywood, whose main contribution has been to water down its intellectual and imaginative land and dreamscapes so that they can simply sell seats to a mass audience, rather than tell a story to a smaller, thoughtful audience for whom Sci Fi is a trip into a possible future or alternate reality they will never personally experience.

It's not dead. It's just being suffocated by the movie and TV equivalents of bubble gum rock.

 

[Rey C.]

Nah.

1st Science Fiction Movie Filmed in Space Stays Underground

As technology advances, which it does each and every day, people will have more ideas on how to make newer & better science fiction. Think about it. It hasn't been THAT long that people accepted as fact that the Earth was flat. So if you went to sea, you COULD fall off the Earth. So I guess their science fiction revolved around ways to not fall off the planet if you went to sea. As that myth died, people were able to push the boundaries with other "science fiction" ideas. Why would it die or be dead? :dunno:

 

[Hondarobot]

Science Fiction is just a small part of current mythology. It includes all of the internet, television, etc.

Neil Gaimen has written great stuff on the subject, such as "American Gods". Actually, it's a theme he has going in nearly everything he writes, but it's always interesting.

 

[Mayhem]

Does it rhyme with firefry?

Man, you're good at this game. :clap:

As to the OP, I was just perusing Netflix, since watching football tonight has become pointless. Anyway, I went through the entire Sci-Fi category. Shit movies with shit ratings. That is basically all I found. It was actually depressing to see how little Sci-Fi there is worth watching.

 

[TheOrangeCat]

When I think Sci-Fi, I think outer space. We finally had a show that wasn't interspersed with "Family-style" lameness and avoidance. We had a multi-faceted plot line, technical credibility, and the greatest actors playing terrific roles that they were into. Aaaand it got canceled after one season. Nothing since has even scratched the paint.

Ah, the dearly departed Firefly. It made the mistake of being good and wildly well reviewed. This is the antithesis of current sci-fi programming, which require writers who don't give a shit, producers who are in it only to keep the coke flowing and network executives that would commission competitive freestyle shitting if they could sell advertising on its back. How else do you explain Firefly's fate while Enterprise - with Brannon 'shit for fingers' Bragga at the helm - limped on for 4 excruciating seasons despite ratings and reviews that were so poor not even the execs bothered to defend the show.

 

[squallumz]

are we talking books or tv?

uhg, entertainment has gone down the shitter. imagine how writers feel when shit like twilight is what succeeds.

and yes, firefly was the shit. but guess what, america doesnt want that kind of shit on tv. they want jersey bore and pawn this and pawn that, store this, fake that. they give the public what they want and the public dont have no taste it would appear. lets raise our standards for the sake of our brains.

 

[Hondarobot]

Damn, this is turning into a great thread, but I'm going out for tonight. I'll have to find the thread again later.

I never actually watched Firefly (although I saw Serenity), but Joss Whedon really hit the ball out of the park with late season Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Angel. Anyone who hasn't watched that, doesn't know shit about a great television series run.

There's great odd ball TV series like Twin Peaks and American Gothic, but the Buffy/Angel series blows the doors off pretty much everything, in my opinion.

 

[squallumz]

i prefer to ignore that he had his hand in that angel shit. how he jumped from gayngel to firefly is a mystery. i mean, really dude?

but firefly was really good. and not because i was told it might be. after all, on netflix, it has a 3 out of 5 stars. sometimes, you just gotta focus on what they did right then what was lame.

 

[Jane Burgess]

No it's still alive

 

[TheOrangeCat]

Such a shame Serenity flopped so badly in terms of bums on seats .... had it not I have no doubt they would have resurrected the TV show.

Ah, well ... one more disappointment to add to the likes of the cancellation of Carnivale ....

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Oddly enough, the "solution" to bring back Sci-Fi would be the Star Wars TV show. The problem with Sci-Fi (on television, at least; Sci-Fi films need no help) is that it is hard to get people to watch a new show. Just look at Firefly. If you want to bring back Sci-Fi, you need a show that will make tons of money. Pretty much no matter what, a live action Star Wars would be a huge hit and it would definitely bring back an urge amongst networks to develop their own Sci-Fi shows. CBS could even possibly bring Star Trek back to TV, which would only make the urge bigger. If we had these two TV shows back we'd start to see new series, just like how the 90s saw shows like Babylon 5 and StarGate.

 

[Mayhem]

Ah, the dearly departed Firefly. It made the mistake of being good and wildly well reviewed. This is the antithesis of current sci-fi programming, which require writers who don't give a shit, producers who are in it only to keep the coke flowing and network executives that would commission competitive freestyle shitting if they could sell advertising on its back. How else do you explain Firefly's fate while Enterprise - with Brannon 'shit for fingers' Bragga at the helm - limped on for 4 excruciating seasons despite ratings and reviews that were so poor not even the execs bothered to defend the show.

I swear, I have no idea what everyone's problem with Enterprise was. I didn't have the chance to watch it when it was a show, but I went beginning to end on Netflix. I really liked it. Obviously, the Star Trek franchise is always going to water down what they do, but I enjoyed the show. I especially liked the juxtaposition between the very beginning, with everyone being eager and optimistic; and when they finally got back to Earth, burned out and pissed. The part where Archer is out with the hot Captain of the "Columbia", "Forget diplomacy, don't worry about first contact, screw giving aid. Pack as many weapons as you can carry, then pack a few more." (ad libbing, of course) Anyway, I enjoyed it and I'm sorry they cancelled it. One more good Sci-Fi show, gone. And all we're left with is this new movie crap, which isn't going to work out anyway, and if it does we still have to wait for years for the next one. Bullshit, with a side of bullshit, heavy on the bullshit.

 

[DJCowboy]

Check out the movie Moon. It's an amazing modern sci-fi movie

I am also a huge fan of the TV show Lost, I don't care what any of you say about the finale. The show was still among the best of all time

 

[PirateKing]

The possibilities are still endless, but people lack creativity these days.

 

[Mayhem]

^^^ Moon was a very good movie. I also recommend it. :thumbsup:

 

[Rey C.]

Oddly enough, the "solution" to bring back Sci-Fi would be the Star Wars TV show. The problem with Sci-Fi (on television, at least; Sci-Fi films need no help) is that it is hard to get people to watch a new show. Just look at Firefly. If you want to bring back Sci-Fi, you need a show that will make tons of money. Pretty much no matter what, a live action Star Wars would be a huge hit and it would definitely bring back an urge amongst networks to develop their own Sci-Fi shows. CBS could even possibly bring Star Trek back to TV, which would only make the urge bigger. If we had these two TV shows back we'd start to see new series, just like how the 90s saw shows like Babylon 5 and StarGate.

I was a HUGE fan of Stargate SG-1. The movie was great and I really liked the TV series. I thought they did a really good job of mixing good, fun storytelling and adventure with techno babble and geekery. Some soap opera elements, but not too much - just enough to have a human element. The good guys were likeable and the bad guys were interesting (especially my favorites, the Goa'uld). I wasn't as big a fan of Stargate Atlantis, but I did watch it. I just didn't like some of the characters as much. And by the time they did Stargate Universe, I was off the bandwagon. I hated most all of the characters and I didn't see where they were taking it. The ratings sucked, so I guess a lot of Stargate fans felt the same way. I was hoping they'd try to revive the franchise and take it back to the spirit of SG-1. But I read last year that MGM had decided to kill the franchise... no more movies or anything.

Stargate SG-1 put the Sci-Fi Channel on the map. Now it's been renamed SyFy Channel and they show as much reality TV crap and junk like wrestling as they do science fiction. I don't think sci-fi is dead as a genre, but like every other genre, it's being choked out by media outlets that prefer to offer up cheap to produce, least common denominator reality TV shows. And what few sci-fi shows I do see, it seems like they're really just soap operas with a slight sci-fi element, meant for teenage girls.

 

[TheOrangeCat]

I was a HUGE fan of Stargate SG-1.

Don't forget Stargate Atlantis .. and Jewel Staite .. yummy.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

And by the time they did Stargate Universe, I was off the bandwagon. I hated most all of the characters and I didn't see where they were taking it. The ratings sucked, so I guess a lot of Stargate fans felt the same way. I was hoping they'd try to revive the franchise and take it back to the spirit of SG-1. But I read last year that MGM had decided to kill the franchise... no more movies or anything.

I was sort of surprised SGU got cancelled so quickly. I never watched it, but the previews made it look really good, plus having Robert Carlyle seemed like a big score for them. I guess doing the "we can't get back to Earth" premise would be a little tiring after Voyager did it for seven years...

 

[squallumz]

thanks for the firefly dreams last nite, people.

so bizarre!

 

[BlueBalls]

I really should get around to watching Firefly at some point.