The Rebirth of Sci-Fi Shows

[Pagan]

This tv season there have been alot of scifi shows about alians and ghost. Supernatural, Surface, and Invasion are just a few to name some. Why do you think they have choose to air more scifi oriented shows this season.

Now that there is no more StarTrek on televiosn (for the first time in 14 years), I would think that Scifi is dying out, but now they are launching all these new shows. I don't think many people will watch them due to the popularity of law and reality tv. And most probably won't make it to next yeart, but what do you think about them?

I only watch Surface and Supernatural because Invasion just isn't all that interesting to me after seeing War of The World this summer. Surface is decent though they should have kept use guessing on how the creature looks abit longer. Supernatural is pretty good, its like Dukes of Hazrads meet the X-Files, but it isn't one of those shows that forces you to watch it. I plan on missing the next two weeks just to see if I can still know exactly whats going on in the series.

What does every else think? And are there any other good scifi shows I left out?

[Manic Webb]

You can thank Lost for the flood of sci-fi/fantasy genre shows hitting the airwaves this season. I'm sure Lost surprised a lot of network executives at ABC. I know Disney's Michael Eisner (remember, Disney owns ABC) thought it was totally flop. Yet another reason for me to think Eisner's decision-making skills have been lacking lately, but that's another story.

Lost ended up being the highest rated show Wednesday nights, last year. It's been years since a genre show has been this popular. Even the past few Star Treks were mostly ignored. It spoke to network execs; people want hard-hitting, yet unreal drama. They want science fiction and fantasy. Thus, our current line-up of television shows was born.

Of course, I watch Lost.

I also watch The Night Stalker, which is a remake of a 1970s series called Kolchak: The Night Stalker. I guess you could call it "the original X-Files." It was about a news reporter named Carl Kolchak who kept finding supernatural answers to murder cases. "A serial killer is taking out local prostitutes? It must be the ghost of Jack The Ripper!" The new series is very good. It's a shame ABC isn't promoting it enough. It could be cursed to only last one season, just like the original.

I finally saw Supernatural. I've noticed that most people seem to like comparing the show to X-Files, but I'm really getting more of a Hardy Boys vibe from it. Either way, it's good. I'll definitely try to keep up with it.

[Qman1]

I like the fact that they remade "The Twilight Zone" for the 21st century. I havent seen any new episodes though....maybe the should go back to its roots to get the series going again?

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

Well as I never watched Lost, I can only accept Manic's explanation that it is indeed responsible for the new flood of what I suppose you'd call realistic Sci-Fi, though I have yet to see any of them, as they've not aired on this side of the Atlantic. Stargate being the last of the "Star" trio of Sci-Fi?s, the others being Star Wars and Star Trek which have both ended for the moment is coming back this month on Sky One UK with what is believed to be the final season of SG1 and the second season of Atlantis. I'm not aware of any other new "full" I suppose would be the best word, Sci-Fi series either continuing or starting of late. [/SIZE]

[quote name='Hells Fire']Now that there is no more StarTrek on television (for the first time in 14 years), I would think that Scifi is dying out, but now they are launching all these new shows. [/quote]

[SIZE=1]Well actually this is the second time there's been no Star Trek on television, the first time occurring when The Original Series (TOS) and The Animated Series (TAS) ended, as I recall there was a full seventeen years before The Next Generation started so it's not the first time this has happened. [/SIZE]

[WW2]

Yeah I noticed they've starting coming up with alot of new Sci Fi shows lately.....which is sort of surprising.

This reminded me of the time about 5 or 6 years ago, when X-files was really popular. Back then networks came up with all sorts of Sci Fi shows like Sliders, Dark Skies, and Brimstone.

However this time around I'm not really watching any of the new shows. Except for the remake of the Nightstalker...which is ok.

[I, Colossus]

Out of the four shows listed, I?ve only enjoyed one: Night Stalker.

Both Surface?s concept and execution are laughable, it?s probably the worst new show I?ve seen this season. I?m honestly surprised it hasn?t been cancelled yet. I doubt many people would disagree with me on this. It?s seems more like a SciFi channel TV movie than a series on NBC.

Supernatural & Invasion are both pretty interesting, I?ll give them that. Invasion (the worse of the two) is mediocre at best. It?s produced really well, you can tell ABC wants this to be the next big thing. But I can?t stand the writing, and in particular the dialogue.
Unfortunately I haven?t seen Supernatural yet, but I plan on watching it next time around.

Night Stalker (which I?ve only seen the pilot of) on the other hand was cleverly written, executed well, and had some great performances.