What happened to this genre?

[CmdrShep2154]

I was never interested in science fiction until I played Mass Effect under the recommendation of a friend. I thought the Battle for the Citadel scene was epic. Now I hunger for a TV show like it. I believe the genre Mass Effect falls under is space opera. What happened to space opera? There used to be a lot of them. Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly. Did the network execs decide the genre was dead? Considered too nerdy by the general population? Should this genre be revived?

Aren't you tired of all the police, medical, lawyer, and reality shows? Is it time for the epic space opera to make a comeback? Guardians of the Galaxy was successful. If the next Star Wars is successful we can to see a flooding of more space adventures on our screens.

[Skizzit]

It's probably because the last few attempts at a series like that has not done well. Enterprise, Stargate Universe, and Firefly all did poorly in the ratings. Even BSG did not do all that well. They are also pretty expensive to make. We need a really well made new Star Trek series with a solid budget. That I think would turn things around but who knows if that will ever happen. They seem pretty content to stick to just the movies with that series for now.

[Deleted]

I agree man Stargate.. Star trek.. GLORIOUS!

I want them to continue to make those awesome scifi shows so much

[Maximus Testiculos]

Lol, nerd. Real men watch game of thrones.

[PACOX]

It's probably because the last few attempts at a series like that has not done well. Enterprise, Stargate Universe, and Firefly all did poorly in the ratings. Even BSG did not do all that well. They are also pretty expensive to make. We need a really well made new Star Trek series with a solid budget. That I think would turn things around but who knows if that will ever happen. They seem pretty content to stick to just the movies with that series for now.

BSG didn't do well?

Its pretty much the last huge sci-fi show to air. There have been smaller ones since then though. One of the biggest issues with the shows is that they are on the sci-fi channel though, which a lot of people don't no longer trust because of the channels D movies and ghost shows. They're also in pretty crappy time slots, even BSG was in a crappy time slot, it was on a Friday...

It would be awesome if HBO/Showtime/Starz picked up a sci-fi show, even Netflix.

[Skizzit]

BSG didn't do well?

Its pretty much the last huge sci-fi show to air. There have been smaller ones since then though. One of the biggest issues with the shows is that they are on the sci-fi channel though, which a lot of people don't no longer trust because of the channels D movies and ghost shows. They're also in pretty crappy time slots, even BSG was in a crappy time slot, it was on a Friday...

It would be awesome if HBO/Showtime/Starz picked up a sci-fi show, even Netflix.

BSG was crazy expensive to make and did not really have all that great of ratings when it aired. It is one of those series that has made a lasting impression and is probably now considered a success, but while it was airing there were constant rumors that it was going to be cancelled. It's only because Sci-Fi believed in the series that it lasted.

[Sorrior]

You MIGHT want to look at some older anime.things like Captain Harlock macros and many others were space operas before star wars made them big here(yes macros is post star wars but alot of older ones do predate it)

[CmdrShep2154]

Luc Besson, the director of The Fifth Element has announced a new project called Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets which will be based on a French graphic novel called Valerian and Laureline. With Valerian, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and the Mass Effect movie still in development let the new golden age of space opera begin!

[Ripster42]

Uh, falling skies is kinda in that vein. But holy crap is it unwatchable.

[Stormspark]

It's probably because the last few attempts at a series like that has not done well. Enterprise, Stargate Universe, and Firefly all did poorly in the ratings. Even BSG did not do all that well. They are also pretty expensive to make. We need a really well made new Star Trek series with a solid budget. That I think would turn things around but who knows if that will ever happen. They seem pretty content to stick to just the movies with that series for now.

This is because the ratings system hasn't caught up to the modern day. People don't watch shows by sitting in front of a TV and watching them live anymore.

[haxartus]

BSG killed the Stargate franchise because they tried to imitate it with Universe.
Star Trek was too hard for new people to get in, over 25 seasons of story is difficult to catch up. This is why they are resetting it.
Sci-fi is currently dead tho, it requires too much thinking and people hate to think. Now the cool thing is vampires and superheroes, I seriously can't imagine grown people getting excited by vampire love stories and TV shows about superheroes.

[Korlok]

Yes, yes, 100000 times yes. We need another grand space opera that will span multiple seasons.
I miss the character development that comes from getting to know an entire crew of a spaceship over long periods of time.
I miss the one liners that only make sense if you're in space, or have a sci fi setting.
Getting tired of rewatching the same old shows over and over, because there hasn't been anything better produced in a long time.

[mizeri]

people just want to watch reality tv shows now, its pretty sad that sci-fi is kinda gone and when ever they make a good one they dont last long, stargate universe was great and they ended it, caprica was great too, atleast they gave firefly an ending.

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Uh, falling skies is kinda in that vein. But holy crap is it unwatchable.

ya i used to enjoy that, that last season was just horrible

[haxartus]

I actually hate the sci-fi attempts now, because every sci-fi has to be about relationships and less about science and fiction. I can't give examples about tv shows, but Interstellar was at least 50% personal drama.

[namelessone]

people just want to watch reality tv shows now, its pretty sad that sci-fi is kinda gone and when ever they make a good one they dont last long, stargate universe was great and they ended it, caprica was great too, atleast they gave firefly an ending.

... except there are dozens of non-space-opera fictional tv shows going on. Game of Thrones is reality tv? Vikings is? Daredevil? Gotham? Please.

[Mormolyce]

They just went out of fashion. We need a new breakout hit sci fi show to revive the genre, like LoTR and GoT did for fantasy.

There is a certain amount of nerd ghetto-isation for sci fi unfortunately. Which is why they tend to be shown late at night in the "nobody gives a shit" hours. The post-TOS Star Treks and shows like Stargate didn't help that.

P.S. For my money Firefly and Babylon 5 are the best TV sci fi shows to date.

P.P.S. BSG was a mixed bag in season 1, some things about it were great and other things sucked. Then the subsequent seasons were pure awful. I prefer the original series...

[Skizzit]

This is because the ratings system hasn't caught up to the modern day. People don't watch shows by sitting in front of a TV and watching them live anymore.

The majority of the series I listed air before deferred viewing and streaming were really as wide spread as they are now except for maybe SGU and that series was pretty terrible. while that may have had a small impact, you cannot blame their low ratings on that alone.

The fact is the majority of people these days would rather watch reality tv and the same old medical and cop dramas and those also happen to be much cheaper for networks to produce so they are more then happy to keep making then instead of taking a chance on an expensive genre series.

[chazus]

BSG was expensive, but did well (The question is, did it do well enough to warrant cost?)

Firefly did terribly on cable (Though it now has a huge following. See also: Dreamcast)

Later Stargates, ST: Enterprise, Falling Skies... Were all very 'meh' at best, and even worse in ratings. Enterprise was the first Star Trek since TOS to get officially cancelled pre-contract. SG: Universe got axed as well.

[haxartus]

except for maybe SGU and that series was pretty terrible

It was absolutely horrible. I also didn't like Atlantis that much, but it was somewhat ok. SG-1, however, was and still is, absolutely amazing. Even the last seasons.

[mizeri]

... except there are dozens of non-space-opera fictional tv shows going on. Game of Thrones is reality tv? Vikings is? Daredevil? Gotham? Please.

are you just replying to me just to argue? yes i know those are not reality tv shows, but reality shows outnumber anything thats science fiction