I just realized that every streaming platform seems to have a couple heavy-hitter big-budget sci-fi series these days. Most of them turn out to be critically acclaimed as well.
Sure, we all know that there are Star Trek fans who dislike Discovery and Picard, or Foundation fans who dislike Apple’s adaptation. Even though much of what is on TV is still decades-old franchises, it seems that we’re getting more original sci-fi along with it.
- Scavengers Reign
- For All Mankind
- Invasion
- Cyberpunk: Edgeruners
- Tales from the Loop
I could go on…
No longer is it simply a single channel on cable tv that was also 50/50 with horror content, plus Star Trek and a handful of others that other networks syndicated.
Today there’s a rich tapestry of new ideas, concepts, and just plain art in media that was normally reserved for paperbacks published by Tor and others.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love me some SG1, TNG, DS9, B5, and others - all shows I grew up with; but I’m so happy that we get so much more now!
Probably because real life sucks so much.
I mean, the last time there was a sort of science fiction renaissance (arguably the 40s to 70s) people felt better about their lot in life - well besides the whole cold war thing.
So I’m not sure that tracks as much?
By the same logic one could argue that we should see more fantasy stuff. And, sure, kinda - but not the same level as the post-LOTR fantasy boom. I know Amazon is trying to do their thing with the Tolkien universe, but it doesn’t seem to be sticking in the same way as it’s sci-fi contemporaries. HBO has their other GOT universe franchise and even that seems to be falling flat on audiences.
Why would Sci-fi be preferable to Fantasy if it’s just about escapism? I certainly wouldn’t know, but it’s definitely a curious thought.
That particular period of time was wrought with geopolitical anxiety probably to a greater degree than today from my American perspective. It seemed like Democracy itself could be extinguished on Earth in the early 40’s, the late 40’s and 50’s were tempered by the threat of nuclear annihilation at any moment, the 60s was a time of social upheaval in which more people than we would like to admit were very strongly against civil rights and did actual bombings and murders throughout the country to oppose them, and the 70s was marked by economic anxiety (stagflation) and the collapse in trust of the US government by the general public along with new popular awareness of serial killers and the beginning of much deeper interpersonal distrust which exploded in the 80s. Certainly there were plenty of rosy things through the period as we also have now, but there was plently of material for sci fi authors to work with. My favorite sci fi novel, The Forever War, was a barely veiled allegory of the author’s own experience being drafted to go to vietnam.
Don’t discount new Trek. Picard (even season 3) and Discovery were trash, but Strange New Worlds is the best series since DS9 ended.
Picard S1 was great. But then it was a character driven sci-fi drama that just happened to play in the Star Trek universe, while later seasons were essentially Star Trek. And I don’t like Star Trek (nor Wars for that matter).
I agree, I really preferred S1 for a lot of the “softer” aspects of character building. We really got an impressive look into a character I grew up admiring and it just made me admire Picard more. S2 and 3, while fine, definitely reverted a bit towards the “Star Trek” formula.
Maybe that season deserves another watch then. I had different expectations going in, 4 years ago when it was aired, so maybe my disappointment stems from the show being not what I wanted or expected at the time. I should take the time during the upcoming winter break and give it another watch.
I was expecting TNG but 25 years after the Dominion War. They delivered that in Season 3 and it was terrible. Thanks for your thoughts.
I don’t! I personally love all the new Trek’s. Even the ones folks love to hate. I’m just well aware of their contentiousness when writing the post.
I still wish they didnt cancel raised by wolves. That show was really going places
Eh. It wanted to go places. I wish it had been more fleshed out than the concept porn that was delivered, to be honest. The concepts were creative and interesting, but the narrative was rather weak, IMHO. It could have been so much better but it seemed to be stymied by heavy-handed, meddling producers.
Also, DARK.
Yes, there seems to be a sci-fi revival, there’s also a horror revival recently (works from Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, Mike Flanagan).
There was a crime fiction revival / trend, but I’m not sure if it’s already been oversaturated and exploited to death. Zombie is definitely (un)dead.
Platforms and studios make their bets depending on trends, and with how shitty the real world is, I could see a large number of people got tired of crime genre right now.
I bounced off Dark. It started to get overcomplicated without really answering questions. It felt like Lost to me.
Everything gets answered eventually. There’s a handy interactive tree on the Official site that helps. You can specify what episode you’ve watched up to and it won’t spoil anything
I never doubted that, but it was just kind of exhausting for me. I really don’t want to have to use an outside tool to decipher things either. I’m not saying the show is bad, just not for me.
I just want a Rendezvous with Rama movie tbh
I loved Tales from the Loop
I will makema note of these other series and check them out.
For those who don’t know it was inspired by this series of digital paintings by Simon Stalenhag. I suggest checking the rest of his work if you like these kinds of things.
Also worth mentioning that there’s gonna be a movie based on another one of his graphic novels in 2024:
Stacked cast, hadn’t heard about it I’m excited for it!
It’s because we live in a dystopia
Pantheon is amazing. It’s blowing my mind with how creative it is.
I think with jwst and all of our knowledge of the cosmos the last few decades has reignited our interest. Just like fashion these trends go in and out of fashion, but as I Sci fi geek I’m super stoked to be alive with all this quality content.
As an aside, which show would you recommend out of those listed? I tried tales from the loop a little while ago but it didn’t hook me, maybe it’s time to try again.
For All Mankind is an absolute gem
The only one from that list that I enjoyed was For All Mankind, and that’s barely science fiction.
