Are the Networks Scared of Genre Shows?
Are the big four networks becoming skittish when it comes to genre shows?
That could be the case as ratings tanks for some series (”Dollhouse,” “Heroes”) and other shows are shrouded in other categories to avoid the dreaded label (”Lost,” “Flash Forward.”)
With the news that NBC has cut its order for “Day One” before an episode airs and that ABC is splitting the season of “V,” the question has begun to be asked by media observers and fans alike.
Entertainment Weekly reports that some people associated with “V” are saying that ABC has issued a mandate that the Visitors in the upcoming series not be referred to as aliens in order to avoid the “sci fi” label. This despite the fact that they arrive in space ships.
ABC has denied the rumor, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Not everyone is convinced the Big Four nets should run scared from the sci-fi biz. “There’s not going to be a (sci-fi) show that pulls in 20 million viewers,” cautions Shari Anne Brill, a senior VP in charge of programming and audience analysis at media-buying firm Carat. “But I absolutely think there is a place for them. If there’s good mythology and good storytelling, it can be done.”
The networks are not scared of genre shows, they just don’t know how to treat them. It’s like trying to keep a three-year-old from marking up a dictionary with crayons.
I agree with Bill T. in that networks have never known what to do with the sci-fi genre which leads me to the following conclusion…network execs live with their heads totally afixed to the upper end of their rectums because it’s not like the genre hasn’t been around since Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs first put it to paper. My god, sci-fi has been around on television since it was first conceived over 60 years ago and they still haven’t figured out how to handle its programming.
Idiots!
“There’s not going to be a (sci-fi) show that pulls in 20 million viewers,”
Cautions Shari Anne Brill, a senior VP in charge of programming and audience analysis at media-buying firm Carat.
What genre show does she think “Lost” is ???????????
Traditionally networks have a difficult time grasping sf concepts,then when decise to “lend a hand” to the creators with managing these shows it inevitably ruins it. Also the costs of doing sf series scares off the networks too.
I think networks are absolutely afraid of genre programming. Science fiction is a (relatively small) niche and always has been. As unfortunate as that fact is to those of us who love it, we have to realize that we are the minority. A good portion of the the population will actively avoid sci-fi programming just because it is genre. From the networks’ point of view, there’s no money to be made by limiting your audience from the get-go. Also, genre fans are fickle and hard-to-please. What pleases one group often alienates another. It’s no wonder that the networks are cautious before commiting their money and programming time to a show that will deliver lower ratings than yet another titillating reality show. I wish that they would take more chances and allow shows time to grow but in the end they’re in it for the money.
The problem with SF programming is that a lot of it is special effects intensive, which means it’s expensive. And while it has a passionate fan base, it’s relatively small compared to the overall TV market. This is why science fiction shows tend to get canceled quickly: If the show can’t grab a huge audience right out of the gate, there’s some bean counter ready to pounce on that time slot so that they can rerun Dancing with the Stars or some other reality piece of crap show that is nonetheless cheap to produce.
At the same time, there’s this ghetto mentality that SF is all about spaceships and explosions, so some TV viewers shy away from it because they really just didn’t get Trouble with Tribbles when they were ten and now they don’t like any SF. So shows like Lost and Fastfoward have to sneak up on viewers and try to pretend that they’re not really SF.
Given all that’s stacked against it, I’m actually amazed we get as much SF TV as we do.
Well, considering that the freaking SciFi Channel has been scared of actual sci-fi programming for years now to the extent that they changed the spelling of their name… Ahem. Sorry. [/bitter]
I think broadcast networks have been cautious about genre programming since the original Star Trek. For whatever reason, a larger portion of the population is more interested in doctors, lawyers, and cops than they are in spaceships, monsters, and complex metaphors. Personally, I’m enjoying the current trend that blends the two. a la Fringe (cops chasing monsters), The Listener (telepathic paramedic)… I’m trying to come up with a lawyer-show example, but the only one that springs to mind is the short lived Century City, which I loved, but that was five years ago.
In a way, I think that’s okay. Things like Buffy and Supernatural and Stargate and BSG and even more “mainstream” fare like Burn Notice are the cornerstones of smaller networks. Not everyone gets them, but there is enough of a demand for them to exist. Hell, I don’t see the appeal of Survivor, but a lot of other people seem to. Do I begrudge them being able to watch it? No. (I’m not really okay with its existence in the first place, but if they want to watch it that’s their choice.) But I don’t think they should determine what’s available for the rest of us either.
A few of you have mentioned the price of special effects. For the most part, those costs are absorbed in the first episode. After the research is done and the methods are in place, there isn’t nearly the cost. It isn’t much different than reworking car chases and blown buildings as they do in other shows.
I see a lot of SciFi in movies and that may be why there isn’t a lot in TV shows. Horror is treated similarly.
Also, a lot of SciFi burns out after a season, like Dark Angel. I wish season 2 lived up to season 1. What is maddening is that they remove good shows at the wrong time. I miss FireFly.
I don’t think anyone should be pitching sci-fi shows to the major networks. Most of the forumula’s that have been sucessful aimed lower with smaller budgets and gained traction. I would think cgi is getting cheaper and maybe the future is more of people producing their own stuff online and getting a following.
Well, Garrett, think about this:
How many car chases and blown buildings have you seen on network TV in recent years?