Science fiction on television

Science fiction is one of the most eclectic and varied of all the genres of fiction. Such is its appeal that it has been a popular element of television drama since its very beginnings. Science fiction programmes can go anywhere, do anything, and show and tell stories that could not be done in other, more conventional productions.

US television science fiction

Science fiction has been a popular genre with television viewers in the United States almost since its inception, and the country has produced many of the best-known and most popular sci-fi shows in the world. Most famous of all these – indeed, perhaps the most famous science-fiction program of all – is the iconic Star Trek and its spin-off shows. Further hugely influential programs have included the 1960s anthology series The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, and other productions such as Battlestar Galactica, Quantum Leap, V, Buck Rogers, Babylon 5, Amazing Stories, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Lost in Space, and The Six Million Dollar Man.

Related Topics:
Star Trek - The Twilight Zone - The Outer Limits - Battlestar Galactica - Quantum Leap - V - Buck Rogers - Babylon 5 - Amazing Stories - Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - Lost in Space - The Six Million Dollar Man

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The first really popular science-fiction program on American television was the children's adventure serial Captain Video and His Video Rangers, which ran for six years on the short-lived DuMont Network from June 1949 to April 1955. Broadcast live in regular half-hourly installments, it chronicled the adventures of Captain Video and his sidekick The Ranger, who in the year 2254 defended the Earth from various threats in their space ship, The Galaxy. It proved to be a very popular programming, at its peak drawing audiences of 3.5 million, which was more than respectable for television of that period. It fired the imaginations of many young children who watched it, who had never seen science-fiction outside of the cinemas before, and had never been able to follow the same characters in a science-fiction setting over such a prolonged period of time, week-in week-out.

Related Topics:
DuMont Network - 1949 - 1955

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ABC's own attempt to cash in on the success of Captain Video was a small screen version of Buck Rogers, which had already proved to be a huge success as a film serial in the cinemas. Running from 1950 until just the following year, ABC's Buck Rogers starred Kem Dibbs and later Robert Pastene in the lead role, and like its DuMont counterpart was the victim of a very small budget, which restricted most of the action to one single laboratory set, hardly the most thrilling of situations for the young viewers being targeted. Another former film series and comic book character who was resurrected for the small screen during the 1950s was Flash Gordon, who, as played by Steve Holland, was the star of thirty-nine episodes of a syndicated television series which ran for again just one year, from 1953 to 1954.

Related Topics:
ABC - Buck Rogers - 1950 - Flash Gordon - 1953 - 1954

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One of the stalwarts of science fiction television in its early decades was to be the anthology series, in which a completely new story would be presented with each episode, with new actors, settings and situations, the only link being the producers, genre and the series title. The first really popular series of this kind was Science Fiction Theatre, a syndicated series which ran for seventy-eight episodes between 1955 and 1957. Two years after it had finished its run, a new program in the same vein, but one which was to have far greater and longer-lasting success, began on the CBS Network: The Twilight Zone. in 1963 followed by the equally iconic The Outer Limits.

Related Topics:
Science Fiction Theatre - 1955 - 1957 - CBS - The Twilight Zone - 1963 - The Outer Limits

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The years 1964 and 1965 were to prove an important period in the history of US television science fiction. They saw the conception of two brand new "space opera"-based science fiction shows, both featuring broadly similar galactic exploration themes, each show dealing with them in very different manners. The first of these to reach the screens was the new CBS show Lost in Space, which ran for three seasons from 1965 to 1968 and was from the stable of producer Irwin Allen.

Related Topics:
1964 - 1965 - Space opera - Lost in Space - 1968 - Irwin Allen

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The second show to come out of this period, with an unscreened pilot made in 1964 before the series proper began in 1966, and one that would leave a longer-lasting and more meaningful science-fiction legacy, in some ways changing the face of the genre across all media, was called Star Trek. Conceived by the producer Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek was seen as a show that would depict a future of galactic exploration and struggle, with all creeds and colours of humanity working together to explore the stars in a similar manner to the pioneers of the old West in America (Roddenberry, in fact, described his concept for Star Trek as "Wagon Train to the stars" to studio executives). Produced by Paramount for the NBC Network, Roddenberry's original 1964 pilot for Star Trek, called The Cage and starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, was regarded as being too intellectual and slow-moving by the network: however, they had sufficient faith in the ideas behind the program to commission a second pilot, which replaced the character of Pike and all but one of the rest of his crew with the new crew commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner.

Related Topics:
1966 - Star Trek - Gene Roddenberry - Paramount - NBC - The Cage - Jeffrey Hunter - Christopher Pike - James T. Kirk - William Shatner

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Star Trek was cancelled in the late 1960s crisis that affected the entire American television science fiction market. It was not until the late 1970s, inspired by the post-Star Wars boom of 1977 and beyond, that the science fiction series began to return to prominence. One of those particularly keen on exploiting the Networks' new interest in the genre was producer Glen A. Larson, who created two new science fiction series in quick succession: another television version of Buck Rogers, this time entitled Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979–81) and his own original creation Battlestar Galactica (1978–80).

Related Topics:
1977 - Glen A. Larson - Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - 1979 - 81 - Battlestar Galactica - 1978 - 80

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The most significant US science fiction television series of the early 1980s was the 1983 miniseries V, which aired on the NBC network. An allegorical tale paralleling the rise of the Nazis in Germany of the 1930s with the arrival on Earth of an apparently friendly alien race with hidden motives, the miniseries proved to be highly popular and iconic, spawning both a sequel (V: The Final Battle) the following year, then a full-blown television series for the 1984–85 season, although neither of these were as successful as the original, being more action-orientated and somewhat less cerebral.

Related Topics:
1983 - V - Nazis - Germany - 1984 - 85

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1987 saw the arrival of what is perhaps the most successful (in terms of sales and worldwide viewing figures) science fiction series of all time, Gene Roddenberry's relaunching of his Star Trek franchise, '. Taking place on a new starship Enterprise 76 years after the events of the original series, unlike its predecessor it was not supported by a network, but instead sold directly into syndication. The program was a huge success, running for seven seasons and like the original series spawning several feature film spin-offs.

Related Topics:
1987 - Gene Roddenberry - Enterprise

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It also led to further Star Trek series which took place within the same time frame, firstly ' (1993–99) and later ' (1994–2001). The latest series currently in the franchise is UPN's ', a prequel to the original series which premiered in 2001 and concluded its fourth and final season in May 2005. All of these series have helped affirm the iconic status of the Star Trek franchise, but as well as this they helped lead to a science fiction boom of the 1990s, as many networks and production companies sought to make their own shows in a genre which had shown itself to be incredibly popular and profitable again.

Related Topics:
1993 - 99 - 1994 - 2001 - UPN - May - 2005

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Although there were many run-of-the-mill series that did not get past a single season, this boom decade for science-fiction produced many imaginative shows that have in a very short period of time been able to establish themselves in the popular consciousness of television viewers not just in the US, but worldwide as well.

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One was seaQuest DSV, which had the advantage of having a star name attached in the form of Roy Scheider, who played Captain Nathan Bridger from 1993 to 1995. He was replaced for the 1995–96 season by Michael Ironside as Captain Oliver Hudson. The show was cancelled after that season. ' also lasted just one season, from 1995 to 1996, with its basic premise of space Marines defending Earth against hostile aliens.

Related Topics:
SeaQuest DSV - Roy Scheider

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One of the more successful and most artistically ambitious series of this period was Babylon 5. Produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski with creative input by Harlan Ellison, this show attempted to create a series long epic tale that avoided many of the clichés of the television genre. While generally not considered entirely successful, the series was highly acclaimed for its writing and its innovative visuals as the first television series to extensively use computer generated imagery to create spectacular visual effects for an economical price. In addition, its five season run (1993–98), the intended length of the series, was longer than any American non Star Trek space series up to that time.

Related Topics:
Babylon 5 - J. Michael Straczynski - Computer generated imagery - Visual effect - 1993 - 98

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The '90s also brought Earth-bound, non-space opera shows. There were time-travel and dimension-hopping series in the vein of Quantum Leap (1989–93) and Sliders (1995–2000), and mysterious conspiracy thrillers such as The X-Files (1993–2002), which have achieved cult status and have embedded themselves within popular culture.

Related Topics:
Quantum Leap - 1989 - 93 - Sliders - 1995 - 2000 - The X-Files - 2002 - Cult status - Popular culture

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Two other subgenres were comic science fiction, and youth science fiction (children and teenagers). Examples of the former are My Favorite Martian, CBS, 1963–66; Mork & Mindy, ABC 1978–1982; ALF, NBC, 1986–90; and 3rd Rock from the Sun, NBC, 1996–2001.

Related Topics:
Comic science fiction - My Favorite Martian - Mork & Mindy - ALF - 3rd Rock from the Sun

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And then there's Futurama (1999–2003). It can be described as an adult, situation-comedy cartoon. It was created by Matt Groening, who also created The Simpsons. Futurama tries to be funny while stretching the bounds of good taste and delivering packages for the Planet Express Corporation. In this show, comparable to such shows as British Red Dwarf or Japaneese Martian Successor Nadesico, science fiction became not only a vehicle for laughs, but evolved enough to pay witty homage to its earlier incarnations.

Related Topics:
Futurama - Matt Groening - The Simpsons - Martian Successor Nadesico

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At the turn of the century, however, a change began in the type of telefantasy program that was popular with the viewing masses. Most of the genre programming to be found on the Networks was horror or fantasy based rather than science fiction as such; there was perhaps a sense that audiences were tired of science fiction, and sought other types of programs. Thus the rise to popularity of such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, its spin off Angel and the stylistically similar Charmed. All of these were set in the real world of the present day, but involved fantastical and horrific threats to the central characters, and possessed a wit and self-awareness that had perhaps been lacking in some of their science-fiction predecessors.

Related Topics:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Angel - Charmed

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While the genre remains popular in its own niche, the proliferation of science fiction television has greatly diminished. Aside from the WB's sci-fi/fantasy series Charmed, only three American science fiction shows remain in production – Stargate SG-1, its spin-off Stargate Atlantis, and the remade Battlestar Galactica, based on the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries of the same name – and all of these air on the Sci-Fi Channel. Science fiction's last attempt at network success was the short-lived show Firefly (2002), created by Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fame), which ran on the Fox network and, while a failure there, proved incredibly successful on DVD, prompting the creation of a movie to be released by Universal Studios in September 2005. Its failure on network television, however, may not bode well for the future of science fiction in that venue.

Related Topics:
Charmed - Stargate SG-1 - Stargate Atlantis - Battlestar Galactica - Sci-Fi Channel - Firefly - 2002 - Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Angel - Fox network - DVD - Universal Studios - September - Network television

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