Well, another season of TV has finished up, and once again the few shows that I watch are pretty much all cancelled. Such is the rhythm of life for the fan of Science Fiction on television. I thought I would muse a bit on the shows that I liked and what went wrong.
Stargate Universe. This one hurt the most to lose mainly because they really started hitting on some interesting themes. Stargate has always explored the meaning of life and what happens when people start playing God. But what if they found evidence of God? Or is it just a really intelligent alien species that existed before any others – even the ancients? Guess we’ll never know now. This one was probably a bit too dark for the average Stargate fan. But Stargate fans were dwindling, and so the studio decided to copy a Battlestar Galactica vibe. Which I like the combo of, but I think it was just too hard to mix both sides and make many happy.
The Event. I tried not to watch this one, but kept getting sucked in. The problem with this series was its horrible promotion. The first ads made it seem like there was this secret thing referred to as ‘The Event’, and it was about to be revealed to people who didn’t need to hear it. Then, as the show went on – no mention of The Event. Like, ever. It was finally brought up in the very last episode of the season. Really odd. Also, when they were on their mid-season break, they come out with a new set of ads hinting that these aliens were really here before us and guided ancient civilizations and all that. Then, again, nothing about that until near the end. Most people probably bailed once there was no mention of The Event in any actual episode of a show called The Event – probably just afraid of another confusing mystery like Lost. And who can blame them? I loved Lost, even the ending – but who wants to go through that again?
The Cape. This show started well but got uninteresting fast. Just so many things were so unrealistic in a show that tried to be realistic. Especially the disappearing acts – just not possible. Yeah, I know – it was a circus trick! That still didn’t cut it. There were some interesting characters in it – I just wanted it to either be a bit supernatural or a bit more realistic.
No Ordinary Family. I know it was a bit cheesy at times. But both my wife and I got into this, so it was something to watch together. The final was a bit odd to both of us – it seemed like they cut a 2 hour episode down to one hour. The story was just too choppy – it didn’t evolve naturally at all. This show was probably “too SciFi” for average television watchers, while being too normal for SciFi fans.
V. This one was doomed to fail from the beginning. Just way too SciFi-ish for network prime time TV. Throw in a large bit of nostalgia for the original series, and you have something people probably weren’t going to stay with. They made some radical changes in the last episode that I wish had happened earlier in the series (no one believed that the US or many other governments were that gullible to alien visitors). Or I wish that they had another season to explore. But oh, well. Killer cameo at the very last few minutes of the series.
So what do I still watch that is still going? Chuck, Sanctuary, and Fringe. Weird combo. I also like Glee. Not very cool, I know – but I was a geek in high school and I like a show that pulls for the nerds and geeks of the world. Which, of course, is why I also watch The Big Bang Theory.
Every summer I tell myself that I won’t check out any more new series… because they will all get cancelled. I always ask myself “Why bother with television?” And then I go out and get hooked on a whole bunch of them. When will I ever learn?