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This has been inspired by talk over on the Torchwood communities, but really applies to any new SF show and please forgive me if this descends into a rant, as I'm having that sort of day.
Stipulated: production values are higher than even five years ago, let alone ten or twenty. This is a good thing.
Stipulated: Sci-fi fans have become much more demanding when it comes to their entertainment. Shows like Babylon 5 and (on it's good days) ST: DS9 have acclimatized us to drama, tight storytelling and ongoing continuity lasting multiple episodes, or even longer.
So, yes, our standards for passable entertainment have improved and not without some justification. The genre has proven that it can turn out some amazing stuff - just take a look at the new Battlestar Galactica.
However, I think we - as in SF fandom - are starting to show signs of being a little spoiled. I'm reading TW fans stating that they're giving up on the show - or are close to it - after the fourth episode as it was a bit disappointing1.
Four. Episodes.
Granted, the old motto of "Every SF show stinks in the first season" need no longer apply and, in many ways, it shouldn't. The producers shouldn't be wasting our time or their money, taking 13 - 20 episodes to find their feet. But, for whatever reason, SF TV generally takes a while to figure out what it's about and how to present it. It's probably to do with the difficulties of trying to create sci-fi that appeals to a broad enough audience to get in the serious advertising revenue and thus ensure that the show will last for more than a season.
Condemning a show on the basis of their first clanger that comes up is, in my opinion, narrow-minded and foolish. If I'd followed that policy, I'd have given up on Chris Ecclestone's Doctor after The Restless Dead (sorry, fans, it just didn't work for me at all) and David Tennant after New Earth. (Please spare me comments along the lines of "You should have!" save it for your journal, 'kay? This entry ain't a treatise about the quality of the new Doctor Who.)
I've heard similar mutterings about other new shows but, go figure, SF is the only genre I'm paying much attention to at the moment, so I can't address said mutterings.
To expect a show to be completely satisfying, 100% of the time during their first season? It's unreasonable. I'll settle for an average of 70% satisifaction and, in the case of TW, I think that's what they're batting right now. Two pretty-good episodes, one surprisingly good one and one oh dear, that could have been a lot better.
My speculation is that fans who grumble about packing a new show in at the first bump in the road are either
a) Older fans - say my age and up - who have an entrenched belief that this new-school stuff will never, ever compare to the old school. They often "Prove" their point by comparing the best of the old with the worst of the new, but that is fodder for another rant2.
b) Younger fans - by which I mean maybe 22, tops - who have little to no knowledge of the SF that came before. Yep, these young uns don't know how good they've got it. In my day, we spray-painted hairdryers for rayguns, built our spaceships from detergent bottles and looted our costumes off the set next door and we liked it. Well, actually, we didn't always like it, but at least we were able to look past it.
So, yeah, to be blunt, I think that maybe some fans are being a wee bit bratty and need to, y'know, be a little more patient.
Discuss - but keep it polite.
1 - Your mileage may vary, of course. My journal, my opinion. Neener.
2 - I've got one word for you lot: NIIIIIIIIIMOOOOOON!
Stipulated: production values are higher than even five years ago, let alone ten or twenty. This is a good thing.
Stipulated: Sci-fi fans have become much more demanding when it comes to their entertainment. Shows like Babylon 5 and (on it's good days) ST: DS9 have acclimatized us to drama, tight storytelling and ongoing continuity lasting multiple episodes, or even longer.
So, yes, our standards for passable entertainment have improved and not without some justification. The genre has proven that it can turn out some amazing stuff - just take a look at the new Battlestar Galactica.
However, I think we - as in SF fandom - are starting to show signs of being a little spoiled. I'm reading TW fans stating that they're giving up on the show - or are close to it - after the fourth episode as it was a bit disappointing1.
Four. Episodes.
Granted, the old motto of "Every SF show stinks in the first season" need no longer apply and, in many ways, it shouldn't. The producers shouldn't be wasting our time or their money, taking 13 - 20 episodes to find their feet. But, for whatever reason, SF TV generally takes a while to figure out what it's about and how to present it. It's probably to do with the difficulties of trying to create sci-fi that appeals to a broad enough audience to get in the serious advertising revenue and thus ensure that the show will last for more than a season.
Condemning a show on the basis of their first clanger that comes up is, in my opinion, narrow-minded and foolish. If I'd followed that policy, I'd have given up on Chris Ecclestone's Doctor after The Restless Dead (sorry, fans, it just didn't work for me at all) and David Tennant after New Earth. (Please spare me comments along the lines of "You should have!" save it for your journal, 'kay? This entry ain't a treatise about the quality of the new Doctor Who.)
I've heard similar mutterings about other new shows but, go figure, SF is the only genre I'm paying much attention to at the moment, so I can't address said mutterings.
To expect a show to be completely satisfying, 100% of the time during their first season? It's unreasonable. I'll settle for an average of 70% satisifaction and, in the case of TW, I think that's what they're batting right now. Two pretty-good episodes, one surprisingly good one and one oh dear, that could have been a lot better.
My speculation is that fans who grumble about packing a new show in at the first bump in the road are either
a) Older fans - say my age and up - who have an entrenched belief that this new-school stuff will never, ever compare to the old school. They often "Prove" their point by comparing the best of the old with the worst of the new, but that is fodder for another rant2.
b) Younger fans - by which I mean maybe 22, tops - who have little to no knowledge of the SF that came before. Yep, these young uns don't know how good they've got it. In my day, we spray-painted hairdryers for rayguns, built our spaceships from detergent bottles and looted our costumes off the set next door and we liked it. Well, actually, we didn't always like it, but at least we were able to look past it.
So, yeah, to be blunt, I think that maybe some fans are being a wee bit bratty and need to, y'know, be a little more patient.
Discuss - but keep it polite.
1 - Your mileage may vary, of course. My journal, my opinion. Neener.
2 - I've got one word for you lot: NIIIIIIIIIMOOOOOON!
