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!
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 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 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:
I just want a Rendezvous with Rama movie tbh
