This month will be bitter sweet for Sci-Fi fans

[Scorpiuscat]

This month will mark the end of the Star Wars saga on the big screen and for the first time in 28 years, the end of Star Trek.

To me Star Trek was the meat & potato’s of Science Fiction and Star Wars was the fine wine that you only brought out when special guests were invited to your house.

Both franchises are major titans in the industry, producing billions and billions of dollars.

Star Trek, after 500+ episodes and 10 motion pictures is going out with a whimper because of poor writing in my opinion. Star Wars it seems by all accounts so far is going to go out with a block busting bang that will leave its mark once again in the Hollywood history books.

It seems somewhat ironic that both franchises are coming to an end at the same time.

For me Star Wars was a 28 year journey that started when I was 8 years old in 1977, nothing has ever sparked my imagination more than when I sat down in the lone theatre that was showing Star Wars.....this month that 8 year old little boy will see the fruition of a life changing event through 37 year old eyes as the Star Wars saga comes to an end.

In Star Trek were so many cool moments over the years that it's hard to remember them all. Every fall I looked forward to a new season of Sci-Fi and Star Trek delivered, even thought that last couple of series were pretty weak, there was not much else for the Sci-Fi fan to turn to. Star Trek was a staple in the diet of the Sci-Fi fans in my opinion.

But from the ashes of this month, both franchises will one day rise again. Star Wars is set to start a 4-5 year run on TV (by all accounts) starting the fall of 2006 and there are plans for the future of Star Trek on both the big screen and TV, but first the franchise will be shelved for a few years because it’s suffering from fatigue and needs to rest.

Its funny how Sci-Fi has some biggest block buster movies of all time and yet it is given little chance to succeed on TV.

Network execs don’t seem to have a clue on how to make Sci-Fi work on TV, they short change Sci-Fi with poor writing, low budgets and a quick hand to pull the plug. Of course NBC gets the all time bone head award for pulling the plug on Star Trek after only 3 years on TV and yet that show only went on to found a multi-billion dollar empire.

The landscape for Sci-Fi on TV is luke warm at best. Of course Stargate and Battlestar Galactica are doing ok, but neither is what I would call "main stream" as they are both cable shows and there is little to no Sci-Fi on the major networks.

Ask the average person on the street and they won’t have a clue what Stargate is and they may think that BGS was a short run 70's TV show, if they even know that.

But these same people DO KNOW what Star Trek and Star Wars was.

Next fall will be depressing as there will be no new Star Trek and no antcipation for a new Star Wars film to look forward too.

So what a bitter sweet month this will be for me.  

[Commander Taggart]

I hear ya, Scorp.  But look how long we had to wait for a new Star Wars.  And, Hollywood sits on top of a tectonic plate of its own... ever shifting.  If Star Wars does well on TV... well, anything could happen.

As for SciFi on TV... well, I think the suits have yet to learn of SciFi's adult potential.  They still think of it as kiddie programming, and thus cannot wrap their heads around the idea of producing intelligent, quality SciFi for adults.

But WE, you and I, are the Star Wars generation.  We're the ones that got hooked on SciFi by way of Star Wars, BSG, Star Trek: TNG.  We're out there and there are a lot of us.

Trust me, Star Wars and Star Trek are just resting.  My only fear is that when they come back, they will be as unrecognizable as that show bearing the BSG name.

But, we have a couple of years of Firefly movies to look forward to, and all of our favorite shows are on DVD (I'm working my way through The Greatest American Hero right now... there's plenty to watch (and re-watch, and relive) during this hiatus.

SciFi had hit a lull in the (slightly less than) a decade between the cancellation of Star Trek and the premiere of Star Wars.  With the plentifulness of Trek, both good and bad, and all the other SciFi over, really, the last two decades, it's harder for any property to make a Star Wars type splash and reengergize the genre.  Maybe a little lull is a good thing... it's all cyclical.  If it winds down now... maybe there will be a spurt in another couple of years.

[zankoku]

There is one bright star. There are fans who are excellent writers who do write stories on Star Trek that in most way are better than what was on TV.

These Fans woll keep alive not only Star Trek (TNG,Voyager, DS9 and Enterprise) as well as Classic BSG

They may not be on TV, but through these writers you can see the shows.

Jim

Writer of Enterprise and BSG (besides Queen of Swords and Highlander)

[julix]

Scorp..........

Great post and I hadn't realized both were ending the same time.  I need time to think of my response............

[mikedx]

Scorp,

This is an excellent post.  I got started on SciFi with Star Trek reruns.  The very first movie I EVER saw in the theaters was Star Wars at 6 years old.  I can remember to this day how on the edge of the seat I was when R2D2 and C3PO were walking through the crossfire at the beginning of the movie.

Battlestar Galactica had the biggest impression on me.  Only one season, and I really felt with the story.  People lost and looking for "home".

Buck Rogers was ok.  It was more of a space opera.  But that what it was supposed to be.  Came from the serials.

Then came Star Trek TNG.  Was reluctant at first, but then I really warmed up to it and those that followed.

I agree with the fact that bad writing at the end did in the Star Trek franchise.  Plus too much.  You are right, we need time to cleanse the palate before a new Star Trek project.

I had hoped that with the movies Spider Man and X-Men, it would revive SciFi.  But it just brought back comics to the big screen.

CT is right.  Star Wars TV could be the answer.  TV is so copycat.  All this reality tv coming from Survivor.  If Star Wars is that big of a hit, who knows, maybe we can hope for a trend.

Mike