This article in The Guardian discusses the reversal of fortune for sci-fi since the days of classic Star Trek, Doctor Who and Star Wars, to today's prime-time network hits: Lost, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica. Here's what it says about this (r)evolution:
For starters, the advances in CGI and the relative inexpense of creating it for the small screen has meant that sci-fi and fantasy have become more believable and spectacular.... Meanwhile, in a world in peril, we look to the fantastic for succour. The fin de siècle feeling that pervaded culture at the end of the 19th century, when the end was thought to be nigh, produced a burst of enduring science fiction and fantasy literature.... [Heroes' Tim] Kring points out that heroes emerge in popular culture at times of crisis in the real world: Superman, for example, was born from the depths of the Depression. As Doctor Who supremo Russell T Davies notes, albeit while emphasising the optimism of his own show: "We live in a time of terror." [BSG's Ron] Moore says: "The show is a prism through which we explore themes and situations that are relevant now."Of course, for fans, sci-fi and fantasy were never genres that we "grew out" of but rather stuff that the rest of the world has finally learnt to appreciate. About time!
What SF&F shows am I watching? Check them out here.
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