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#4268950 - 06/10/16 07:00 PM Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows  
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Ok, so I decided to do a little experiment by looking up the number of people who have rated/voted on a specific scifi/fantasy tv show on IMDB. Perhaps this is a somewhat accurate reflection on how popular a show is?

Anyway, here is what I've found so far,

X-Files 145,218
Babylon 5 22,189
Battlestar Galactica (reboot) 118,871
Star Trek: TOS 48,754
Firefly 184,611
Star Trek: TNG 62,933
Fringe 175,689

and last but certainly not least,

Game of Thrones 979,381!!


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
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#4268988 - 06/10/16 08:55 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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When the added totals for ST:TOS and ST:TNG are far below Firefly or Fringe, you correlation breaks down quickly.

#4269002 - 06/10/16 09:29 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Only 16,369 for The Expanse
Finally got the bluray of the series shipped from the US and started watching it tonight, really good series and the effects look quite good, a few differences in the plot between the books and the series

Great to see that it has been renewed for a second season


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron
#4269983 - 06/14/16 01:29 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Current TV shows get the lion's share of votes when people visit those pages while watching it. Long expired series get far fewer visits.



The Jedi Master


The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
#4269984 - 06/14/16 01:33 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: Jedi Master]  
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Originally Posted By: Jedi Master
Current TV shows get the lion's share of votes when people visit those pages while watching it. Long expired series get far fewer visits.



The Jedi Master
Yeah. The data is indeed skewed that way but it was still interesting to see the huge difference in votes even within currently running shows.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4271536 - 06/19/16 02:43 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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The sad thing is Sci-Fi is underappreciated and underrepresented. Fantasy is wildly more popular and frankly I'm tired of fireballs, wizards and orcs. I love Game of Thrones... but my passion is Sci-Fi. I suppose that's why I write it. But the truth is, seldom is a Sci-Fi series created with as much potential depth while avoiding all the dangerous tropes and cliches that sucks folks in on the screen and I'm constantly trying to put my finger on why, to create that magical formula that helps it blossom into the fantastical scene it should be--one that trumps fantasy.

I'd love to see far more Sci-Fi shows/movies and especially PC games (RPGs in particular).

#4271759 - 06/20/16 01:42 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Frankly that's because the general population doesn't want it.

Also, there are two types of SF:
There's transplanted SF, where the story could quite easily be told on current day Earth, or even in a period of the past, but they just do it in the future/alien world/whatever instead, perhaps to slip past some people's notice or perhaps to draw a wider audience (it's Seven Samurai...but in space). I'd say most SF is this.

Then there's "true" SF that tells a story you couldn't really tell with the S part of SF. The morality of creating robots, a manufactured slave race. The impact of FTL travel on people who leave home and come back to find their family and friends have aged decades while they were gone a month. How someone behaves after suddenly receiving extraordinary powers due to whatever...do they surrender to their baser nature, or do they overcome it, or do they run from it? This is usually the better SF when it's done right, but it seems to be harder to do right so it's not even attempted as often.




The Jedi Master


The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
#4272187 - 06/21/16 11:47 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: Jedi Master]  
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Originally Posted By: Jedi Master
Frankly that's because the general population doesn't want it.


I think they want it just as much as fantasy. You must remember that before The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, fantasy was laughed at. Popular fiction was noir, or hard boiled, and sometimes slices of horror, sprinkled with bits of tawdry gossip and small town happenings. And then you had your more mainstream literary works beyond that. But fantasy and sci-fi were a joke for the longest time. Tolkein changed that and through his words he laid the groundwork for the entire genre that exists today.

We've had brilliant sci-fi authors but none of the works have ignited that spark--and I know the kindling is there. Finding that secret though, that's my challenge.

#4272192 - 06/22/16 12:06 AM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Concerning scifi authors and books, I have the impression that we passed the peak quite a long time ago. Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Bradbury, Herbert.

Which scifi authors of today have reached anywhere near the acclaim of any of those that I listed?


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4272224 - 06/22/16 07:16 AM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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There are so many authors putting out scifi e-books but none that stand out like Asimov or Clarke.

The ones I'm currently keeping an eye on are James S.A. Corey, Jack Campbell, and Joshua Dalzelle


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron
#4272225 - 06/22/16 07:38 AM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
Concerning scifi authors and books, I have the impression that we passed the peak quite a long time ago. Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Bradbury, Herbert.

Which scifi authors of today have reached anywhere near the acclaim of any of those that I listed?


Largely also because there was a much smaller pool of SciFi writers back then. And because of the writers of the 40s through 70s youmentioned kept writing, stayed in the eye of the public.
But there are some really good SciFi writers today - Kim Stanley Robinson, Peter F. Hamilton, John Scalzi to name but a few - but much more 'fluff' around them. Or good writers that (so far) didn't do too much - like Andy Weir.


There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
#4272262 - 06/22/16 12:33 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: Mr_Blastman]  
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Originally Posted By: Mr_Blastman
Originally Posted By: Jedi Master
Frankly that's because the general population doesn't want it.


I think they want it just as much as fantasy. You must remember that before The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, fantasy was laughed at. Popular fiction was noir, or hard boiled, and sometimes slices of horror, sprinkled with bits of tawdry gossip and small town happenings. And then you had your more mainstream literary works beyond that. But fantasy and sci-fi were a joke for the longest time. Tolkein changed that and through his words he laid the groundwork for the entire genre that exists today.

We've had brilliant sci-fi authors but none of the works have ignited that spark--and I know the kindling is there. Finding that secret though, that's my challenge.


You're mixing literature with tv/film/games. I agree the desire for SF writing is there, but ratings and box office for SF video indicates people are NOT lining up for it.

In this site, in this very forum, there are tons of dismissive "I'm not going to bother because X" posts littered for every upcoming SF TV series or film. They're always different, the only common thread between them is offhand rejection. This one wants harder SF, that one wants it closer to the source material, the other wants it darker (because apparently SF that's not dark is automatically cheesy), and so on.
You should probably qualify your statement as "people want the specific type of SF they like, not something that misses the mark by even an inch, as much as fantasy." The poor showing of Warcraft in the US combined with its phenomenal returns overseas proves that even fantasy is very much variable.



The Jedi Master


The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
#4272274 - 06/22/16 01:10 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Yeah, I had no clue that Warcraft was that insanely popular in China. This film has the greatest disparity in box office performance between domestic and foreign of any film made so far.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4272337 - 06/22/16 06:45 PM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Short of enough diehard nerds turning out for it (and leaving their PCs for 10 minutes biggrin )who the heck wants to see a Warcraft movie when there's so many other interesting fantasy films around? Even the trailers looked poor compared to other recent ones, and that's bad.


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#4272457 - 06/23/16 01:54 AM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Plus, not too much advertising for WoW - far less than for Zootopia, for example.


There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
#4272497 - 06/23/16 08:02 AM Re: Ongoing popularity of scifi/fantasy shows [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Now that is one that passed me by, I never heard that they made a film of WoW, not seen any advertising of it at all.


Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil
Sons of the hound come here and get flesh
Clan Cameron

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