Is this a golden age for Sci-Fi and Fantasy TV?

The next 2 years is going to be huge for anyone who's a fan of sci-fi or fantasy TV.
With 3 Star Trek series (possibly even a fourth), Halo, The Witcher, Lord of the Rings, Last of Us, Dune: The Sisterhood and The Stand on among others it's really looking amazing.

I can't think of a time when the sci-fi and fantasy had this much money and talent thrown at it and I really hope it continues.
I'm obviously looking forward to Star Trek but other than that Dune: The Sisterhood is the show I'm most excited about.

So, have we never had it so good and have I missed any big series on the way?

Peter Crisp wrote:The next 2 years is going to be huge for anyone who's a fan of sci-fi or fantasy TV.
With 3 Star Trek series (possibly even a fourth), Halo, The Witcher, Lord of the Rings, Last of Us, Dune: The Sisterhood and The Stand on among others it's really looking amazing.

I can't think of a time when the sci-fi and fantasy had this much money and talent thrown at it and I really hope it continues.
I'm obviously looking forward to Star Trek but other than that Dune: The Sisterhood is the show I'm most excited about.

So, have we never had it so good and have I missed any big series on the way?

I count 7 Star Trek series currently in production or development:

Discovery
Picard
Short Treks
Strange New Worlds
Section 31
Lower Decks
Unnamed Nickelodeon Series

Now, I'm sure Hexx will vehemently disagree, but I'd say that's pretty damn good.

We've been in a golden age of TV in general for a while now so it makes sense that it would extend to Sci-Fi and Fantasy as well

Only so long as they knock this "every Sci-Fi show needs to be grim and dark" gooseberry fool on the head.

Feel like we've already been in a golden age with shows like Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Westworld, Stranger Things, Dark at their peak a few years ago.

It's interesting how streaming services have influenced how TV shows tell stories.

I think you can look at shows today and kind of map them to what they might have been like in eras of TV past. The most direct comparison you can make is between New Trek and Old Trek, but I think if you look at shows like Stranger Things and Agents of Shield and The Expanse, you can kind of imagine them in your head as being less arc-based, more neatly episodic, more meandering, maybe more frequent light/irreverent moments - like The X-Files or Buffy or Stargate: SG-1.

I don't think today's TV is necessarily better (nor do I think it's worse!). The Expanse is a cracking show, one of my favourites, that I don't think could have been adapted nearly as well in the old paradigm of TV. But conversely, The Next Generation is better than present-day Trek precisely because the new format (and tropes and audience expectations) doesn't fit the core concept as well, at least imo.

*checks notes*

No Stargate show on tv so Im out.

Rax wrote:*checks notes*

No Stargate show on tv so Im out.

It didn't go so well the last time they tried to bring Stargate back :cry:

Lagamorph wrote:
Rax wrote:*checks notes*

No Stargate show on tv so Im out.

It didn't go so well the last time they tried to bring Stargate back

I know but that shouldnt stoip them from trying dammit!

I definitely think the 90s and early 2000s were a golden age, better than now. Sure, production values are lower but it was more interesting, less about feelings and all that stuff and just more fun.

X-Files, Babylon 5, Farscape, Sliders, John Doe, Firefly, Lexx, Xena, TNG, DS9, Seaquest DSV, Stargate, Space: Above and Beyond, Roswell, Crusade...

Karl_ wrote:I don't think today's TV is necessarily better (nor do I think it's worse!). The Expanse is a cracking show, one of my favourites, that I don't think could have been adapted nearly as well in the old paradigm of TV. But conversely, The Next Generation is better than present-day Trek precisely because the new format (and tropes and audience expectations) doesn't fit the core concept as well, at least imo.

I think about this a bit. I like to compare Stranger Things and Fringe. Similar themes, but very different execution - a major reason being when they were made, and the length of the seasons.

Overall I much prefer the lack of filler, and the concise story of the 10 episode seasons, but I do at times feel I'm missing out on some longer form character development - but that also had it's issues since things could be more inconsistent just due to the general logistics of that much screen time needing to be created.

Jenuall wrote:We've been in a golden age of TV in general for a while now

Have we?

Have to say there's very little out there at the moment that rivals the sort of stuff that was being put out a decade or so ago.

The 90s had Voyager, Deeps Space Nine, Hercules and Xena, so no.

We actually peaked in 2006-2007 with Life on Mars

Drumstick wrote:
Jenuall wrote:We've been in a golden age of TV in general for a while now

Have we?

Have to say there's very little out there at the moment that rivals the sort of stuff that was being put out a decade or so ago.

I'd say that from the mid noughties until now has been an incredible time for television

OrangeRKN wrote:We actually peaked in 2006-2007 with Life on Mars

Great show but totally fake news as not once did they set foot on Mars.

Rax wrote:*checks notes*

No Stargate show on tv so Im out.

A restoration of Universe is what's needed.

Peter Crisp wrote:
OrangeRKN wrote:We actually peaked in 2006-2007 with Life on Mars

Great show but totally fake news as not once did they set foot on Mars.

Someone didn't watch the American remake.

Cuttooth wrote:
Peter Crisp wrote:
OrangeRKN wrote:We actually peaked in 2006-2007 with Life on Mars

Great show but totally fake news as not once did they set foot on Mars.

Someone didn't watch the American remake.

Was it as bad as the US version of Red Dwarf?

"Why is it called Life on Mars?"

British original: Well the David Bowie song Life on Mars plays over the titles as a classic hit from 1973, the year the main character has travelled back in time to, while the lyrics of the song relate to the flaws in the police system at the time which are reflected in the plots of the episodes themselves...

US remake: Everything is actually a computer simulation on a manned spaceship on the way to Mars!!!

Is this a golden age for Sci-Fi and Fantasy TV?

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