Why is it so hard for space adventure that is not Star Wars to become mainstream on TV?

[KnightInShiningArmorDis92]

I've enjoyed The Mandalorian greatly but I prefer sci fi space adventure like "The Expanse" or "Mass Effect". I love the Iain M. Banks "Culture" novels.

Space adventure like that seems to have a hard time on TV.

Why?

Has science as we know it and all the problems we are bombarded with on the daily news have made it hard to imagine humanity having a future in space? I think this is a big reason why superheroes were so big in the 2010s.

There also seems to be a stigma going on. People have no problem with watching things with zombies, dragons, and even superheroes in them but are apathetic or even downright dismissive of things with spaceships that are not Star Wars.

Has space sci fi become too "dark and gritty"? Has it lost it's optimism and sense of wonder?

One of the futuristic worlds I loved was the one shown in "Big Hero 6".

I also loved the world of the anime "Planetes".

 

[RamblingMad]

I really like the Expanse.

 

[Gino USMC]

Ever hear of Star Trek?

 

[barkley]

i know as far as lacking viewership-for my husband who loves this genre it's a matter of being burned too many times getting invested in a series only to have it deemed unworthy of renewal by whatever network carries it (i suspect for a good many shows it's the production cost as compared to the much cheaper schlock they can run).

 

[barkley]

Ever hear of Star Trek?

but you can only get the new stuff streaming. not all of us have steaming access so i don't consider it 'mainstream'.

 

[RamblingMad]

but you can only get the new stuff streaming. not all of us have steaming access so i don't consider it 'mainstream'.

I got Paramount+ for free for a month. Expanse is on Amazon Prime. Star Wars stuff is on Disney+. It’s all on streaming services.

But if you’re in the UK, you can get Doctor Who. It’s mainstream.

 

[VandVsmama]

Reader's Digest answer:
Because Star Wars is better.

 

[aggiedog]

I'm a sci-fi lover from an early age, and even took Sci-Fi as my literature elective in college. What struck me then was the professor saying that all the good sci-fi was good because it took a contemporary problem and used a futuristic/science/extrapolative situation to examine it. I think that's hard to do in TV, both due to budget and staying true to sci-fi roots. I LOVE the Expanse, and have also read all the novels and novellas. I have always preferred Star Trek to Star Wars, and finally decided to cough up the fees to stream it once the Picard show came out. Firefly was also amazing, and as short lived as it's name.

Star Wars is a juggernaut with enough money behind it to be popular even if it's not always that good. It has brand recognition and a tendency for action over story telling. Might as well be the Marvel universe.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Ever hear of Star Trek?

Love Star Trek (and lots of other scifi over the years), but TOS was cancelled after 3 seasons and was nearly cancelled after only 2. It took on a life of its own in reruns.

 

[KingAugie]

Expanse was great.....until it turned in to a space soap opera.

 

[Jennasis]

We like The Orville a lot but I am NOT interested in buying another streaming service just to watch the one good show on it.

 

[barkley]

I got Paramount+ for free for a month. Expanse is on Amazon Prime. Star Wars stuff is on Disney+. It’s all on streaming services.

But if you’re in the UK, you can get Doctor Who. It’s mainstream.

dh watches doctor who on bbc america through our satellite service. we can't get streaming b/c our one and only available internet provider is lousy so it's just perpetual buffering (we are on the wait list for starlink which should open up a world of streaming opportunities).

 

[EveDallas]

Reader's Digest answer:
Because Star Wars is better.

As a die hard Trekkie, them's fighting words

 

[iivye]

I enjoy space adventure too. I feel like Netflix has a lot of space adventure movies lately which I find entertaining but there is a lack of new space series.

 

[starvenger]

One could argue that the Arrowverse is sci-fi. Based on comics, yes. But you have aliens, tech, time travel shenanigans and etc. Yes, there are some fantasy elements (looking at you, John Constantine) but the shows seem to base things on science.

and granted, not that much space travel (there is a time ship), but still we at least get science fiction elements in there.

 

[fla4fun]

I have never been a huge sci-fi fan (I don’t hate it, but it’s not a favorite), but I am very interested in real life space travel and exploration. I think sci-fi is a very expensive genre to produce, and it takes time for the audience to connect with the characters and setting of a show that is so different than our own. These days, the networks (whether the big three, or streaming) don’t allow that time for the audience to engage with the show. How many shows, like Star Trek, initially started slow, and then picked up momentum through subsequent seasons or reruns? You would think, with all the niche channels between OTA, cable, satellite, and streaming, that there would be plenty of opportunities for quality sci-fi programming.

 

[Skippy918]

I really enjoyed Stargate SG1. It’s one of the few sci fi shows to take place in present day. It’s got lots of action and some comic relief, and a really great cast.

 

[ford91exploder]

I have never been a huge sci-fi fan (I don’t hate it, but it’s not a favorite), but I am very interested in real life space travel and exploration. I think sci-fi is a very expensive genre to produce, and it takes time for the audience to connect with the characters and setting of a show that is so different than our own. These days, the networks (whether the big three, or streaming) don’t allow that time for the audience to engage with the show. How many shows, like Star Trek, initially started slow, and then picked up momentum through subsequent seasons or reruns? You would think, with all the niche channels between OTA, cable, satellite, and streaming, that there would be plenty of opportunities for quality sci-fi programming.

Scripted programming is expensive, 'Reality TV' like 'Real Housewives of X' is dirt cheap by comparison, However the sewage which is characteristic of 'Reality TV' has driven many of us to cut the cord and run streaming only.

It's amazing how many nights now the TV in our house is simply powered off with the dreck masquerading as TV programming and sports being infected with politics so Buh-Bye sports in our house There is nothing that we really want to watch anymore.

Ya know cheapening/poisoning your product to the point of no one wanting to watch it even for 'free' is not a sustainable business model.

 

[Mysterian]

There's been more non-Star Wars space-based Sci-Fi shows in the past couple decades alone than shows based around zombies and dragons. Apart from The Walking Dead there's only been one or two other zombie apocalypse shows. I know of no popular dragon-fantasy shows outside of Game of Thrones, which ended. I don't see a stigma when there's been more spaceships than zombies and dragons.

PS- I heard a new series based in the ALIEN universe is supposed to be in the works. Announced around the same time when Disney announced the multiple Star Wars projects coming to Disney+. ALIEN is probably not something the OP is after, but I want to watch it.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I suspect cost of production is an issue. We do enjoy The Orville and Lost in Space. And we loved all of the Star Gate series. Timeless was cancelled.

Some of my husband's favorite Sci-Fi stuff was cancelled -- Terra Nova and Firefly come to mind.