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Sometimes scifi gets hit hard, or ignored. But it's nothing new - for years science fiction fans have had to content themselves with a fraction of media that an action adventure fan would.
So far this winter, scifi has suffered blows even an immortal would feel.
Recent news from J. Michael Strazynski, the creator of Babylon 5, announced a movie would not be forthcoming any time soon. Fans of the series had been drooling because the option had been picked up by producers and work was being done to get a deal put together. Warner Brothers wouldn't accept the deal because no "big names" were involved in the project. The producers gave up and the rights reverted back to Warner Brothers. Fans had mixed feelings, as apparently did JMS who later said:
This was not the first time someone's taken a run at a B5 feature film, and it will not be the last. Eventually it will happen, because such things are simply inevitable. If they can do a Brady Bunch movie, you can be sure that sooner or later, somebody's going to do a B5 movie. The only thing I can say without equivocation is that when that day comes, as the rights-holder, I will make darned sure that it's done right, because I'd rather have no B5 movie than one that doesn't live up to what fans and I myself would want to see.
Babylon 5 fans are not so great in numbers or influential as Trek Fans, but even Trek fans have had their share of disappointments this year.
Trek fans started off their year with the announcement that UPN will not be renewing Star Trek: Enterprise. Can you imagine the landscape of television without a new Trek Episode? When has that happened since The Next Generation? Never. Rodenberry's Trek inspired series have SUCH a huge following, that not only have fans spammed UPN and Paramount with overwhelming numbers, they have managed to raise over 60,000.00 for their support. Unprecedented in the world of fandom, is the amount of support - a GUARANTEED ratings success, is the Trek series. So one has to wonder what the heck executives at UPN are doing - reliving the past?
There is still the "big name" backed show "The Privateers" ( www.theprivateers.com ) produced by famous Trekkies Deborah Warner, is STILL on the shelf after 5 years. It is STILL supported by the likes of Karl Urban and Walter Koenig, who did a promotion film for the series. Yet it still sits on the shelf waiting for some producer to pick it up, while MILLIONS of Trek fans continue to support it.
For hard core scifi fans, there is still Stargate and Battlestar Galactica - all of which are enjoying enormous success but not on mainstream (non cable) channels. You could, if you wanted, put Lost and Smallville in mainstream science fiction and pronounce it a huge success. But for people who would like to see space toys and lasers, you are SOL (So out of Lasers). Television, outside of "Scifi Channel" will not be featuring any space toys.
While fans can look forward to shoot-em-up's in space on film like Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Aeon Flux, if you plan to stay home, you better buy cable, or maybe the complete Matrix boxed set. Or just sign up for Netflix.
You're used to disappointment by now anyway, right? You're a scifi fan!
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