BSG_Sci_FiPulse
August 25th, 2003, 09:42 AM
I thought I would ask this question, basically out of interest to see how many of you were introduced via films as well as TV shows.
You see I was introduced to SF TV at around 4 years old. My mum and dad would sit me in front of shows such as the Six Million Doller Man, Star Trek and many others from that early seventies period. I am the only one out of our family that loves the genre with a passion that could be misconstrued as madness.
But my introduction to SF did not end there. I was always a child gifted with a very rich and fertile imagination, something that children today do not really posses. Basically because they do not have too, because with Video games and what not it is all laid out for them. They no longer have to go out and play with other kids and pretend there a solder or an astronaught, because they can both be a solder and an astronaught by immersing themselves in a video game. Not that video games are a bad thing, I just feel that kids need to learn to do things in moderation so they can get the best that life has to offer.
Anyhow in my day the TV was the equevalent of a video game because at that point in time, there was decent quality shows on the air most of the time. Shows that apealed to everyone and not just the 18 to 35 demograthic.
I used to wake up on a Saturday morning looking foreword to watching Larry Buster Crabbe take on the emporer Ming. Sure it looked cheesy and the acting was really bad, and in spite of the fact that by that point it was close on 40 years old. I didn't care. Of course I still maintained interest in the british shows too such as Thunderbirds, Stingray and all manner of other shows like Dr Who and Blakes 7. In fact the 60's, 70's and Early 80's was a damn good time for British Sci Fi but sadly it is rare if ever to see any new British Sci Fi made for television wether it be a series or just a mini series.
Once I got to 8 years old, I was introduced to the old Sci Fi movies. BBC2 used to play them at 6pm every tuesday and ran a season of Classic Sci Fi movies for what much have been six to 8 months. They showed movies such as The Time Machine, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Just about every 50's Sci Fi Movie ever made was shown during that year and I lapped it all up, and by the end of it wanted more.
The BBC also used to have Seasons where they would devote a month of programming to a particular Actor. They would show four of his or her movies over one day of each week, and it would be accompanied with documentorys about the actor to boot. Sad how times have changed. Now the BBC cannot do this because their schedule is chockerblock with docudramas, realitie TV shows and their soap opera Eastenders which is shown 4 times a week.
So that is that the demise of British television came when Eastenders came into being. The evening line up in the mid eighties would be Wogan, Eastenders followed by a wildlife documentary show. Throughout the mid 80's the Beeb managed to keep veiwers interested many like myself moved over to BBC two and Channel four which was in it's infancy back then. But when Sky Satalite came into being the BBC and our other terrestrial channels began to struggle and to compansate axed DR Who, and uped the auntie on showing more Eastenders and cheap game shows. I stuck to BBC Two which around about this time had perchased the rights to show repeats of Battlestar Galactica off of ITV. But those really were the channels death throws, and in spite of the Beeb not showing too much that I personally and a lot of other SF fans would not be interested in. They still insist on charging us for the privalage. So not only do with pay a subscription to the Cable and Satalite companys, we still have to pay a TV License too which is not cheap, and keeps going up every year. Of course the BEEB will argue that they can charge us because they do not have commercials. But where their arguement falls down is by the mere fact that they are only catering to the lowest comman denominator and haven't thought about the cult status of certain shows such as DR WHO and how much money can be made from that show by bringing it back, produced and made with a British Cast and produced with all the latest techniques this time. No scrimping on sets by using a piece of Card Board and saying, 'Wow do you like our control panel, it's great isn't it'.
However, although DR Who was made on the cheap, it made up for it with sound and ingenious writing. Granted again it could be cheesy and what not. But it was also very very British in as much as it was a very quirky show. It is a real shame that we lost out nations Science Fiction Television Identity. In America, if you mention the words Science Fiction Television, most people will immediately think Star Trek, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica. However when you mention the words Sci Fi Television here in the UK, only someone in their 30's will be able to tell you what it is.
You see I was introduced to SF TV at around 4 years old. My mum and dad would sit me in front of shows such as the Six Million Doller Man, Star Trek and many others from that early seventies period. I am the only one out of our family that loves the genre with a passion that could be misconstrued as madness.
But my introduction to SF did not end there. I was always a child gifted with a very rich and fertile imagination, something that children today do not really posses. Basically because they do not have too, because with Video games and what not it is all laid out for them. They no longer have to go out and play with other kids and pretend there a solder or an astronaught, because they can both be a solder and an astronaught by immersing themselves in a video game. Not that video games are a bad thing, I just feel that kids need to learn to do things in moderation so they can get the best that life has to offer.
Anyhow in my day the TV was the equevalent of a video game because at that point in time, there was decent quality shows on the air most of the time. Shows that apealed to everyone and not just the 18 to 35 demograthic.
I used to wake up on a Saturday morning looking foreword to watching Larry Buster Crabbe take on the emporer Ming. Sure it looked cheesy and the acting was really bad, and in spite of the fact that by that point it was close on 40 years old. I didn't care. Of course I still maintained interest in the british shows too such as Thunderbirds, Stingray and all manner of other shows like Dr Who and Blakes 7. In fact the 60's, 70's and Early 80's was a damn good time for British Sci Fi but sadly it is rare if ever to see any new British Sci Fi made for television wether it be a series or just a mini series.
Once I got to 8 years old, I was introduced to the old Sci Fi movies. BBC2 used to play them at 6pm every tuesday and ran a season of Classic Sci Fi movies for what much have been six to 8 months. They showed movies such as The Time Machine, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Robinson Crusoe On Mars, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Just about every 50's Sci Fi Movie ever made was shown during that year and I lapped it all up, and by the end of it wanted more.
The BBC also used to have Seasons where they would devote a month of programming to a particular Actor. They would show four of his or her movies over one day of each week, and it would be accompanied with documentorys about the actor to boot. Sad how times have changed. Now the BBC cannot do this because their schedule is chockerblock with docudramas, realitie TV shows and their soap opera Eastenders which is shown 4 times a week.
So that is that the demise of British television came when Eastenders came into being. The evening line up in the mid eighties would be Wogan, Eastenders followed by a wildlife documentary show. Throughout the mid 80's the Beeb managed to keep veiwers interested many like myself moved over to BBC two and Channel four which was in it's infancy back then. But when Sky Satalite came into being the BBC and our other terrestrial channels began to struggle and to compansate axed DR Who, and uped the auntie on showing more Eastenders and cheap game shows. I stuck to BBC Two which around about this time had perchased the rights to show repeats of Battlestar Galactica off of ITV. But those really were the channels death throws, and in spite of the Beeb not showing too much that I personally and a lot of other SF fans would not be interested in. They still insist on charging us for the privalage. So not only do with pay a subscription to the Cable and Satalite companys, we still have to pay a TV License too which is not cheap, and keeps going up every year. Of course the BEEB will argue that they can charge us because they do not have commercials. But where their arguement falls down is by the mere fact that they are only catering to the lowest comman denominator and haven't thought about the cult status of certain shows such as DR WHO and how much money can be made from that show by bringing it back, produced and made with a British Cast and produced with all the latest techniques this time. No scrimping on sets by using a piece of Card Board and saying, 'Wow do you like our control panel, it's great isn't it'.
However, although DR Who was made on the cheap, it made up for it with sound and ingenious writing. Granted again it could be cheesy and what not. But it was also very very British in as much as it was a very quirky show. It is a real shame that we lost out nations Science Fiction Television Identity. In America, if you mention the words Science Fiction Television, most people will immediately think Star Trek, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica. However when you mention the words Sci Fi Television here in the UK, only someone in their 30's will be able to tell you what it is.