Television Genres

Before it reached television, science fiction existed on the printed page, in comic books, and on movie screens for decades. Adapting science fiction to the new medium posed substantial challenges: Small viewing screens and limited production facilities made it difficult to achieve the sense of wonder that had become the genre's hallmark. Yet, television also offered unprecedented opportunities. Its serial nature allowed for longer, more complex stories, as well as developing characters and building suspense over time. ...

Once confined solely to literature and film, science fiction has emerged to become a firmly established, and wildly popular, television genre over the last half century. The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader provides insight into and analyses of the most important programs in the history of the genre and explores the breadth of science fiction programming.

This is a detailed examination, from creation to cancellation of 58 science fiction television series produced between 1990 and 2004, from The X-Files to Star Trek. A chapter on each series includes production information; a history of the series; critical commentary; and interviews with key people.

From early examples such as 'Star Trek' and 'Sapphire and Steel' to more contemporary shows including 'Life on Mars' and 'The Vampire Diaries,' time has frequently been used as a device to allow programme makers to experiment stylistically and challenge established ways of thinking. Time on Television offers readers a range of exciting, accessible, yet intellectually rigorous essays that consider the many and varied ways in which telefantasy shows have explored this subject, providing the reader with a greater understanding of the importance of time to the success of genre on the small screen.

Toward the end of the twentieth century, science fiction television took a dark turn. Series like 'The X-Files,' 'Millennium,' and 'Dark Skies' wove menacing technologies, paranormal forces, and shadowy government agencies into complex tales of corruption and cover-ups. Mind control, alien abductions, secret government laboratories, and implacable "men in black" moved from the fringes to the mainstream of American culture, making weekly appearances in living rooms everywhere. ...

Jack gives a rare family ring to Alice, even though he barely knows her. Soon after, Jack is kidnapped and Alice is confronted by a stranger known as the White Rabbit, who entices her to follow him through the liquid glass of an ornate mirror. Here she lands in Wonderland, an outlandish underground city of twisted towers and staircases. Discovering the ring controls the looking glass, and is the key to the power of the Queen of Hearts, Alice must discover the reasons Jack gave her the ring.

In the year 2258, it is ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. Commander Sinclair takes command of a giant five-mile-long cylindrical space station, orbiting a planet in neutral space. At a crossroads of interstellar commerce and diplomacy, Cmdr Sinclair must try to establish peace and prosperity between various interstellar empires, all the while fighting forces from within the Earth Alliance. It is a precarious command, particularly given that sabotage led to the destruction of Babylon stations 1, 2, and 3 and 4 vanished without trace.

In the deepest reaches of space, the fight to save all human life from extinction has begun. Hoping for lasting peace following centuries of intense warfare, the Twelve Colonies gather to sign a treaty with their dreaded enemies, the Cylons. But after an act of treachery, the Cylons launch a devasting surprise attack, destroying the Colonies home planet. A lone flagship, the Galactica, remains to aid the surviving colonists on their epic journey to their new home-- far-off Earth.

Set in post-apocalyptic Seattle in the year 2019. Max Guevara is a young genetically created woman and part of a top-secret government elite military squad, who is living life as a bicycle messenger/fugitive in the ruins of Seattle. She is hiding from her former commanding officer, Lydecker who is looking to bring her back to his fold. Max meets and turns to Logan Cale, a crippled computer specialist/left-wing rebel who runs a pirated TV system, who helps hide her and asks for her help in cleaning up Seattle of crime and corruption.

Three unlikely colleagues -- a beautiful young FBI agent, a brilliant scientist who's spent the last 17 years in a mental institution, and the scientist's sardonic son -- investigate a series of bizarre deaths and disasters known as 'the pattern.' Someone is using our world as an experimental lab. And all clues lead to Massive Dynamic, a shadowy global corporation that may be more powerful than any nation.

Theorizing that he could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. He woke trapped in the past. His only guide is Al, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear.

A cult-favorite horror anthology series from the '80s depicting standalone stories of horror fantasy and/or science fiction. Some episodes are gruesome, a few are of a lighter comedic style.

George Orr is haunted by dreams that become reality. In a world where pollution has destroyed the ice caps and plagues rage unchecked, a psychiatrist sees Orr's power as a way for humanity to escape its bleak fate. But as each attempt to direct Orr's dreaming ends in failure, the doctor's obsession with playing God grows stronger.

An agent who has resigned from his country's secret service is taken prisoner and prevented from escaping the village that becomes his home.