Fall lineup: Imagination required

Fantasy and sci-fi have long ruled at the multiplex, but now broadcast networks are producing more supernatural shows, too.

|
ABC/AP/File
‘Once Upon A Time’

This fall, TV executives are hoping viewers of all ages still believe in magic.

While fantasy and science-fiction movies continue to draw crowds to the theater, broadcast networks are also packing their fall schedules with shows involving fairy tales and supernatural beings. In addition to returning hits such as ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” almost every main network is airing at least one new show that has sci-fi or fantasy roots. These range from the robots-among-us “Almost Human” (Fox, premièring Nov. 4) to “Dracula” (NBC, Oct. 25) to “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (ABC, Sept. 24), which follows the government agents who handle superheroes in Marvel’s comic book universe.

Launching an otherworldly show can be tricky. For every hit like ABC’s “Lost,” which followed survivors trapped on a mysterious island, there are many others that never catch on with viewers. In just the past two years, Fox’s parallel universe drama “Fringe,” ABC’s spooky hotel show “666 Park Avenue,” and Fox’s “Alcatraz,” in which the San Francisco prison was the site of mysterious disappearances, were all canceled. (Even with “Lost,” some viewers complained the show didn’t answer its own questions quickly enough.) Others, like NBC’s superhero drama “Heroes,” have a buzzy first season and then seem unable to sustain themselves narratively, leading to fewer viewers.

So why are networks continuing to try so many fantasy or sci-fi shows? Los Angeles Times TV critic and senior culture editor Mary McNamara says one reason is box office returns. The “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” films proved to Hollywood that fantasy has a wide appeal, and she thinks the launch of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is a direct result of the success of comic book movies.

“TV’s seeing if they can get a piece of that,” Ms. McNamara says.

In addition, with more cable channels and online companies like Netflix producing original series, McNamara says the broadcast channels need to stand out, and one more procedural isn’t going to cut it.

“There are only so many broken-policeman stories you can do,” she says. “People are experimenting.”

Which new shows may have staying power? McNamara says she was impressed by the pilot of “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” (ABC, Oct. 10), a spinoff of “Once Upon a Time,” which will focus exclusively on Lewis Carroll’s characters and is geared toward adult viewers.

“It is very evocative of Tim Burton’s [film],” she says, referring to the director’s “Alice in Wonderland” (2010). “It seems a little more grown-up [than ‘Once Upon a Time’].”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Fall lineup: Imagination required
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/TV/2013/0831/Fall-lineup-Imagination-required
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe