Masters of Science Fiction: Buried at Birth on ABC?
August 4, 2007 10:22 PM   Subscribe

I watch virtually no television but this NPR review for the debut episode of Masters of Science Fiction (ABC) had me intrigued. (A similar review in the NY Times). ABC is being accused of burying this show with the timing of its introduction (and time slot). As for me, I'm still thinking about the debut episode, three hours later.
posted by spock (39 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I know, I know: eponysterical
posted by spock at 10:23 PM on August 4, 2007 [4 favorites]


I was thrilled to stumble across this tonight, and I watched the whole thing. I realize it probably won't last. It felt too throw-back to be successful.

Hm, that is what the NYT thinks, too. Just read that.

That is too bad. Something like this would get me to stay in on Saturdays and watch it.
posted by oflinkey at 10:36 PM on August 4, 2007


I watch virtually no television either. Whaddaya want, a frickin' medal? ;-)

But I've bought DVDs for The Sopranos and Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. It's no secret that every now and again something appears on TV that's actually worth watching, even more thaan once. Perhaps this sci-fi series will be one of those rare gems.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:41 PM on August 4, 2007


i thought it was underwhelming. pretty predictable and not much different than the second-generation outer limits. maybe it'll get better, but the time slot will likely kill it before it has a chance. as it is, it won't be much of a loss.
posted by lapolla at 11:14 PM on August 4, 2007


The Hollywood Reporter reviewer ripped ABC's programmers a new one for burying it.

The original order was for six shows; ABC killed two and will play the remaining two next Saturday. End of story.

I didn't see it, so I don't have an opinion.
posted by pmurray63 at 11:34 PM on August 4, 2007


So for those of us who missed the first episode, I'm guessing it's not going to be shown again, based on the level of programming attention it's gotten so far? And it doesn't appear to be listed in the iTunes Store, and ABC is usually pretty good about putting its shows in there.
posted by Hamusutaa at 11:49 PM on August 4, 2007


Weird. I happened to stumble on the listing a few minutes before it came on so I watched it; it's the first time in months I've watched a broadcast channel other than PBS. Afterward some impulse led me to seek out Wil Wheaton's blog -- maybe it's the notion of TV SF, that vanishingly scarce quantity -- and wouldn't you know he's on about it as well.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:54 AM on August 5, 2007


Pssst. It is already available on those other places we shouldn't talk about.

It appears to be another interesting television season with some intriguing new shows. Damages on FX with Glenn Close is looking good so far. Mad Men is also looking like a good series. Jekyll on BBC was fun. Flight of the Conchords on HBO is great silly fun. I'm also looking forward to The Company.

Maybe it's just my tastes are slipping but it looks like shrinking audiences are causing studios to step up their games a bit to fight over the remaining scraps. Even buried TV shows will reach the fans who want to see them via the multitude of routes now available.

I don't much care when a show is on. I just care that it is on so I can timeshift into my schedule.
posted by srboisvert at 1:10 AM on August 5, 2007


Masters of Horror (which I sort of assume is part of the same line, otherwise there would be lawsuits!) is really great.

It's also not on ABC.
posted by SweetJesus at 1:20 AM on August 5, 2007


srboisvert, those two episodes they killed outright; are those also available on those other places we don't talk about? I'd have liked to see the unproduced Sheckley episode in particular. It does matter when a show is on if that when is never.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:24 AM on August 5, 2007


Masters of Horror (which I sort of assume is part of the same line, otherwise there would be lawsuits!) is really great.

Are there any particular episodes you'd recommend? We watched Homecoming (the one with the zombie soldiers and ham-fisted satire) and it sucked hard. I'd like to give the show another chance though, since it's an anthology.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 4:29 AM on August 5, 2007


Those were killed before they were made weren't they? Killed even before the bad time slot hurt the ratings. There is precious little anyone can do about those kind of decisions. In fact the television Siberia part is a bit of misplaced outrage. The last 2 shows were already nixed before a time slot was chosen never mind whether any ratings were in. The time slot had nothing to do with anything other than making it harder for people to stumble across an already nixed series.

My hope for this kind of thing is that it proves popular on the redistribution channels like iTunes (as well as the less legit options) and that people see there is a market for it (even if it isn't on ABC).

I am also not sure how you can say TV sci-fi is rare these days. I think Sci-fi is huge these days. Lost, BSG, Heroes, Smallville, 4400 and Dr. Who are all big hits. I'd guess I have seen more sci-fi on tv and more variety within sci-fi in the last few years than ever before.
posted by srboisvert at 4:33 AM on August 5, 2007


Lentrohamsanin, Joe Dante's 'The Screwfly Solution' is worth checking out. Same director as 'Homecoming' but much better execution. MoH as a whole, though, bites pretty hard. Maybe 1/8th of the episodes I've seen were worth it.

Mileage tends to vary a lot on viewer reactions to MoH -- some of my favorite episodes are the ones that regularly trashed on the various nerd boards that focus on this kinda thing, and vicey-versey. I don't know that any of the episodes will blow anybody's mind, really, but I rarely find it disappointing (both Tobe Hooper's entries -- "Dance of the Dead" and "The Damned Thing" -- are absolute fucking shit, however), with a few standouts being "The Black Cat," "Imprint," "Sick Girl," the afore-mentioned "Screwfly Solution," and both Dario Argento's episodes ("Pelts" and especially "Jenifer" -- probably the best films he's made in a decade). The Hooper episodes and Peter Medak's godawful "The Washingtonians" are the only ones I'd label as AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

On point, I was surprised to see Masters of Science Fiction surface on ABC, not so surprised to see it buried. A better fit would seem to be SciFi, or -- even more logically, given MoH -- Showtime. The audience exists, so I guess it's just a question of where it'll go once ABC's done with it.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:57 AM on August 5, 2007


For those who don't know, Screwfly Solution was a James Tiptree/Alice Sheldon short story. I didn't know it had been filmed, I'd like to see that.

I do think the burying was curious; why make it if you don't want it to exist? And why not sell the iTunes...why throw away money? I am puzzled. Unless it's some really obscure PepsiBlue scheme to generate some fake fan drama. But ABC is usually never that subtle.

Last night's episode was pretty predictable, sadly, though well-produced. Nice to see Sam Waterston get a chance to do a little more acting than "stoic ADA." I'm assuming the critical raves come from later episodes, as this one was a bit "meh."
posted by emjaybee at 6:57 AM on August 5, 2007


Since the stories are supposed to be based upon the old "masters" of science fiction, I think there should be a familiar/predictable feel to these stories.

I saw a quote the other day that said something like "Science Fiction is always about today". In that sense, any classic SciFi story (retold) can be looked at through the eyes of the contemporary world scene and viewed in (perhaps) a new way.
posted by spock at 7:10 AM on August 5, 2007


We may have 'Heroes' and 'The 4400' now, but in 2003 the entire television industry was burning and sinking better shows than we have now.

Do you remember a little show called 'Farscape'? Or Manny Coto's 'Odyssey 5' – the #3 show on Showtime before they decided to do a sudden course-reversal on genre programming, which also welded-shut the case on their #4 show, 'Jeremiah'? What about the pilot for Warren Ellis' 'Global Frequency' or JMS' reportedly paradigm-shifting 'Polaris', passed upon by SciFi because it was 'too science-fictiony'?

srboisvert, it may be a good time for scifi at the moment, but each of those unlaunched and/or cancelled projects are arguably better than what we've been left with. Did we REALLY need another 5 years of SG-1 (or a spin-off) after Showtime pulled the plug? And the last time I looked, BSG had wandered into some very uneven territory.

Despite the watershed of 'Heroes' and imported fare such as 'Doctor Who','Torchwood' and 'Jekyll' I really don't see support for these shows on the American broadcast networks yet, much less the cable-only SciFi Channel.

(And despite Showtime's Gay-themed and Horror turnabout of '02, they still have HBO-envy and much of their original programming remains uneven)
posted by vhsiv at 7:14 AM on August 5, 2007 [2 favorites]


Thanks for the tip, spock, I'll try to catch it.

Also,

Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television
posted by intermod at 7:29 AM on August 5, 2007 [2 favorites]


Based on the written reviews, this doesn't seem like a big loss. Putting current actors into what sounds like almost a remake of Zone or Limits is an interesting gimmick, but that's about it. If this is the show you want to watch, there are hundreds of episodes of original Zone and Limits, and Amazing Stories, and new Zone, and new Limits to watch.

Still, it's probably better than this fall's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," however long that's going to last. And maybe better than the new Bionic Woman, but at least that has Katee Sackhoff.

At least we have BSG and Eureka, which continues to be somehow just so... charming.

I watch virtually no television

Not only do I not watch any television at all, my contempt for the medium is so strong that television sets implode when I walk by.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:08 AM on August 5, 2007


Primeval is one of my new favorites. It's a British series with an X-files-ish quality to it made by the studio that did the Walking With Dinosaurs series.
posted by euphorb at 8:09 AM on August 5, 2007 [1 favorite]


If you only see one Masters of Horror episode, see "Imprint." It's directed by Takashi Miike, Japan's current master of the quick-and-dirty genre pic. Showtime took one look at it and said, "Uh, no." Not even in a series called, y'know, Masters of Horror. The central performance by Billy Drago is not great (to be fair, it had to be frustrating for Drago to work with a director who didn't speak English), but "Imprint" is about as crazy as anything I've ever seen, even from Miike, and it clearly identifies one of the last taboos in American popular culture — abortion.

I made an executive decision to take a pass on Masters of SF last night, but maybe I'll revisit it next time it's on.

Vhsiv, I really like Showtime's Dexter. I've struggled to get into current shows like Weeds and Meadowlands without success. Thought This American Life was surprisingly terrific for the few weeks it was on. Now that The Sopranos is gone, I'm actually not watching any TV shows right now unless you count the Simpsons boxed sets I'm slowly digging through. (Never saw them on broadcast, oddly enough.)
posted by Joey Bagels at 8:10 AM on August 5, 2007


Well I am going to try to tune in next week. They are airing something next week, correct?

Thanks spock, live long and prosper.
posted by Mister_A at 8:23 AM on August 5, 2007


Anyone who has had Showtime for any length of time knows that any bashing of their original programming is welcome and encouraged. But I would just like to point out that, having said that, Weeds and Dexter are both out-of-left-field amazing.

Don't know if MoSF would have been any better on Showtime, but it least they would have all aired.
posted by dgbellak at 8:50 AM on August 5, 2007


Based on the written reviews, this doesn't seem like a big loss

Especially when we've got National Bingo Night and Drew Carey on TWO games shows and Age of Love, and oh, so many other wonderful shows.

So who needs an intelligent program that makes at least an attempt at solid writing about relevant themes with excellent acting and top production values. It didn't completely change my world, so I say kill it and good riddance. Where's the remote.
posted by nax at 9:13 AM on August 5, 2007 [1 favorite]


It's interesting how people get "mad" at TV programmers, as if they were entitled to watch certain shows. These people are in business, if something doesn't make money, they won't make or sell it.
If you feel outraged or dissapointed, etc., at TV programming, maybe you're assiging too much importance to TV in the first place? Maybe you need to develop other interests not subject to TV programmers' whims?
posted by signal at 9:15 AM on August 5, 2007


At risk of derail, I'll third mentioning the awesomeness that is "Dexter," and throw in that the first two episodes of the next season are already out there for viewing at various and sundry shady net locales. (And if the "leak" is just Showtime's attempt at underhanded promotion, I think it's gonna work -- the new episodes are fantastic.)
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:23 AM on August 5, 2007


Still, it's probably better than this fall's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles,"

I was extremely impressed with the pilot for this show. I initially watched with trepidation, what with Linda Hamilton replaced with a standard interchangable and disposable hot chick and television adaptations of just about any other media property being subpar, but it was at least as good as the first two Terminator movies and leagues better than the third. Also, the casting of Summer Glau brings a refreshing fugliness to network TV, balancing the equasion.
posted by bunnytricks at 9:29 AM on August 5, 2007


Spoiler-ish question. If you haven't seen the episode yet, please skip this post now.



At the risk of sounding like someone who fell asleep half-way through the show...
Can someone please clear-up something for me? Watterson was playing the President, who has supposedly regressed mentally in order to block-out the global events he triggered.
Right?
And the shrink's job is to break through that mental block and get him to admit to what he did.
Right?
Why did they need to do that? It was never clearly explained to me why they needed to put him though all of that. At one point they said that the Vice-President had never been sworn-in to take over. Can't the President be declared mentally unsound and the office transferred?

It simply was never clear to me why they were going to such lengths with the President. I'm assuming I missed some key dialog somewhere.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:44 AM on August 5, 2007


I just watched the last episode. It is pretty much around MoH quality. Watchable but not excellent. I can see why this wouldn't crack the ABC rotation. It is really about SciFi Original Movie quality with a bit better writing and with better pedigree actors not trying all that hard. It also felt a bit old and musty, like it was my dad's sci-fi.

Bunnytricks - I also thought the Sarah Conner Chronicles episode was pretty much bang on terminator quality fare. Could be some nice and light action/sci-fi fun.
posted by srboisvert at 10:04 AM on August 5, 2007


I was extremely impressed with the pilot for this show.

Have I missed the pilot?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:51 PM on August 5, 2007


Wow! That first episode of MoSF was really pretty good – no crazy hardware to throw-off the people who wouldn't understand 'high-concept' – it was a pretty straight Cold War piece straight out of the 1980's – *not* that that's a bad thing.

In fact it is entirely commendable, especially from a Corpo-Network Whore like ABC from whom I never-ever expected to see anthing subversive or controversial from ever again. A one-hour drama that comes down AGAINST the leader of the American Government, implying that the man was a wormonger, shirking his responsibilities as an elected official to engage in a pre-emptive nuclear conflict. Those stones must belong to the new majority shareholder, Mr. Steve Jobs, because I certainly didn't see that will coming from a 'family-friendly' Disney Corporation.

If it were produced by the BBC, we might even put in on Materpiece Theater, now that Kenneth Tomlinson is gone.
posted by vhsiv at 1:07 PM on August 5, 2007


I watch nearly no tv either-I can identify.
posted by lslutsky at 2:47 PM on August 5, 2007


Oh, I thought it was a kind of weird version of Law and Order but on the wrong network
posted by donfactor at 3:24 PM on August 5, 2007


Mr. Bagels, I'm aware of 'Dexter', even collected some episodes and sent them abroad to an ex-pat friend of mine – still, it never tracked terribly high for me. I've still got the tapes, though, and I guess I could/should check them out. There was one episode I never got to see the end of.

That said, it's pilot season and stuff like MoSF is being leaked left, right, up and down given that SD-ComicCon was just this past week and many of the genre pilots were in play, intentionally leaked by the networks to build hype and anticipation for these upcoming shows.

The Starz people have their own damn collection of broadcasting venues – if ABC passes on this show (which it seems they already have) Starz could simply self-produce the show for their own portfolio of HD premium cable channels. Even better, viral marketing could help build audiences for this show, the way it started with 'Doctor Who' 3 years ago.

If people know something good is coming up a week or so ahead of time, they can tell their friends and make sure they're watching next Saturday night and build the audience for the show.

I remember hearing about the development of this show last winter, but it cpmpletely fell off my radar. It's a shame that ABC is treating it so shabbily, but from what I saw of the show earlier today, MoSF is too good for American network television.

If what I saw of that first episode is any indication of what they manage to maintain, they shouldn't have any problems finding a home for it overseas, in Europe, S.A. and Australia/NZ where so much of the better stuff ends up. Genre television hasn't been circumsribed by national borders since the new 'Doctor Who' and 'Galactica' premiered. What's lagged is a proper means to monetize the content.
posted by vhsiv at 5:42 PM on August 5, 2007


Spoiler:

Thorzdad: I (half-)watched it, & I had the same question. It kind of seemed like they were just messing with him, massively & repeatedly, trying to give him a heart attack.

I think they were trying to record his mind-shattered regret as a warning for posterity, to future aspiring asshats. The chain of command wouldn't be enough to protect his life, I'm sure.
posted by Pronoiac at 5:45 PM on August 5, 2007


Thorzdad and Pronoiac:

I thought they were trying to get him to mental competency so they could put him on trial. That also fit in with why they wouldn't just declare him insane--once they did that, they could no longer try him.
posted by nax at 6:30 PM on August 5, 2007


Extreme spoiler alert.

I really thought she was gonna say "Now that you remember, you can die guilty" and shoot him in the head or something like that. I totally don't get why she did what she did.
posted by exhilaration at 7:15 PM on August 5, 2007


Is there any place I can watch this online?
posted by tehloki at 12:38 AM on August 6, 2007


"I totally don't get why she did what she did."

She was diagnosed with something terminal and given a short life-expectancy during the first scene. I take it that she was on a short schedule to exact her revenge upon the man who had destoyed her life.
posted by vhsiv at 1:09 AM on August 6, 2007


tehloki: Officially, not yet, it seems. It could show up in the iTunes store or ABC's online video section.

For ambiguity, this needs to be watched twice, & I didn't record it. Perhaps I should track down the original story.
posted by Pronoiac at 9:59 AM on August 6, 2007


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