By John J. Joex
Part 3 – The Network Explosion
Lost was a phenomenal success for ABC in 2004 and it jump-started interest from the other broadcast networks in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. By the time the 2005 Fall season rolled around, three of the “Big Four” networks as well as one of the part time networks had their own shows looking to take advantage of the renewed interest in the genre. ABC added Invasion and Night Stalker to ride on the coat-tails of their home-grown success. CBS debuted Threshold and The Ghost Whisperer, NBC rolled out Medium and Surface, and the WB offered Supernatural. Only FOX and the struggling UPN bowed out of the first found of response to the success of Lost.
Less than half of these shows survived, though (which is still a decent success rate for the broadcast networks). Both of ABC’s attempts faded, which would start a trend with that network that continues today. Threshold on CBS and Surface on NBC also failed to draw large enough audiences to convince their networks to renew them. And actually the wave of enthusiasm for genre shows could have crested in that year and the decade could have progressed differently. Had Lost slipped into a sophomore slump (like Heroes did two years later), the networks might have renewed their apathy toward series of the Science Fiction and Fantasy variety. But that show continued to win in the ratings, matching the success it had from the prior year. And while none of the other networks had managed to equal that show’s accomplishments, the next year would help kick this trend into high gear.
On Monday, September 25, 2006, nearly two years to the day after the debut of Lost, a show called Heroes debuted on NBC. Just like ABC’s hit show, this one grabbed the attention of the Prime Time audiences and also became one of the top “water-cooler” shows of the year. It did not quite equal the ratings success of the first two seasons of Lost, but it did deliver a Top 20 show for its network and immediately generated some positive buzz across the Internet. Also, CBS took another stab at the genre with Jericho which never turned into a ratings blockbuster but definitely attracted a fanatic following. ABC gave another shot at replicating their own success with Day Break, though that one faded fast. That was all from the networks for the 2006-7 season (apart from NBC’s very short-lived Raines), but Heroes along with the continued strong performance of Lost, Supernatural, and The Ghost Whisperer succeeded in legitimizing the trend and assuring a lasting presence for the genre with the broadcast networks.
By the next year, Science Fiction and Fantasy shows exploded across the Prime Time schedule as no less than seven genre shows debuted in the Fall of 2007 along with six returning shows. On top of this, the cable networks also rode Lost’s the wave of success and added even more offerings of interest to genre fans. This pattern has continued each year and delivered at least one “successful” show (that is, it has lasted more than two seasons) to each of the “Big Four” as well as the CW (the network that emerged from the ashes of UPN and WB). ABC has Lost (though no others despite multiple attempts), NBC has Heroes, Medium, and Chuck, CBS has The Ghost Whisperer, FOX has Fringe (recently renewed for a third season), and the CW has Smallville and Supernatural (and Vampire Diaries will almost certainly stick around for at least two more seasons).
The success of Lost provided the defining moment for the era I refer to as the Second Golden Age of Science Fiction and Fantasy on television. Had that show of tanked, or never even made it on the air, the decade would have unfolded differently. Perhaps the success of off-network shows like Battlestar Galactica would have continued the trend that we saw from the previous decade. Or perhaps the genre would have gone into a slump. But instead, Lost proved that the genre could be viable on the broadcast networks and the successful shows that followed it like Heroes and Fringe proved that Lost was more than a fluke. Now, fans of the genre have a wide range of choices of quality shows to choose from on the broadcast networks and across the cable dial.
So what’s next? That’s hard to say and as the previous eras have tended to break at around the decade mark I would say that we stand on the brink of a new epoch. It’s next to impossible to define that, though, with forward-looking eyes. With Lost wrapping up, though, and with a fall-off of successful genre shows over the last couple of years, I’d say a change is definitely coming. And perhaps the Internet will play a part in that. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog was a huge success for that medium and the Internet series Sanctuary successfully made the jump to television. Will we see more of that, or some new trend? That’s the exciting part about the future: it’s always changing and bringing us new things (unless, of course, Hiro goes and mucks it up again). We will know when we know, and hopefully we will enjoy the ride to gaining that knowledge.
Previous: Part 2 – Lost for Years, the Networks Find Sci Fi
And: Part 1 – A Change is Coming
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