A Graph That Explains Scifi TV After Star Trek

[kqr2]

http://io9.com/5347631/at-last-a-graph-that-explains-scifi-tv-after-star-trek

[KevinMS]

So what did this explain?

If you answer that, then my next question is, how can plotting shows like Futurama, Charmed and Buffy on the same Graph as SG1 and Bstar explain anything?

[btn]

This doesn't explain anything (I'm not even sure what there would be to explain), or seem to have any connection to Star Trek.

All it seems to show is that in the late 90s shows started to merge sci-fi (or aspects of sci-fi) with other, more "mainstream" genres.

[travisjeffery]

It's pretty amazing to think that Star Trek TOS had only 3 seasons, and yet you see how the vast influence it had on so many different things.

[anigbrowl]

I'm not sure how well it 'explains' Tv but it does provide an interesting overview. It does suggest that now is either a particularly good or a particularly bad time to launch a new TV franchise, though.

The list of surveyed programs is interesting. I had no idea there was a series called Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, and am astonished it managed to last for 3 seasons.

[Ras_]

Graph on the left is a weak compromise. Just eye-candy & name-dropping.

Graph on the right is based on larger amount of data - they did actually include many more shows (like DS9, The Outer Limits): http://io9.com/5348003/tv-shows-surveyed-for-themes-througho...

[philwelch]

1996 to 2003 seemed like a heyday for SF/F television: all the charts trend upwards into that period and downwards when exiting it.

[jksmith → philwelch]

They trend downwards because Lexx went off the air around that time, then everybody realized how crappy SF/F was without Lexx around to give it all some levity.

[lucraft]

I can't take it seriously because it misses out Deep Space Nine.