Comments about ‘3 science fiction series are really struggling’

My opinion on these shows:
V is pretty good so far.
Dollhouse is pretty good, although not up to Firefly standards. It's sad to see it canceled.
Fringe is lame.
Fast Forward got off to a good start (the first episode was great) but has definitely dropped a lot in quality since then. Probably not worth watching any longer.

Flash Forward went downhill after the premier. Yet it kept pulling me back with cliffhangers. It was after there was an episode with about 30 seconds of two women making out that I decided to drop it for good. It's one thing to have gay characters, but Flash Forward took it to the next level -- a level I wasn't willing to follow.

It's too bad... the premier showed a lot of potential.

I think V is great. The finale was a real cliffhanger. I am holding out hope. I loved the original, and the new series is a vast improvement.

Those are my 3 favorite series right now(V,FF,Fringe), especially Fringe. SciFi just can't catch a break and neither can its fans. Maybe there just aren't enough of us. I've been wondering that. Coupled with how expensive they are to make, that's got to be a bad combo for tv execs.

Like Jed (and a lot of other people I'm sure), I decided to stop watching "Flashforward" after the lesbian scene(s). I am so fed up with Hollywood trying to ram down homosexuality down our throats. Enough with their stupid agenda, why don't they focus on producing something of quality?

watched every episode so far.
I think one problem is that people are hesitant to get into shows, because they keep getting canceled.
Once a show is bought, they should keep it on for the season.
I usually wait, and buy the DVD set, if the show stays on.
I stopped trusting the tv companies, after pretender was canceled.

the v series is great. i heard its ratings were much much more than expected. so coming down from the amazingly high ratings and being number one in its timeslot for its premiere isn't anything to get worried about - its natural. from what i've read on entertainment websites v is in no danger of being canceled.

I love Fringe, V is good, FF is OK, Fringe reminds me of the X files, maybe they need to move it to a another night. My DVR is full on Thursdays, Survivor, The Office, FF, Fringe, and I would watch CSI (not as good since Grissom left) if I could, plus NFL football is now on Thursdays. Spread it around, there isn't anything good on Wednesdays or Fridays

I really liked Sarah Conner Chronicles, and I was upset that it was cancelled.

I am a big fan of speculative fiction and I really liked the premier of Flash Forward. But the episodes immediately thereafter just seemed unbelievable to me, so I stopped watching.

I can kind of get what the person who wrote to the tv critic was coming from. Good science fiction tends to be unappealing to a mass audience because it requires engagement from its audience, not just viewing. It also requires scientific plausibility, something that FlashForward just could not sustain. It is the nature of the beast with television and movies -- they are visual media, so having a tv episode in which nothing but conversation around a meeting room table takes place would be too boring. But the lack of such is exactly what makes such series unbelievable to the natural audience for such series (i.e., fans of speculative fiction). The ideas in Flash Forward were originally in a novel. Novels work much better as a medium for speculative fiction than television because a novel can be idea-driven instead of character-driven. Great novels are both.

"I really liked Sarah Conner Chronicles, and I was upset that it was cancelled."

Same here, TSCC was exciting, unpredictable and yet I could always expect good performances mixed in with the action. I'm still watching and enjoying The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

As far as V goes, it seemes like it has characters that people could pick up on.

Television has gone down hill since the mid 90s when the non-cable networks became more concerned with viewers than quality storytelling. They no longer stick with a program unless every program has the same amount of viewers as the most popular. So, they have a million worthless reality shows and a million boring copy cats. Sure the ratings skyrocket, but that is for another reason.

The truth is that the average Joe IS stupid and has no patience. No matter what this critic says, Science fiction fans are smarter than the average Joe and no amount of denial will change that fact. I hope "V" remains or I am probably done with the Networks forever. I already ended up watching only one show of all the lineup over the years (save Fox, although that is becoming another Network lack of quality channel). I had not watched an original Network for 10 years until "Jericho" that was quickly abandoned. Right now USA Network seems to be where the good shows are located.

We also stopped watching FF after the lesbian episode, for that very reason. I'll probably try to read the synopsis on Wiki. We are getting close to quitting on Stargate Universe for the very same reason (except we can still stomach fast-forwarding through the soapopra scenes trying to find the Sci Fi content).

I am living in a Science Fiction series. That series is the Twilight Zone. That is the only explanation that I can fathom for three people out of thirteen giving up on a show because of a lesbian kiss.