It started in the mid-late 1990s with HBO's original series, especially "The Sopranos" in 1999. This revolution in television - frank, gritty, real, intellectually sophisticated - soon spread to other cable and old-fashioned network television.
In the past few years, science fiction has taken a leading role. In this special podcast - based on a lecture I gave to the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society on 25 January 2008 - I look at the contributions of five science fiction series to this new golden age of television ... Lost, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Journeyman, Battlestar Galactica, and Heroes... all reviewed here in Infinite Regress.
Hey, if you missed the lecture - and let's face it, most of you did :) - you can get the gist right here in this 20-minute podcast... which you can listen to on your computer...
See also my infamous Only Idiots Don't Watch Television ... first published under the more innocuous title of "TV's New Golden Age" in Newsday in July 2006...
20-minute podcast: Science Fiction in the New Golden Age of TV
2 comments:
I'd argue it started earlier - or at least the groundwork was laid by notables in the field of TV grit like Bochco. But HBO's freedom has propelled it to a new level. And now we see the rewards - writers having the chance to push against the boundaries and dig down to add some real depth.
Cable gives that kind of freedom, but networks are running to keep up. 'Lost' is turning out better, more clever and more tortuously labyrinthine than I ever could have hoped. It's "anti-patronising" television, if you like. And it's one of the no. 1 shows out there. That's just *terrific*.
Now my two bits are laid on the table, I'm going away to enjoy your podcast. :)
Good points, Mike - enjoy the podcast!
Post a Comment