Well okay there’s isn’t much in the way of hard SF anymore either, but some of that
is still made (Battlestar most notably, Dr. Who arguably). After the success of the
LOTR movies, there aren’t any solid dramatic (tho some humor is fine) high-fantasy
series right now? Heck has there ever been one, for that matter? [Buffy
horror-fantasy at best, Xena/Herc (very) low fantasy-I don’t count the occasional
fantasy-tinged Outer Limits type plots]
Is it the FX would be underwhelming for the small screen, compared to the cost to
create them? A feeling among the suits that it would have a strictly cult following?
Just part of the general creative malaise affecting TV anymore in this country (US)?
I always thought that the Wheel of Time could be done (up to book six or so; the others don’t exist) would make a great TV series; approximately a book per season. Much of the tramping around won’t require a huge budget, and the long convoluted plots and number of characters would be perfect for TV. And you don’t have to deal with the long descriptions of clothing and endless tugging of braids.
I think both Hercule and Xena fall under the high fantasy umbrella though Iperhaps it doesn’t belong in the dramatic category. Heck, you had the Gods themselves coming down to play significant roles in the series. It don’t get more high fantasy than that.
Incidentally, I’d like to nitpick with the OP: Battlestar Galactica is not hard SF. It’s hard drama, yes, but in science fiction terms it’s “softer” than Star Wars. In my mind “hard SF” centers on science… and BG doesn’t care one whit about science.
I may be a bit of a traditionalist, but high fantasy, to me, requires not only certain themes and character types, but also for it to take place in a certain time and place. It’s like westerns. You can make a cop show that’s like a “modern-day-western”, you can produce a “western in space”, but unless it’s set west of the Mississipi between the Civil War and WW1, it’s not an actual western.
High fantasy is the same way. If it isn’t set in an invented world with pre-Modern technology, then it isn’t really high fantasy. That doesn’t make it inferior in any way, of course, just different. Modern fantasy, futuristic fantasy, superhero fantasy, children’s fantasy, historical fantasy and humoristic fantasy are all perfectly legitimate genres, but they’re not what this thread’s about.
Well, there was Wizards and Warriors which didn’t last that long (and probably wasn’t as good as I remember anyway). That’s the only serious attempt I can remember.
My memories of this show make “serious attempt” seem a bit inaccurate. IIRC, the show was basically over-the-top and very camp, with anachronisms and one-liners galore. I remember it fondly, but it was certainly not serious high fantasy.
My theory is that fantasy works best when the images have to be supplied by one’s imagination; no filmed image will ever quite match or live up to what fans are expecting to see. Science fiction, OTOH, is enhanced by graphics. Exactly what makes the difference I couldn’t tell you.
Has pretensions to but not really-I was just trying to list current hard SF shows,
and those two were the only current ones I could think of which were even
remotely in the ballpark. Hence it isn’t surprising that we have just 2 SF and
0 high fantasy shows currently (tho I am sure I missing some other SF series).
Yeah, I quite agree. I guess because fantasy has more of a spiritual element to its shiny stuff, while science fiction just has lots of shiny stuff. The spiritual part is hard to render properly.
My understanding has always been that “high fantasy” was your magic, elves, dragons and goblins sort of fantasy. The fairy tale and myth type stuff.
The other sort (I don’t know if “low fantasy” is apt) is more of a realistic, if imaginary, medieval style world where more emphasis is placed on the grit and hardships of the era than on the shining knights and fiery swords.
As a literature comparison, the first book of the Deeds of Paksanarrion trilogy seems like “low” fantasy. Paks joins a mercenary company and there’s a lot of descriptions of learning to fight in formation and what sorts of weapons particular mercenary units employ and what medieval camp life is like but the magic is very low key; a spell used to determine if someone is telling the truth, mention of a mage being brought in at great cost to heal a critical wound, etc. The later books get more sword & sorcery.
That’s how I learned it anyway.
I’d say likewise for Hercules & Xena. I can’t think of a real attempt at serious fantasy on par with the many “serious” Sci-Fi programs.
Fantasy of any sort can come off as incredibly campy if it’s not done very well. Add to that the tendency in fantasy to be a bit (okay, a lot) overwrought, and it’s not a great recipe.
If I were guessing, and I obviously am, I’d say that more women read fantasy and more men read SF. TV aims more at men than women. Could this play a part?