What will it take for a space opera show to become mainstream?

[NickGOT456]

Sadly The Expanse has not turned out to be sci fi's Game of Thrones.

The Expanse’s third season will be its last on the Syfy channel

What will it take for a space opera show to become as big as Game of Thrones?

These are dark times. Is the average TV viewer as well as American too cynical to imagine humanity becoming a interstellar civilization?

If we showed the average Joe Mass Effect would they laugh? Would they find the idea of such a future ridiculous?

Would it need to be as Graphic as Game of Thrones? Is there a perception that sci fi is more about technology than character development?

 

 

[Theda Baratheon]

I don’t really think it has that much to do with viewers. I think if marketed correctly and if more people were watching it at the same TIME then it’d perform a LOT better. I think interest in science fiction is increasing 

[matt b]

This focus group STILL sucks.

[Fez]

Making a good Space Opera is expensive, and expensive shows need to justify their costs, but very few shows can get the kind of ratings that would be needed. Its why most shows are doctor/lawyer/police dramas, they are cheap to make (at least until the actor salaries start climbing) and don't need to be rated that highly to succeed. Yet even so there are lots of them that are cancelled every year too; the bar is even higher for a space opera.

[polishgenius]

I dunno, if someone made a movie about, like, space wizard-monks with laser swords and a giant evil space empire with a giant space station and the plucky space resistance trying to space resist them, and that spawned one of the most popular franchises in the history of entertainment, that might be a step towards space opera being mainstream.

Not sure the world is ready for that yet though.

eta: damn, I misread the title and now I feel a bit silly.

[Veltigar]

Fox needs to cancel it. 

[Darth Richard II]

Well, The Orville is going real well.

[Spring Bass]

It just needs to find the right outlet and the right audience. The Expanse could still conceivably do that, if it gets picked up by Amazon or Netflix and turns out to be an excellent performer on a streaming-only venue. Maybe Amazon's Cultureverse series will turn out to be that. 

Space operas tended to suffer on TV in the past because they were expensive to make and drew only decent ratings. That was even true for Star Trek on its original run back in the 1960s, although there were exceptions (and the later Star Trek series did better). 

1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said:

Well, The Orville is going real well.

I've read that that's an odd show. All the ads promoted it as essentially Seth McFarlane doing a Star Trek parody, but it doesn't seem to be a parody at all. 

[Darth Richard II]

Haven't watched it yet, but from what I;ve heard they kind of drop the parody a few episodes in except for the occasional fart joke.

[dbunting]

Been a while since the OP started one of these.

What will it take? A good premis, good writing directing acting, and people to want watch it.

Space type shows are niche markets and so they get niche viewers unless it's hits a chord and becomes a hit like GOT. Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Gallactica, ST Next Generation, all had decent runs and all fit the space opera genre. Could even include Stargate, Lost in Space, and the rest of the Star Trek spin offs.