Weird fan extinction of once popular SciFi shows

Quantum Leap
Time Trax

These used to have huge followings -- what happened?

Everyone sobered up.

But hey, there's this:

http://quantumleap-alsplace.com/

SCOTT BAKULA + 50 ADDITIONAL GUESTS ATTENDED CONVENTION IN 2009!

I always wondered if Scott Bakula and the guy who played Face and Starbuck on A-Team and Galactica got paid a premium at conventions because it's like getting two cult stars for the price of one.

Never even heard of Time Trax.

The X-Files had a huge, obsessive following in the mid-90s. It dwindled quite rapidly after the show ended, perhaps even before. It doesn't seem to have enjoyed the same post-run fandom that the original Star Trek had.

Time Trax

Who ever watched Time Trax? It was shown in the UK on ITV at 5 in the evening in the early 90's. I think they stopped showing it after half a dozen episodes and went back to Baywatch or Beverley Hills 90210.

i feel like Quantam Leap kind of happened during a low ebb of mainstream sci-fi...Star Trek TNG was going at the same time but in general that stuff was not happening much on network TV, so it might feel kind of out of time...it was definitely popular and i think fans of it haven't forgotten about it, but it never had (or needed) the kind of obsessive cult or letter-writing campaigns that kept earlier or later sci-fi franchises on the air. that's just my gut feeling, though, i could be wrong.

All I remember about Quantum Leap fans was they were called Lepers!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/HighlanderTheRavenDVDcover.jpg

http://blogna.tv/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/FOREVER_KNIGHT.bmp.jpg

http://dvdastarr.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/sliders.jpg

X-Files cult dwindled after five or six seasons (and rightfully so)

I'm sure there's 'healthy' online fanfic communities for all these franchises tho.

There would pretty much have to be- I actually thought the thread title was "weird fan extensions" etc and came in expecting some bizarre fanfic. I am, needless to say, disappoint.

For something that is by its nature unauthorized, fanfiction in general is remarkably conservative, and weird in narrowly prescribed ways.

Not so with bootleg toys:
http://www.collectiondx.com/gallery2/gallery/d/486997-3/P5172813.jpg

OK I'm looking for that next time I go for Dim Sum!

http://crazyabouttv.com/Images/aliennation.jpg
http://cindyryan.tripod.com/seaquest.jpg

We need a poll of the best Sports Spidey. I'm torn between the b-ball Spidey or Golf Spidey.

why is basketball Spidey dunking his own severed head

Why wouldn't he

Boxing Spidey with gloves is pretty great too.

Golf Spidey

He has already anticipated victory:
http://www.collectiondx.com/gallery2/gallery/d/487017-3/P5172839.jpg

http://www.collectiondx.com/review/action_figure/spider_man_adventure_hero

This one's real (not a bootleg):
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/75/189122623_208dbf7315_m.jpg

What about Firefly? EVeryone was all up in Joss's thing when it and Serenity came out and now no one seems to talk about it much but, again, maybe its all in horrid LiveJournal fanfic communities.

I have no proof, but I suspect all the Whedon properties occupy a permanent space in fandom real estate.

(but maybe they all have to squeeze into Whedon's condo)

this is a great thread title. what happened to the fans?

I will wave my lonely flag for Babylon 5 for as long as I can without being beaten up.

never heard of time trax either but i used to watch quantum leap religiously - it (and to a lesser extent the x-files) weren't really big deep mythos shows the way galactica or something else like YES babylon 5 were, so yeah i dunno it seems pretty normal to me why the fans of those shows wouldn't linger on in the same way.

basically the sci-fi element as such was just the general premise rather than being intrinsic to the narrative - strictly speaking in quantum leap there was no real narrative as such besides like 5 episodes out of howevermany they made anyway.

There are still plenty of Whedon fans, but i think it's a combination of a)the Firefly fan backlash made it cool for everyone to hate on and b)Dollhouse was definitely a lot worse than Firefly when it started, though it had promise, and was kind of a downer in general (though it eventually started getting good). Add on Whedon's comics, Dr. Horrible and aborted movie projects and there's more stuff to focus on.

Whedonversemania seems permanent now, but then again how many hardcore TNG/DS9 fans are still around? Depends if he keeps working and how good his new stuff is, I guess.

Think there's a sad abandonment of the new Battlestar Galactica due to so much whining over the final two seasons, but maybe people will come back to it in a few years. Then again, it might just get completely forgotten despite the first two seasons being so excellent (reminiscent of Alias, but I'm not sure if that ever had a huge fan base?).

Alias!

I think Battlestar Galactica has enough catchphrases and 'hooks' in it that nerds can reference forever that it won't ever totally fade out.
The original coasted pretty far on 'by your command' alone.

I still watch TNG episodes. Still good. And a whole hell of a lot of BSG. All seasons.

The X-Files had a huge, obsessive following in the mid-90s. It dwindled quite rapidly after the show ended, perhaps even before.

yeah the show stayed around for way too long. everyone I know who loved it had stopped watching by the last season. as a result no-one even bothered with the last movie (I did rent it and kept falling asleep) even though it was a return to form. and now I even have a hard time watching the earlier seasons in reruns.

TNG's dentist office aesthetic has aged very badly. the original series looks more cutting edge.

still waiting the lonely wait for a SLIDERS revival

i wasn't hating on TNG/DS9, btw, i still love the hell out of 'em. i actually miss the days earlier this decade when they'd run two eps back to back of both series on SpikeTV every day

Sliders is totally one of those concepts someone could plausibly do a awesome reboot of, BSG-style (or better, Doctor Who-style)

i just bought the TNG and BSG box sets. eep.

i followed the first 2 seasons of sliders but the third season was universally reviled. never watched the syfy makeover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_3-Yua2PmE

Some mediocre SF shows benefit from being the only thing going (or one of the few) at the time. Now it seems like there's a glut, with Lost, V, Flashforward, Fringe etc. on network TV, and more stuff on SyFy and other cable channels--not to mention all the DVDs of older series to catch up on. In a dry season a pretty good show like the 4400 may have found a devoted audience, but as it is I barely see anyone talking about it.

Funnily enough, I was about to use The 4400 as a thing that reminds me of the sort of thing that could have really taken off as a thing. Its conceit isn't very far removed from some of the things mentioned above that have been lost in the mists of time, but it didn't have the really high-concept flashy hook that Lost, Heroes, Flashforward, etc have (not that anyone watches Flashforward either any more, do they?).

I could also probably make a case for Journeyman, and possible Eli Stone, as being similar to the same problem that beset The 4400 by being lost somewhere in the middle of other, more popular, shows.