Fall TV

This fall there's been a lot of television that has intrigued me. Since I'm a diehard science fiction fan, I've been absolutely delighted by the introduction of new shows to watch that are of this nature, such as the new Stargate: Universe, FlashForward, and V.

My wife and I, however, are particularly choosy about what kind of television shows we watch because: 1) we have certain moral standards, and 2) we tend to wholeheartedly commit to what we watch. So, let me give the run-down of what has basically happened this fall.

First off was Stargate: Universe. We watched the first episode and were miffed at the gratuitous sex scene that was included. However, we know that directors have a tendency to put stuff like that in a new show's pilot in order to be "edgier" and to grab target audiences who like that kind of stuff. We saw the same thing with the original Stargate television show where there was nudity in the pilot episode, but it cleaned up nicely after that to face an astonishingly successful 10 seasons.

So it was that we had similar expectations for this new show. However, we have been terribly disappointed. Not only has the show not lived up to the "fun-ness" of the other two Stargate series, but it has already had several sex scenes in its brief run, one of which was quite ... blatant. We're not very happy about it since we have high hopes and are looking forward to seeing where it will go. We haven't given up on the series just yet, but we're very close to doing so. We're watching for that little ratings box at the front of the episode to see if the dreaded "S" is included and treading lightly. Time will tell.

With regards to FlashForward, we watched the first few episodes, but have been disappointed in just how ... gross ... it can be. We're not into the whole "medical procedural" thing, nor do we particularly enjoy hyper-violence, but what really broke us here was the gratuitous lesbian sex scene. I know our society has become more "open" to this kind of stuff, but, as I've said in this space before (often), I don't approve of that behavior. I don't mind that a main character is a lesbian, really I don't. I just don't want to see her making out with some other woman, and I think they could have skipped that whole thing and still got "the point" across.

So, we dropped it. I still follow the story-line, casually, but only because I'm curious to know where it will go.

Lastly was V. We'd been burned by the other two shows, so we approached this one with extreme caution. I scanned the first episode and was stunned by the level of violence. My wife really does not appreciate that, so we decided not to even start that one. Too bad, too, because I really enjoyed the original ...

So, here we are, well into the fall television season and we have no new shows to watch. Our old standbys still keep us pleased enough (Survivor, Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, and we're awaiting Lost's return), but I was really hoping for something new. Ah, well, there's always next year.

Why, oh, why, can't there be a new television show that skips the sex, the language, and the hyper-violence, and instead focuses on intriguing and dramatic storylines? Why can't somebody entertain me without offending my moral standards? Why?!