Heroes, FlashForward and 24...Start strong, then quality declines

I have to admit that I never watched Heroes; I know of some of the cast members - Zachary Quinto played Spock in the 2009 Star Trek movie, and Hayden Panentiere once said she would not mind having a lesbian experience - but it was never a must-see series for me. I like its concept but for some reason I never watched it. Ditto Lost and Fringe.

The one thing I did notice is that, just like the two shows I did watch (24 and FlashForward), Heroes seemed to start out with strong writing, great acting and clever concepts, but eventually it declined in quality, although at a much slower pace than the now-canceled FlashForward.

I've often speculated that television may be the wrong venue for serialized fantasy/sci-fi. The fact that it is a genre with more limited appeal, as compared to soaps like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, combined with the fact that it depends so heavily on viewers watching episode in order without missing many, makes it very difficult to sustain viewership. And with declining viewership comes declining budget and directives from the folks paying for the program to make changes, changes that undercut what was most appreciated by the folks who did had loyally watched the show. Indeed, at that point where the show is not garnering adequate ratings, everyone would be better off, I feel, just killing the show, as they did with Jericho (before they brought it back - indeed, when they brought it back was a perfect example of why it a bad idea to try to keep such shows around if they don't get good ratings).

A lot of folks point to Lost as a counter-example, but I'm not even sure that that's the case. Many folks dropped Lost because it got too convoluted. Even though the final season did a little better than the previous season, the last three seasons all failed to deliver the kind of ratings that the first three seasons delivered.

Originally Posted by bicker

I've often speculated that television may be the wrong venue for serialized fantasy/sci-fi. The fact that it is a genre with more limited appeal, as compared to soaps like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, combined with the fact that it depends so heavily on viewers watching episode in order without missing many, makes it very difficult to sustain viewership. And with declining viewership comes declining budget and directives from the folks paying for the program to make changes, changes that undercut what was most appreciated by the folks who did had loyally watched the show. Indeed, at that point where the show is not garnering adequate ratings, everyone would be better off, I feel, just killing the show, as they did with Jericho (before they brought it back - indeed, when they brought it back was a perfect example of why it a bad idea to try to keep such shows around if they don't get good ratings).

A lot of folks point to Lost as a counter-example, but I'm not even sure that that's the case. Many folks dropped Lost because it got too convoluted. Even though the final season did a little better than the previous season, the last three seasons all failed to deliver the kind of ratings that the first three seasons delivered.

I think you're right. Serialized dramas like FlashForward are pretty demanding on loyal viewers, and the format is very difficult to sustain. That there have been successful sci fi and fantasy series on TV is partly because most of the long-lived ones were either on syndication or in niche channels or small networks - Smallville on the WB/CW, Battlestar Galactica on SciFi/Syfy.