Saying Goodbye to The Cape: Musings on Genre Shows

Even before the final episode of NBC’s The Cape was pushed to being internet-exclusive, it was clear that the show was done for. This was not terribly surprising seeing as the show suffered from mediocre writing, flat acting, and a premise somewhat flawed and filled with holes. This was disappointing, considering what The Cape could have been. The Cape had the right setup to make for a great superhero TV show. Because The Cape featured a powerless, Batman-like hero, it did not have to worry about a big budget for flashy special effects. The show also featured geek goddess Summer Glau on the cast, which gave the show a built-in audience right from the get-go. Once again, a great idea for a show was not given enough time find its feet, but seeing that the show had some flaws, I was okay with it getting the axe in favor of something better, at least until I heard that another superhero show was also getting the axe. I am talking about No Ordinary Family and unlike The Cape, No Ordinary Family had great acting and writing that resulted in compelling stories from week to week.

With all of this occurring I have to ask the big question: Are genre shows doomed from the start? It seems like the big networks are sending the message over and over again that the only shows they welcome are those that appeal to a large audience and if you can’t make your sci-fi/fantasy show appeal to the wider demographic, don’t even bother. In the last five years, a large amount of good genre shows have been canceled prematurely before they could build the sort of momentum needed to reach a larger audience. Normally I would be okay with this. The big networks are used to garnering the large American Idol-like audiences and the more niche genre shows can always find a home on the smaller networks. Recently smaller networks like Syfy have been trying to appeal to larger audiences, bringing such fine programs to their network as Friday Night Smackdown. Now I love overly-buff men fighting as much as the next guy but wrestling does not strike me as the right fit for a network that was created to build its programming around science fiction.

I think this is why I am so excited for the wave of new media that the internet has brought. I recently found a web series called GOLD that tells the story of a group of professional tabletop role players. This is not a show that easily extends beyond the geek crowd, and most of its jokesonly really make sense to those with D&D experience. However, Goldtheseries.com is entirely supported through fan donations and creates a great product that many people enjoy. The show could never be considered for a primetime slot on CBS, but the internet allows it to flourish. The point I think I am trying to get around to is that I fear the days of genre shows being on actual cable is nearing a close. If we, the fans, do not do something to keep these genres alive then we are going to be stuck with program listings made entirely of procedurals, sitcoms, and reality shows. Moving to the internet seems like the obvious choice and has worked for several series, such as The Guild and Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, but that being said internet programming is still very much in its infancy and problems with funding and distribution still are waiting to be sorted out. In the meantime, the fans of genre programming need to support what we love, which luckily is not something we generally have a problem with. It still remains to be seen how the geeks and nerds of the world are going to get their sci-fi/fantasy fix, but just because the big networks try to tell us that kind of programming has no place on their stations does not mean genre shows will disappear anytime soon.


Thoughts? Ideas? Opinions? Let us know what you think in the comments. We may even respond.