American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate, and Beyond

by Jan Johnson-Smith

Science fiction TV and the American psyche.

From "The Next Generation" and "The X-Files" to "Farscape" and "Enterprise," science fiction television shows have millions of devoted fans. American Science Fiction TV is the first full-length study of this popular genre. Writing with the clarity of a scholar and the enthusiasm of a fan, Jan Johnson-Smith shows how science fiction television has displaced the Western in the American cultural imagination. As advances in special effects have made science fiction television technically feasible on a more lavish scale than ever before, visual style has become as important as narrative―sometimes even more important―in expressing the meaning of the genre. The main part of the book uses case studies of several key science fiction series, including " Above and Beyond," "StarGate SG-1," and "Babylon 5," to exemplify particular narrative patterns and visual styles. The case studies explore themes such as politics, ideology, race and ethnicity, gender difference, militarism, and the use of science fiction narratives as allegories of present-day social and political concerns. American Science Fiction TV opens an important new area of genre studies and will be of interest to scholars and fans alike.

Genres: Science Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

orn in 1963, with a northern father and southern mother, her family moved around quite a lot when she was young, eventually settling in the West Country. At 16 she left school and worked in Devon as an administrative assistant, doing photography and writing stories in her spare time. In 1985 she passed the entrance exam for Sussex University and studied American Literature - figuring that there was less of it than English literature (for the record, she was wrong!). 


At Sussex she furthered her interests in film, photography and Chinese painting/calligraphy, and co-ran the Film Society for a year. After graduating, she won a Scholarship to study in the USA for a Master’s degree, and also taught part-time at Clark University in Massachusetts. She returned to the UK in 1991, first lecturing in Suffolk, before moving to Bournemouth in 1995 so she could combine her interests in film and television theory-practice. 


Jan completed her doctorate, Between the Candle and the Star, in 2001 – it’s about mythology, television narrative, science fiction and the cult American tv series Babylon 5.

Jan is a teacher and author living in South Yorkshire. Until recently she was the Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at Bournemouth University’s Media School and taught on the BA (Honours) degrees in Interactive Media, Scriptwriting and Television Production. She was also the Programme Leader for the MA in Post-Production, and contributed to MA Screenwriting.


Her interests are based around ancient myth and legend; authorship, genre and narrative; editing and mise-en-scène; military history and images of war in film and tv.

Reviews

[Nesie · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/bo...

[Aglaia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although subtitled with Star Trek and Stargate, Jan Johnson-Smith's book American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate, and Beyond displays an obvious affection for and greater understanding of Babylon 5 than of any of its title shows. Johnson-Smith mentions Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stargate SG-1, and Farscape, but the true focus of the book is definitely Babylon 5. Johnson-Smith observes that B5's premise goes against the traditional idea of binaries and that the show is more demanding of its viewers as it includes a true 5 year arc where important story points are presented and assumed to be remembered at a later date.

[RB · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading in other reviews that this book is predominately focused on Babylon 5 (even though the title would suggest otherwise), my favourite tv-show of all time, how could I resist not picking it up?

The first couple of chapters are very academic in nature and can be a bit tiresome to read, but once Johnson-Smith gets started on her main case studies (mainly Star Trek, Space Above and Beyond and most notably Babylon 5), then her narrative picks up and it becomes an engaging read.

Definitely an interesting ready for any science fiction fan.

[Ley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised that the author focused so heavily on Babylon 5. It was welcomed since I find the series as a whole underrepresented in science fiction discussions.

The author uses a very dry and academic tone that, at times, grew tedious and made me put the book down, but overall the presentation of the material was done quite well.