E-Book Overview
Though science fiction certainly existed prior to the surge of television in the 1950s, the genre quickly established roots in the new medium and flourished in subsequent decades. In Channeling the Future: Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, Lincoln Geraghty has assembled a collection of essays that focuses on the disparate visions of the past, present, and future offered by science fiction and fantasy television since the 1950s and that continue into the present day.
E-Book Content
Channeling the Future Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy Television
Edited by Lincoln Geraghty
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2009
SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2009 by Lincoln Geraghty All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Channeling the future : essays on science fiction and fantasy television / edited by Lincoln Geraghty. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8108-6675-1 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-6922-6 (e-book) 1. Science fiction television programs—History and criticism. 2. Fantasy television programs—History and criticism. I. Geraghty, Lincoln, 1977– PN1992.8.S35C43 2009 791.45'615—dc22 2008054534
⬁ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America.
Contents
Acknowledgments
v
Introduction: Future Visions Lincoln Geraghty
vii
Part I: America’s New Frontier Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Retro Landscapes: Reorganizing the Frontier in Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Van Norris Irwin Allen’s Recycled Monsters and Escapist Voyages Oscar De Los Santos The Future Just Beyond the Coat Hook: Technology, Politics, and the Postmodern Sensibility in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Cynthia W. Walker
3
25
41
Part II: British Dystopias and Utopias Chapter 4
Pulling the Strings: Gerry Anderson’s Walk from “Supermarionation” to “Hypermarionation” David Garland iii
61
iv
Contents
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Farmers, Feminists, and Dropouts: The Disguises of the Scientist in British Science Fiction Television in the 1970s Laurel Forster Secret Gardens and Magical Realities: Tales of Mystery, the English Landscape, and English Children Dave Allen
75
93
Part III: Fantasy, Fetish, and the Future Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
There Can Be Only One: Highlander: The Series’ Portrayal of Historical and Contemporary Fantasy Michael S. Duffy Kinky Borgs and Sexy Robots: The Fetish, Fashion, and Discipline of Seven of Nine Trudy Barber “Welcome to the world of tomorrow!”: Animating Science Fictions of the Past and Present in Futurama Lincoln Geraghty
113
133
149
Part IV: Visions and Revisions Chapter 10
Plastic Fantastic? Genre and Science/Technology/ Magic in Angel Lorna Jowett
Chapter 11
Remapping the Feminine in Joss Whedon’s Firefly Robert L. Lively
Chapter 12