Best of Genre Television 1998
by Michelle Erica Green

---

Trek To Babylon

While 1998 was a mediocre year for television overall, it was a fairly good year for genre. There are over 30 new science fiction, action, fantasy, and horror shows currently on network and cable, plus a wide variety of reruns and television movies, and endless hype on Entertainment Tonight about the new Star Wars film. Tempted though I am to give my Best Series award to the Sci-Fi Channel's restored original Star Trek, to do so would be a disservice to many fine newer shows.

Best Series is a difficult choice this season. While I firmly believe that The X-Files is without peer in genre and perhaps even on television, 1998 was not its best year. The crescendo towards Fight the Future and the anticlimactic return afterwards were disruptive to the television narrative; I'm rather confused at present about who's running the conspiracy, who's controlling whom at the F.B.I., and (most importantly) whether Mulder and Scully are partners, friends, lovers, or just a couple of mixed-up peopleo can't decide. While there have been several superlative episodes in the course of the past year - the superbly directed "Kill Switch" and "Triangle" come to mind - they were overshadowed by the film, and there were no episodes which had the emotional power of 1997's "Christmas Carol" and "Emily." While I'd give the award for this decade to The X-Files, I can't give them the award for the year.

Similarly, Xena is a terrific show, but it did not have a terrific year in 1998. I found the whole motherhood arc to be misguided; though the stories were well-executed, they reduced two of the strongest women on television to their maternal instincts, and put a contrived rift into Xena and Gabrielle's friendship which greatly weakened the latter's character. Joxer was sillier than necessary, Best Supporting Actor Bruce Campbell's humor was sorely needed in the episodes in which he appeared. Though the musical "The Bitter Suite" is one of 1998's finest hours, there were too many silly "Fins, Femmes, and Gems"-type stories, and WAY too many fish jokes. The Hope arc ended well, but it left Callisto dead - a great loss for the Xenaverse - and nothing interesting has built since Gabrielle's resurrection. Xena needs some new regulars, or perhaps some new writers.

Hercules, on the other hand, had an absolutely terrific 1998. I may as well put my feminist reputation at risk and admit that I usually like Hercules better than Xena. Sure, it annoys me that Morrigan and Nebula are stuck forever playing sidekicks in a boy's world, but this show has a fantastic sense of humor, a couple of utterly likeable heroes, and a terrific campy sensibility. I was crushed by the death of Iolaus, but if we get to see Michael Hurst as the Widow Twanke dancing in Hercules' arms again, I will probably get over it. Kevin Sorbo really came into his own as an actor this year, which is ironic because he missed several episodes due to an injury; still, we got some hysterically funny Autolycus and Salmoneus appearances to cover, and when Sorbo returned for the Dahok arc, he was superlative. I hated Dahok on Xena, but his presence on Hercules has reinvigorated the series; fighting the minions of his wicked stepmother Hera was getting a little old. Give the runner-up trophy to the Son of Zeus.

I watch four series consecutively on Sunday nights: the three above, then USA's La Femme Nikita. I'm sorry to have to announce to Scully and Xena that Nikita and Madeline have become the two coolest women on television. The series itself is uneven - some episodes are breathtakingly believable, some are utterly ludicrous - but the characters are terrific and the show itself is extremely stylish. Unlike The X-Files, La Femme Nikita never resorts to parody, relentlessly taking itself seriously, which gives it a kind of integrity and power very rare in genre television. Among cult audience shows, I'd put this and newly-returned The Sentinel at the top, closely followed by Earth: Final Conflict which has taken many surprising turns this season, and the surprising The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, which is dark and interesting. (A brief farewell bow to Highlander which left on a strong note; it's too soon to tell whether The Raven will be a worthy successor.)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the best things to happen to television in my lifetime. Sarah Michelle Gellar is a revelation: her performances in the episodes after Angel lost his soul and again after she trapped him in Hell were convincing, her depression absolutely real. I adore this character: despite her adolescent angst and the trivialities of her suburban life, Buffy's even stronger than Xena. I love her balance of independence and passion, I love her relationship with Giles in which she sometimes becomes the mentor. In fact the only thing I don't always love about Buffy are her friends. Xander and Cordelia are OK, Willow's fun when she's not too flaky, but when Buffy isn't the unquestioned center of an episode, I find myself losing interest quickly. Maybe this is an age thing - I'm probably at least a decade older than this show's target audience - but sometimes the self-parody gets dangerously close to mockery. I thought the series lost some steam after Angel's return, and I expect it to lose some more when he spins off onto his own series. I'm giving SMG the Best Actress award, but I want to give Buffy another year before committing to it unequivocally as a fan.