3rd season of The Expanse

[E_T]

aired last night and it was fantastic!!

In case anyone does not know, The Expanse is on SyFy and is based on a series of books.  It is extremely well done HARD (in most respects) SciFi. 

I continue to be hooked by this series...

[Geo]

I have yet to obtain the 2nd season (and watch the first in full view instead of a YouTube upload).

[Unorthodox]

It's been on my maybe someday dive into list. 

Define "Hard" scifi. 

And what, if any, horror elements might be included as they generally increase the likelihood I'll stick with a scifi. 

Horror in space 
Fantasy/Adventure in space   
politics in space 

[E_T]

Hard as in Hard Science.  Things like changing vectors of spaceship in space with real thrust (taking time).  How a Sparrow on Ceres flies in low gravity (few flaps, pause, few flaps, pause).  Things like that.

The proto-molecule is scary in some respects.

[Unorthodox]

Too much of that can be just as annoying as too little. 

So, how do they handle communication over distance, for instance? 

[E_T]

Mostly Recorded Messages, depending on distance

[Lorizael]

Horror in space 

Yup.

Fantasy/Adventure in space   

Nope.

politics in space 

Yup.

[Buster's Uncle]

...Why couldn't TV have been full of SF and comic book shows before I was broken of the watching habit in the Texas years nearly a decade ago?...  I was bored for most all of the naughts...

[bvanevery]

I think the strategic answer to that, is sci-fi is production heavy.  When cable companies controlled the TV medium, I don't think there was a patronage model that allowed for increased numbers of sci-fi shows.  Now you've got the phenom of things like The Expanse, The Corporation, Game of Thrones (fantasy), Vikings (historical), where some production company takes a lot more time and resources to make episodes, but doesn't provide the content on a continuous basis.  Their funding model is not ad driven, so they are not under a contractual obligation to keep providing an excuse to show all those ad spots all the time.  I think you had to have the internet content providers loosening the grip of cable companies, before this kind of business model could evolve.

[Buster's Uncle]

Dang.  That there's a perspicuous and cogent answer, Mr. b...

[Syn]

Sci-fi is still a cutthroat genre on TV. Most shows get cancelled quickly.

I'm looking at you, Dark Matter.

[bvanevery]

Dang.  That there's a perspicuous and cogent answer, Mr. b...

I got frusrated with "where's my next GoT?" a few months ago, and ran into an article with half of that explanation, about the non-ad basis of the productions now.  Lots of outfits are competing to be "the next GoT" but they can't all manage it.  Arguably, no one has managed it.  Production cos also compete to be the next "Downton Abbey", which is essentially a high production values soap opera.

[Buster's Uncle]

As Dianne said to Sam that one time "But you remembered it, and you used it in the right place."  She was just being condescending, as always; I'm only being that for humor purposes...