Is it me or does SF/Fantasy shows seem optimistic,compared to regular tv shows?

[Milky Way Resident]

It depends on the material in question. There are plenty of light-headed shows just as there is a plethora of dark ones. I would actually argue that it's the other way around, in that most shows are moving towards a darker tone.

In fantasy, particularly in literature, the new trend is 'grimdark', which as you may have guessed tends to favor morally grey depiction of characters with all the tropes that come with it

Game of Thrones, The Expanse, Black Mirror are good examples of the aforementioned genre.

[charlygal]

Originally Posted by axelthefox

Because seems in SF/Fantasy shows stuff like dishonesty like deceiving people,cheating on someone and such and greed appear to be looked down upon. While in regular tv shows,stuff like cheating on someone and deceiving a person seem to be viewed as a way of life. And seems doing the right thing seems admired in SF/fantasy,while in regular shows it is scorned.

What shows are you watching where cheating and deception are overlooked?

[bUU]

Originally Posted by Spikett

Not as a rule. Many sci-fi/fantasy shows/movies take place in dystopian worlds/places. Very dark.

It would be somewhat interesting to see a chart that tracks the relative proportion of utopian vs. dystopian speculative fiction decade by decade.

[rjshae]

Sci-fi tends to be about how people respond in unusual settings and/or abnormal circumstances, so you tend to see the better (or worse) side of human nature in those extremes, if only just to survive deadly conditions. Normal TV shows depict people in mundane circumstances, so they often have to focus on the drama of people behaving badly in order to be entertaining.