By Zack Handlen

Television producers are unwilling to commit to anything that might not appeal to the general public- and very willing to cancel the few genre experiments that make it to the screen the instant their fan base flags. Since most cult shows take a while to acquire an audience, this means a shelf-life of almost nil to anything out of the main-stream. For every X-Files, there’s a VR- 5. For every Star Trek: The Next Generation, there’s a Homeboys From Outer Space.

Star Trek: TNG is an important case to note, because while its success was built upon decent writing and a talented ensemble cast, its existence is due to a recognizable brand name; most everyone had at least heard of the original Star Trek when it’s television successor appeared. This meant high visibility and, at least initially, good ratings. Producers and executives love that sort of thing; a franchise means far less risk, and less risk is a strong attraction in an industry where year-long creations can vanish in a night.

Not every show warrants a “sequel,” however. The next best thing? Take a movie that did well in the theaters, buy the name and as much as the plot as suits you, and stick it on USA every Friday night, hoping it’ll stick.

The most recent example of this is the de-evolution of the Tremors film series. The first Tremors, which come out back in the hallowed year of 1990, was a surprise success for Universal, and a huge hit with B- movie fans. It told the story of a small town in the middle of a Texas desert being ravaged by some unpleasant underground beasties, and managed to keep a solid sense of humor while still hitting the thrills. It did well at the box office, and even better on home video.

Which meant sequels -- three, to be exact, and all straight to video (one’s still in production). The usual diminishing of returns occurred, with the special effects budget being entirely devoted to mediocre CGI, and the scripts losing the flair of the original. However, enough enthusiasm remained with the project, and enough profit was made from the videos, that somebody somewhere decided that it would be possible to make even more off the franchise than just a series of rapidly worsening movies; why not tack on an even lower budgeted television show? The Sci-Fi channel is always desperate for something to pull in viewers, and if you have a Michael Gross just lying around, why not use him.

So, the show got made, and despite some fan protest- protests generally amounting to “This is crap”-- it has yet to be cancelled. New episodes should be airing in June, according to the web-site. Clearly, someone is watching.

But for how long? The movie to television conversion has a high burn-out rate; something one would expect the producers of the new Tremors series to remember. But if they don’t- and you aren’t too conversant on the sordid history of this sort of thing yourself -- here’s a look back on a few of the more notable genre hits that became slightly less than blockbuster television.

To read the rest of this article, please order B-Movies Quarterly #1.