Gene Roddenberry used narrative fiction to show us an aspirational future for humanity, offer social commentary of the day, and entertained us along the way. It seems the only science fiction on television these days is dystopian, post-apocalyptic, nightmares. We need more of the kind of aspirational work pioneered by Roddenberry.

I'm trying to think of *any* aspirational secular humanist TV regardless of genre and I'm coming up empty. Oddly, Newsroom would be the closest but it's actually a deeply cynical show.

I mean even the fantasy we watch is about a cruel indifferent universe in which the good and virtuous are more likely to be beheaded than to succeed.

As far as the major networks are concerned I am coming up empty save for one show that for some reason has held my interest (at least through its first season) and that would be Person Of Interest.

Oh yeah, I like Person of Interest. Still, it's mostly dystopian with a hint of good.

Exactly - the dark clouds of Post-Post Modernism with technology as the bad guy..

Person of Interest was filming outside Branch HQ in the Meatpacking a couple weeks ago. SPOILER: Cavaziel stands outside the Diane Von Furstenberg store at some point.

There is good aspirational, humanistic scifi. Susan Wu introduced me to Ted Chiang and his Stories of Your Life and Others is some of the best short form scifi I've read. It'd maybe make good fodder for a Twilight Zone type show.

I am not familiar with him. And really haven't had the time to kick back and read any good sci fi lately,but I like Stephen Baxter's stuff a lot. A bit of a pragmatist though as some of his stuff did not paint a great future. But great story and character development.

Interesting this should pop up now. On Saturday I read a transcript of a speech Sci-Fi author Warren Ellis gave to the Improving Reality conference in England last week.

In the speech Ellis notes the concept of "manufactured normalcy" as put forth by Ventakesh Rao, that "things are designed to activate a psychological predisposition to believe that we’re in a static and dull continuous present."

Adding to his point, Ellis quotes Marshall McLuhan:

“Because of the invisibility of any environment during the period of its innovation, man is only consciously aware of the environment that has preceded it...”

Worth the read. A call to action for futurists of all stripes.
warrenellis.com

In the UK ( and I believe the US) we have our long running series Dr Who. It offers what Biz referred to as "an aspirational future for humanity, offer social commentary of the day, and entertained us along the way"

bbc.co.uk

Doctor Who is not so much an aspirational show as it is a pure scifi show. It deals with the beauty and possibilities of the universe, while Star Trek dealt more with the beauty and possibilities of humanity. Doctor Who shows what a super powerful alien would do with the Universe as his playground, while Star Trek showed what humans should become and what we should do with the Universe if we ever deserved to inherit it.

I would argue that Dr Who is looking at humanity from the perspective of a super powerful alien, he sees a species with great potential hence his obsession with Earth and it's inhabitants.
Star Trek did not always show the beauty of humanity, many episodes showed the black side of humans, albeit they were defeated and good won in the end.

You raise a good point, the doctor does show a special love for humans and sees their potential. I feel however that Doctor Who is mostly a narrative centered around a few individuals that occasionally touches on broader ethical issues, while Star Trek was first and foremost focused on ethical issues as seen through the lens of evolved humans. It's a different emphasis.

Recently, I put money towards a Kickstarter called "Space Command" that aimed to solve this question: kickstarter.com

Personally, I was always more of a fan of Babylon 5 than star trek, but even that show held a more "positive" outlook than most. Sure, there was corruption and big bads, but the driving force of the show is that if you're right, and you stand up for your convictions, you can push through, and that in the end that attitude would overcome whatever the universe threw at you.

Next Generation Star Trek was the last series that I remember really filling this gap. The later ones, and all focused on interpersonal relationships instead of humanity themes. I don't think it is that these types of shows can't work, but that the ones focusing on drama, or individuals, have a broader audience and can get funded easier. Maybe Space Command has the right idea, Sci-Fi fans may be a small market for television but they still might be big enough to get fan funded films going. Either way I hope that there will be something new to come along and fill this gap for the next generation.