With the post-holiday start up of my line-up of favorite television shows already in gear, I’ve been thinking about suspense.

According to Merriam-Webster, one definition of suspense is “mental uncertainty”—in other words, anxiety or “pleasant excitement as to a decision or outcome.”

Fair enough, but one occupational hazard of being a writer is that I’m constantly deconstructing and/or studying what I read and watch—and judging the results.

For instance, this past fall I tuned into the latest Stargate show, Stargate Universe (SGU). In this version, when a base comes under attack a disparate group of soldiers, civilians, and scientists escape through a Stargate. They arrive on an ancient ship with no way to dial Earth. In other words, it’s a variation on the old lost in space formula.

 A formula I happen to like being a fan of both Lost in Space (1965-1968) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001). But, while I kept watching SGU my suspense-o-meter was sorely tested. Why?

Because I never reached a state of mental uncertainty, nor was I sufficiently excited, pleasantly or otherwise, as to the outcome of most of the episodes, which, quite frankly, seemed certain and predictable.

Let’s face it, in Episode 5: Light, I did not for one nanosecond believe that Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) was going to perish, even though the ship was headed straight for a sun and he, apparently, selflessly refused to put his name into the lottery for a place on the shuttle. Why not? Because 1. Carlyle’s is the first name to appear on the opening credits. This means he’s one of the stars, and a star is hardly going to die in a, ah, star. And 2. if the ship succumbs to a fiery end the show is over.

What it comes down to is a matter of point of view. Episodes such as Light sustained the “will they, won’t they survive” point of view rather than focusing on a “how will we survive” strategy.

Take another new television show Glee in which Spanish teacher, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) becomes director of his high school’s Glee Club—and a disparate (and yet very talented) group of students. The entire fall season focused on the Gee Club reaching the sectional competition.

The outcome isn’t in much doubt. For the show to continue, the fictional William McKinley High Glee Club has to win sectionals. Fortunately, the shows writers seemed to realize this and instead generated suspense by focusing on the How not the Will They point of view.

There is a place for the Will They or Won’t They type of suspense—the disturbing movie Open Water is a good case in point. But then, it’s a contained, finite story.

Will I tune into SGU when it starts back up? Sure, I might check in and see how everyone is doing. Don’t guarantee I’ll stay though. But you can bet you’ll find me watching as the competition over at William McKinley High heats up, especially since Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) has more schemes up her sleeve.

Tags: Dr. Nicholas Rush, Jane Lynch, Lost in Space, Matthew Morrison, Open Water, Robert CarlyleGlee, Robie Madison, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate Universe, Sue Sylvester, suspense, Will Schuester

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