Almost Human (TV series)

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This article is about the J.H. Wyman's 2013-14 sci-fi/police procedural series. For other uses, see Almost Human.
Fandom
Name: Almost Human
Abbreviation(s): AH
Creator: J. H. Wyman
Date(s): November 17, 2013 – March 3, 2014
Medium: Television Series
Country of Origin: United States
External Links: almosthumanfox at Tumblr
AlmostHumanFOX at Twitter
at IMDb
at Wikipedia
Official Website
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Almost Human is an 13-episode one season American science fiction police procedural television show that premiered on November 17, 2013. It starred Karl Urban as Detective John Kennex and Michael Ealy as Dorian, and Lili Taylor as Captain Sandra Maldonado. It was cancelled on April 29, 2014.

Canon Overview

Advances in science and technology were supposed to improve the world, but in 2048 the crime rates have risen to 400%. To better combat this, the LAPD implements a mixed human and machine task force, for every police officer is to be paired up with a lifelike combat-model android and thus have strength against crime.[1]

In this scenario we have Detective John Kennex, recently integrated after medical leave,[2] that after destroying yet another state-of-the-art android model is paired with the "obsolete"[3] Dorian, an android with human appearance and emotions.

Rounding out the other main characters are Captain Sandra Maldonado, Technician Rudy Lom, the Detectives Valerie Stahl and Richard Paul.

Cancellation

Many people cited Fox airing the episodes out of order as a contributing factor to its demise, similarly to what happened to Firefly.[4][5] The shuffling of the episodes not only introduced continuity problems but also turned John's and Dorian's character arcs and relationship development into a jumbled mess which ruined the central conflict of the show.

[ahfancon]
The network was apparently disappointed in the weekly numbers but Almost Human scored at least as well as other of their renewed shows despite (to name just a few):

a) premier date pushed back multiple times

b) episodes aired out of order, which impacted upon character development and story continuity,

c) competition from two powerhouses in the same time-slot: the last season of the immensely popular How I Met Your Mother and The Voice,

d) TWO three week hiatus periods during the course of the short 13 episode run which also, worked against viewer retention and

e) airing against the Olympics (virtually all other networks aired reruns).

Despite all of this, Almost Human held its share of ratings and, by the season finale, viewership was beginning to grow back toward the pilot numbers.[6]

Fandom Overview

Fan activity primarily focused on fandom between 2013 and 2015, with specific communities and profiles created during this period. AH has a few communities on LJ and DW,[7] with its activities also concentrated at the same time.

Relatively small the fandom grew through its first season. It was one of the larger Yuletide fandoms in 2013, with eight works written for it. On AO3 there were around 38 fics in the first week the series aired.[8]

Fannish attention was focused on Dorian and John's relationship. Most fans preferred Dorian/John Kennex as slash though its gen equivalent is the second most popular relationship in the fandom according to AO3 numbers. The largest het pairing is John Kennex/Valerie Stahl, and the largest femslash pairing is Sandra Maldonado/Valerie Stahl. Crossover pairings involving other fandoms Karl Urban is a part of have also appeared, for example John Kennex/James T. Kirk[1] and John Kennex/Richard B. Riddick[2].

Whitewashing

Fans quickly embraced the character of color Dorian played by Michael Ealy, however over time some resorted to whitewashing when creating works such as fanart. Criticisms of such practices were made in the fandom:

[fuckyeahjorian]
So I’ve noticed an increasingly prevalent practice in the Almost Human fandom lately where people literally whiten Dorian/Michael Ealy’s skin tone to practically albino. Wtf.

Whitewashing ain’t cool. Please don’t do it.

(Yes, Michael Ealy is relatively light-skinned for his race and he does have naturally blue eyes. I am aware of that.) But. To purposely lighten Michael/Dorian’s appearance until he’s much, much whiter than Karl/John? Seriously???

It might be “just a creative/aesthetic choice, stop overreacting!” to the people doing it, but as a POC I find this shit pretty damn upsetting. So yeah, please stop.[9]

Almost Human FanCon

Digital Flyer by thenizu

The Almost Human FanCon was a tumblrcon organized to celebrate and show support for the series when it was at risk of being cancelled.[10] The first con was held April 11–13 2014, while the seconds was held Feb 27-Mar 1 2015.

What the heck is this tumblrcon thing? It’s just a celebration of Almost Human, for the fans (old and new!), by the fans. Well it’s not actually taking place all on tumblr, but it is entirely online, so everyone can participate. We are having tons of live events happening this weekend, APRIL 11-13, in addition to the fan-generated content being posted to tumblr (use/track #AHFanCon, #Almost Human, and #almosthumanlives!), come out and join the fun!

The schedule of live events has now been posted. Check it out. Note that some times MAY change.

Links to details about the specific events under the cut (some may not be added until the con begins)

Fan Campaign: #SaveAlmostHuman

Digital Flyer by thenizu[12]

By the end of the first season, it became apparent that the show would not be renewed.[4][5] Fox's decision to cancel the show after only one season with decent ratings sparked outrage among fans, and numerous petitions to save the show were started.[1] (Here, here, here, and here, for example.) The largest petition received news coverage on sites like The Huffington Post and Comics Beat. Besides online petitions, ahfancon also organized a letter campaign directly addressed to various WB executives.

After the cancellation and no renewal prerogative, fans began to rewatch the series and dream of remakes, reboots, revivals and of course any other canon content of the work such as books, novels or games:

[Cat]
Just watched it again on Roku, and enjoyed it even more! I love the combo of sci fi and crime drama, as I love both genres. Do some more for us please? It’s clean enough to be Pg and interesting enough to keep our interest, and a lot better than most shows I’ve seen lately.[1]
[Lotus Wen]
I feel the same way! 😫 I wish there some service for fans to pic one show a year to do one more season. We could vote on the cancelled shows. Or they could do a TV movie.[1]
[Jaxstorm]
In fact, they made the worst mistake when canceling this incredible series, as you can see that Fox didn't trust him at all in his most famous series preferring to distance yourself from problems that have to look for the way to improve the ratings, I simply don't find a reason to react in this way so little professional, Hopefully in the future we can enjoy another season But there are still many mysteries without an answer within myself and I sincerely want to see John Kennex and Dorian again in action.[1]
[Lotus Wen]
With all these streaming apps I think am Almost Human revival would do great! I just wish I new someone big enough to get it back. One season is never enough to see if a show will hit. People take time to find a show and if they do they might be busy. I worked when it was on Air so I didn’t watch it till it was canceled. Now that I can stream it, I watch it ones or twice a year; for the past 8-9 years. I keep watching it, looking to see if there’s any new news. I’ve even checked for comics it books to continue the story. Then I throw a tantrum at home cuz there’s nothing, start a new series and come back to Almost Human when I’m done. I don’t know why I torture myself. It just had a great mix of crime drama and sci-fi. There are other does like it but Almost Human felt like I was watch the future not a fantasy but the future![1]

Virtual Season

Between 2014 and 2015, the AHFanCon decided to create a virtual season. A survey about the con, virtual season and rewatch of the series was made afterwards.[13]

[ahfancon]
So FOX continued to be a giant disappointment and canceled Almost Human - we’ll make Season 2 ourselves![14]

Fanwork

Fanart

Fanvids

Dorian/John Kennex

Fanfic

Dorian/John Kennex

  • The Reasons for Us by starandrea, Dorian wants to dance. John has an invitation. Everyone else watches. (Or, the one where John and Dorian become media darlings and a precinct-wide public relations nightmare, all in a single weekend.)
  • One of the Crazy Ones by starandrea, A kidnapping case turns personal when someone takes exception to the LAPD's involvement. Or maybe it's John and Dorian they don't like. John doesn't care what their problem is, he just wishes they'd stop trying to kill him--until he doesn't, because having an active threat against his life makes Dorian his 24/7 bodyguard.
  • Different by orphan account, In which the gang finds another DRN as a suspect for murder, John is an idiot, Dorian gets memory defects, and no one is very good at emotions.
  • Fixing One’s Energy Influx Is a Euphemism for Sex by Sophie for slipshod, Dorian looks up. “Your heart rate sped up and you're probably aware that blood flow to your genitals is increasing.” “Jesus Christ, can you at least not talk about it that way?” Dorian raises his eyebrows. “You're getting hard, man.”

Archives, Communities & Resources

Archives

Communities

Challenges/Exchanges

Tumblr

Resources

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Why Was Almost Human Cancelled and Can It Be Revived?". Cancelled Scifi. 2022-10-27. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  2. ^ almosthumanfox (2013). "Almost Human". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2013-12-05.
  3. ^ "Almost Human – DRN-0167 (DORIAN)". 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-05.
  4. ^ a b West, Kelly (2014-04-29). "Almost Human Cancelled, Fox's Futuristic Cop Drama Won't Be Back For Season 2". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02.
  5. ^ a b "Almost Human series cancelled by Fox after one series". BBC News. 2014-04-30. Archived from the original on 2024-08-08.
  6. ^ ahfancon (2014-08-04). "Almost Human Fan Con — UPDATED, PLEASE SIGNAL BOOST!". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2024-08-09.
  7. ^ The only two AH-focused communities on Dreamwidth were never used, being ahfancollab and ahvirtualseason
  8. ^ "Dorian/John Kennex - Works". Archive of Our Own. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-11-26.
  9. ^ fuckyeahjorian (2014-02-22). "PSA re: Whitewashing". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2017-05-23.
  10. ^ ahfancon. "Almost Human Fan Con – #Masterpost". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2018-01-08.
  11. ^ ahfancon (2014-04-09). "Almost Human Fan Con — Almost Human FanCon Live Events Schedule!". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2024-08-09.
  12. ^ thenizu (2014-09-22). "Almost Human might not be renewed for a second season, but do …". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2017-05-23.
  13. ^ ahfancon (2015-03-03). "Almost Human Fan Con — Almost Human Fan Survey". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2024-08-08.
  14. ^ ahfancon (2015-01-04). "Almost Human Fan Con — Almost Human FanCon 2015! Feb 27 to Mar 1". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 2024-08-08.
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