I wasn't sure if A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol really counted as fantasy. I mean, obviously they are, but not so much in the minds of the lay man nor, I would say, TV writiers and producers. I certainly wouldn't describe this sort of "what if" scenario as a TV SF cliche.
In many ways Turn Left was much closer to A Wonderful Life etc. than the Buffy episode because it explicitly showed how bad life was without the central character, whereas The Wish had a more complex message, perhaps, about how different both she and Sunnydale were if they were not brought together.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-22 07:38 pm (UTC)In many ways Turn Left was much closer to A Wonderful Life etc. than the Buffy episode because it explicitly showed how bad life was without the central character, whereas The Wish had a more complex message, perhaps, about how different both she and Sunnydale were if they were not brought together.