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Abstract

Despite its initial popularity, (US 2006-09) has quickly been forgotten among sf series that include elements of teen drama. The programme centres on (Matt Dallas), a belly-button-less young man found wandering naked in the woods, who has no memory of his past but appears to have superhuman powers. The Trager family take him in, and the series follows his quest for the truth about his past and his attempts to escape from it, as well as the ups and downs of family life.In a number of ways, resembles teen dramas that came immediately before and after, most notably Roswell (US 1999-2002) and The Vampire Diaries (2009-). In all three series, teen relationships are played out against an sf or supernatural backdrop. In Roswell, the story is told through the eyes of Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) who falls in love with Max Evans (Jason Behr), who happens to be an alien. In The Vampire Diaries, Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) falls in love with the new guy at school, Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), who happens to be a vampire. can be seen as the missing link between these series, but is also rather different. While (not an alien or a vampire but the result of a scientific experiment) is the love interest of one of the female characters, the story is not told through her eyes but through his. This challenging of traditional gender roles sets apart from similarly themed programmes. This article will explore the series' treatment of gender and detail the innovative way the show was first screened by ABC, its initial critical reception and the narrative structure that ultimately resulted in its demise.As outlined by Becker, the programme was the first series shown on ABC Family to be repeated on the main ABC channel a few days later, a tactic which created high viewing figures for the first season. The viewing figures tailed off considerably during the second season, and again in the third, and the series was cancelled before the end of the third season (see Seidman). Critical reception was mixed. Steven Bryan writes,'Kyle XY' is the type of made-for-cable series that puts the 'original' back in original programming. Instead of turning into a 'gimmick' show, this family drama focuses more on issues that face real teenagers and less on the science fiction aspects of the series.Meanwhile, Allison Benedikt headlines her review with 'Boring Kyle XY will induce ZZZ's', and complains about the same elements:'Kyle XY' is really just another coming-of-age teen drama. Near the end of the first episode, Nicole promises her husband that won't stay forever. 'It's just until we figure out who he is and where he belongs', she says. And then it clicks: We're all just bellybuttonless aliens in this crazy thing we call life.Despite its promising premise, it may be the repetitive narrative arcs that brought about XY's downfall. The first season sees settling into family life as well as trying to flee the evil organisation that brought him into the world. The first 14 episodes of the second season see fleeing from another evil organisation that is the umbrella organisation of the first one. At the end of the 14th episode of season two, the narrative is neatly wrapped up, with few elements left for further development, and this may explain the steep decline in viewing figures. The remaining episodes of season two and all of season three see pursued by the scientists that helped to create him - yet another evil organisation whose relationship with that of the first season is never explained. By this point, the various organisations pursuing had become interchangeable. With so many possible avenues for the series to explore, it is disappointing that the writers repeated the same narrative arcs, particularly when one takes into account what we are told within a bonus feature on the season three DVD boxed set. Here, the writers and producers outline plans for future seasons, such as dealing with publicity generated by his superhuman powers, which would have taken the series in a much-needed new direction. …