Article on SyFy Channel

[Sephiroth]

You do realize that sounds like something Lex Luthor would say . . . .

but isn't it the truth?

Well, strictly going by the math, at least 50% of the population is of above-average intelligence. And somehow I can't see Superman dismissing the rest as "sub-human mongoloids" . . . .

it's all i ever see, dumb, mean "People", I long ago renounced any ties I had with the ignorant masses that surround me

 

[Frontier]

IMHO, the channel is dead.

I like "Eureka", and I'm looking forward to "Blood and Chrome" but...

They clearly don't get it.

In the late 90s, I craved the Sci-Fi channel. It had unique, remastered TOS in the before-DVD-was-common days. It had mini marathons of shows all the time. It was awesome.

A decade later?

They've forgotten their identity totally, in pursuit of the almighty buck.

I have little hope for "Blood and Chrome" becoming a series, and when "Eureka" is done, I doubt I'll ever watch the network again.

They've alienated me, and I think they're alienating a lot of others.

 

[tomalak301]

^But all channels are doing that.

What I got from this article was a very arrogant F-U to the people who made the channel what it was in the first place. Yeah, I understand the need to change and expand, but to pretty much lump what used to be their core audience together and insualt them with the Geeks and Nerds comment makes me wish the channel was dead, or at least renamed to something that isn't as stupid as what they currently have.

As for the current "Crop" on that station, I'm not entirely understanding why they are cutting out their core audience entirely. What I got from the article is "Sci-Fi" isn't wanted on this station anymore, yet a lot of shows they had, such as Farscape and Battlestar Galactica put them on the map. Is there no room for a little of everything? I mean why not have a Farscape style show, and wrestling on the same station. Of course I'm not one of those who will say Wrestling doesn't belong on that channel because based on where it's going, I think it does, and I watch Smackdown on occasion. Still, those fans are also geeks and nerds, in their own special way. Ever hear them talk about it, and bring up the whole heel/face/kafabe (Or whatever word that is)?

It seems to be BBC America is turning into the new Sci Fi channel, and while that's fine, I still long for a day we had a spaced based show, like Farscape, B5, or Star Trek. Until then, I can continue ignoring that channel and all it's Ghost Hunters/B-Movies which probably sucks, and all the horror stuff.

Speaking of which, am I the only one who wishes this love for Vampires and Zombies was pushed aside? It's all that, or comic books these days and I'm just so out of the loop of that mainly because that kind of show/movie/book doesn't interest me. Like I said, I long for a day where shows like Star Trek or Farscape make their return, because I'll be there when and if it happens.

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

it's all i ever see, dumb, mean "People", I long ago renounced any ties I had with the ignorant masses that surround me

Well, there's a lovely Christmas sentiment.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

it's all i ever see, dumb, mean "People", I long ago renounced any ties I had with the ignorant masses that surround me

Yes, but they're dumb, mean people who know how to use deodorant and eating utensils, show up on time and get along with other human beings.

D'oh!

 

[RJDiogenes]

And I'm not a snob; I'm an elitist. High standards are better than low standards. That's why they call them high standards. And despite any pies in the face from those who would drag us all down into mediocrity, SF-- and the Arts & Sciences in general-- should be taken seriously. The currently fashionable fanboi attitude that we should be too kewl to care lest Saturday Night Live make fun of us is as boring as it is lowbrow.

This explains quite a lot about you. You can subjectively say that sci-fi is better or whatever but it's not an objective fact as much as you want it to be.

Of course it's an objective fact. By definition, SF involves interests, knowledge, and a level of imagination and intelligence that other genres lack. It's the synergy of the arts & sciences. "Average" is a mathematical function; in real life, everything falls either above or below that line.

Alas, the Midway Drive-In was torn down a few years ago, and is now a Lowe's Hardware Store. But I like to think that syfy is keeping the tradition of trashy drive-in monster movies alive.

Yes, exactly. Drive-Ins and Creature Double Feature. Those were the days.

His high standards are low standards. I mean, I'll grant someone love of monster movies, but how is love of monster moves highbrow? Sharktopus isn't something I've heard nerds speak of in the glowing terms reserved for King Kong or whatever.

Me, neither. You seem a little confused here.

It's not that. RJDiogenes is saying it's highbrow to be lowbrow, that literature is proof of the elite of sci-fi fans who watch fun monster movies.

It just at a glance seems to be an argument collapsing into itself.

Actually, I believe I said that there's little overlap between the two audiences-- which is part of the problem.

But how is that different from the old days when local stations almost always ran "Nightmare Theater" or whatever on the weekends? Old monster movies were a weekly staple on tv, usually hosted by some local version of Vampira or Zacherle or whomever.

And, heck, previous generations used to head down to the local movie house to catch the latest weekly installments of FLASH GORDON or THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES.

Yeah, exactly. Those were the days. Fun stuff.

I dunno, maybe if SyFy just went the local station route and hired themselves a goofy host/hostess for commercial breaks. It might help.

I've thought the very same thing for years. I'd love that.

One wonders how that fantasizing about the superiority of sf fans actually survives social contact between sf fans. Willful denial seems the most plausible answer.

Sure, because dem noids are all smelly social misfits who live in their mother's basement and can't get a date. Reality is a different place than you want it to be, Dennis. You kind of remind me of the kid we had in junior high who laughed too loud at the football players' jokes in a desperate attempt to fit in. Instead of being so afraid that the no-necks are going to laugh at you, you should stand up and be counted as somebody who stands against conformity and mediocrity. But it's up to you, of course.

 

[Vendikarr]

Well..FCC likely to bless Comcast-NBC deal, they've approved of Comcast buying NBC Universal. So I wonder what will happens to Syfy? I know those guys don't like science fiction.

Nothing will change. Bonnie Hammer will become the chairman of the NBC/U Cable group of which Syfy is a part. And it will have a couple more cable companies that were owned by Comcast added to the group.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Yep, Hammer continues to do very well. She knows what she's doing.

...lump what used to be their core audience together and insualt them with the Geeks and Nerds comment...

Posters and writers on this and many other sites, like say AICN or Screenrant, frequently characterize themselves or one another as "geeks" or "nerds." Or are these now going to be the fannish equivalent of the "n-word," which we're allowed to use among ourselves but take offense at when used by those who fancy themselves our masters?

If some folks want to pretend that sf fans are intellectually superior I suppose it's no skin off my ass - they've obviously got a lot invested in kidding themselves.

 

[Doctor King]

Well..FCC likely to bless Comcast-NBC deal, they've approved of Comcast buying NBC Universal. So I wonder what will happens to Syfy? I know those guys don't like science fiction.

Nothing will change. Bonnie Hammer will become the chairman of the NBC/U Cable group of which Syfy is a part. And it will have a couple more cable companies that were owned by Comcast added to the group.

I see. Except that there will be four more channels to be added. So, you're telling me that nothing will change? They're really going to dump SyFy for good?

 

[MANT!]

But how is that different from the old days when local stations almost always ran "Nightmare Theater" or whatever on the weekends? Old monster movies were a weekly staple on tv, usually hosted by some local version of Vampira or Zacherle or whomever.

And, heck, previous generations used to head down to the local movie house to catch the latest weekly installments of FLASH GORDON or THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES.

You can argue that syfy is just taking the place of old-fashioned Saturday matinee fare.

I LIVED on Creature Features out of Sacramento throughout the 70s..and the weekend/late night showings of old sci-Fi and Horror movies..and cried real tears when Creature Features had it's plug pulled in the early 80s....

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g37Xp6LLwk[/yt]


And reacted with horror when the courts allowed program length info-mercials to slowly eliminate those old B-movies I used to watch..

The only bright spots I knew of were a couple of independent stations out of Dallas in the 90s that refused to run exclusively info-mercials on late nights..they ran old B- movies and Sci-Fi Saturdays..in fact one of them used to run UFO and Space 1999 episodes during late nights.. And advertised that "You Don't Need The Sci-Fi Channel"

Now Broadcast TV is filled with commercials and "reality" shows..then followed by cable putting out the same shit... I've never forgiven Sciffy for canceling MST3K..and have hardly watched it since...

I hardly watch any TV anymore that I don't program myself through DVDs, Blu-Ray or the Internet..


Fuck em..let 'em die... I don't need or want 'em..

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The camera crew on my no-budget movie have been brainstorming what has to be the ultimate SyFy Original/Asylum Distributors schlock skiffy movie. It's called Fireshark! and I think it has to star Michael Ironside as a drunken retired head lifeguard and Denise Richards as the director of FEMA.

 

[Greg Cox]

The camera crew on my no-budget movie has been brainstorming what has to be the ultimate SyFy Original/Asylum Distributors schlock skiffy movie. It's called Fireshark! and I think it has to star Michael Ironside as a drunken retired head lifeguard and Denise Richards as the director of FEMA.

Make it Spring Break Fireshark and you're really onto something . . . .

 

[sidious618]

Of course it's an objective fact.

This is why no one likes sci-fi fans. Attitudes like this.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Of course it's an objective fact.

This is why no one likes sci-fi fans. Attitudes like this.

Well, it's certainly why many people who aren't into it don't take fans seriously.

That kind of declaration really invokes the Smith/Barney principle - ie, many skiffy fans become the targets of ridicule the old-fashioned way; they earn it.

The "objective fact" here is that tv and movie writers looking for a little comedy don't mock fandom because they know nothing about fans, but because they do.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Like it or not, kids, there are such things as standards. The sports page and Scientific American are not interchangeable; and neither are TV Guide and Analog. That's objective reality. If you want to fit in with the lowest common denominator by laughing too loud at the quarterback's jokes in the cafeteria, go right ahead.

I LIVED on Creature Features out of Sacramento throughout the 70s..and the weekend/late night showings of old sci-Fi and Horror movies..and cried real tears when Creature Features had it's plug pulled in the early 80s....

In the early 70s, we had Creature Feature or Creature Double Feature on Channel 56, followed by a guy called The Ghoul, who was based in Cleveland but appeared on all the Kaiser Broadcasting stations. He's actually still around, but not in the Boston area.

 

[Greg Cox]

^^ Like it or not, kids, there are such things as standards. The sports page and Scientific American are not interchangeable; and neither are TV Guide and Analog. .

Ah, but the question is, why would anyone expect (or even want) a scifi tv channel to be Analog?

Buck Rogers and The Blob have been with us always, and, traditionally, the pulp stuff has always been more popular (and prolific) than, say, Things to Come or Blade Runner. So why would one expect Syfy (or any commercial scifi station) to be running Heinlein or Gene Wolfe adaptations 24/7?

Then again, I always prefered Weird Tales to Analog . . .

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Ah, but the question is, why would anyone expect (or even want) a scifi tv channel to be Analog?

Buck Rogers and The Blob have been with us always, and, traditionally, the pulp stuff has always been more popular (and prolific) than, say, Things to Come or Blade Runner. So why would one expect Syfy (or any commercial scifi station) to be running Heinlein or Gene Wolfe adaptations 24/7?

Then again, I always prefered Weird Tales to Analog . . .

Well, you can get a decent run-and-shoot out of a lot of Heinlein's stuff - look at Verhoeven's Starship Troopers - so it's at least a little surprising that more of his earlier stories and juvenile novels haven't made it to television. Hell, Red Planet could serve as the jumping-off point for a whole CW adolescent-centric TV series.

 

[Doctor King]

The camera crew on my no-budget movie have been brainstorming what has to be the ultimate SyFy Original/Asylum Distributors schlock skiffy movie. It's called Fireshark! and I think it has to star Michael Ironside as a drunken retired head lifeguard and Denise Richards as the director of FEMA.

Fireshark?!

Oh, come on.

 

[sidious618]

^^ Like it or not, kids, there are such things as standards. The sports page and Scientific American are not interchangeable; and neither are TV Guide and Analog. That's objective reality.

But not really proving your point. You cannot objectively say that sci-fi is somehow above everything else. You're in no position to make such a decree. No one is.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

You cannot objectively say that sci-fi is somehow above everything else. You're in no position to make such a decree. No one is.

Of course not. These are all value judgments, and recognizing the essential subjectivity of value judgments is characteristic of the truly intelligent.

The implied association between SA and Analog versus TV Guide is the goofiest part; there's a lot more similarity between any sf pulp magazine and the week television schedule than between skiffy entertainment and real science publications.

Fireshark?!

Oh, come on.

You won't laugh when you see a flaming shark in aerial combat with a squadron of F-16s.

Or maybe you will. We hope that you will.