Over.100 channels.and almost no scifi

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by SiddFinch1, Aug 11, 2013.

  1. SiddFinch1

    SiddFinch1 Captain Captain

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    So I have a ton of channels and despite having a syfy channel there I 1 channel.showing Tos one time a week; Tnt on one channel. The other treks never on. TAS..never.. No battlestar galactica..either version ..no Babylon 5..no farscape..minimal twilight zone other than new years marathon..no outerlimits..original..the one on showtime at times.. no planet if the apes tv show or cartoon..

    Is it a lack of ratings? Too expensive? An attempt to sell.Dvds? The serialized nature of b5? The dated look?
     
  2. TheMasterOfOrion

    TheMasterOfOrion Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Scifi doesn't sell at all, it can not compete with Xfactor, Seinfeld, Friends, NCIS, Fox News propaganda the al-jazeera rants and CNN propaganda, America's Got Talent, Survivor, Big Brother...and other reality tv BS.
    Even the best intentioned scifi tv station will eventually change its broadcasts to documentary tv, reality tv or wrestling etc

    Thank goodness for the internet and online DVDs where we can find movies, toons and scifi shows
     
  3. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Sci-Fi's always been a niche audience. There are brief spurts where it's popular. Early 1950's, it was Captain Video and Tom Corbett. In the 60s, Serling, Irwin Allen, and Star Trek. Early 70s, Planet of the Apes series, Logan's Run, then Star Wars hit. The rest you probably know.
     
  4. Thestral

    Thestral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Grimm, Once Upon a Time (and an upcoming spinoff), Revolution, Arrow, Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who... all shows that are currently in production that I watch, and that's just off the top of my head for what's on television right now. SHIELD starts up this fall. Since you mentioned animation, you've also got the Legend of Korra, plus Young Justice and Green Lantern just recently ended.

    Space Opera is currently in a decline it's true, though there is Falling Skies which... isn't space opera, but deal with aliens anyway. But in terms of genre fiction? We're going fine.
     
  5. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Netflix has all sorts of sci-fi shows on their streaming service, not to mention their discs. And really, if you're a nerd with a few bucks to spend on basic entertainment and you don't have a Netflix subscription, what're you doing with your life? :p
     
  6. bigdaddy

    bigdaddy Vice Admiral Admiral

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  7. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Can you at least find some Trek reruns somewhere? :p
     
  8. bigdaddy

    bigdaddy Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Almost every Star Trek episode is free online, why would it need to be on TV? :)
     
  9. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Netflix isn't "free".;)
     
  10. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    I think you are in the wrong country. We in the UK have something like

    Doctor Who almost Daily
    SG-1 Almost Daily
    Stargate Atlantis almost Daily
    TOS on 2 different channels almost daily
    TNG almost daily
    DSN almost daily
    ENT almost daily
    Smallville almost daily
    Buffy almost daily
    A Town Called Eureka
    Continuum
    Xena
    The Lost World
    Highlander

    And that's just what I could find in a 2 minute seaqrch.
     
  11. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Was about to say that, and a majority of that is on free to air TV channels.
     
  12. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I can't help noticing that all the stuff you're asking for is reruns of old shows, like Planet of the Apes or Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica or Twilight Zone. Why not watch new sf shows like Defiance, or Falling Skies, or Continuum, or Orphan Black, or Revolution, and so on?

    That you can't find dead, thirty-year-old shows airing regularly doesn't strike as me as too surprising . . . :)
     
  13. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    You don't have BBC America?
     
  14. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Can't watch new. New sucks. Give me old, I know I like that and don't have to waste valuable time working out if I like it.
     
  15. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    100 channels and nothing worth watching. Overpriced cable bill. Aren't those common complaints everywhere? :lol:
     
  16. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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  17. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    That and "Argh! Too much choice from On Demand!"
     
  18. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^ C'mon, Greg, you know as well as I do that the lack of prime-time showings of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is nothing short of a travesty. [​IMG]:p
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2013
  19. cylkoth

    cylkoth Commodore Commodore

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    As mentioned by others, the shows you're interested in are simply old now, and don't get play on mainstream tv stations or basic cable networks that aren't specifically targeting a particular genre. Non genre shows made during those same eras are also by passed. Why, even TV Land, which was created to feature classic tv, now has a schedule filled with more modern era series and even produces originals.

    While there is plenty of genre tv airing now, overtly, unabashedly, ''science fiction'' shows have lost ground to genre lite and fantasy based series. Orphan Black, Fringe, Falling Skies, Defiance, Continuum, Doctor Who, Primeval New World. That's it.
    ''Genre Lite & Action''-Arrow, Revolution, Under the Dome, Person of Interest, Nikita, the canceled Alphas...
    ''Fantasy/Horror''-The Walking Dead, Supernatural. Grimm, Vampire Diaries, Once Upon a Time, Beauty & the Beast, Lost Girl, Being Human US & UK, American Horror Story, Warehouse 13, Haven, the cancelled Eureka, Sanctuary, & Sinbad, Netflix' Hemlock Grove.

    Recent shows that have ended (or long running and still in production) whose reruns get regular play include TNT airings of Charmed-2 hrs daily, SPN-3 hrs daily. Syfy still airs TNG (as does BBC America), and SG1 with MGM owned THIS TV also running it. BBC America runs nuWho 2 hrs during the weekdays, and alternates it with BSG.
    The Chiller channel-sister of Syfy, has Buffy. (I don't get that channel, so I don't know what else they might run). Finally, there's the superhero and fantasy animated shows on Cartoon Network, Nick, Disney XD and The Hub.
     
  20. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Depending on where you live, BBCA is not always part of the standard cable package. I'd have to pay extra to get BBCA, much to my growing frustration.