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Article on SyFy Channel

I think it is them that are being so narrow minded that sf is only space and aliens. When the channel premiered it had fantasy and horror as well. I don't understand why every channel is trying to be so broad and untrue to its audiences. There's nothing wrong with niche. We need niche!
 
The claim that SF fans represent an intellectual elite is based on literature, not TV and movies, and it's true.

No, it's not. :rolleyes:

Skiffy readers will sometimes test better than the general population (especially on those self-administered IQ tests the sercon folk used to distribute at sf cons :lol:) because they're a self-selected group of folks who read for pleasure. They're no smarter on average, though, than folks who read mysteries or horror or even romance novels. So much self flattery - pfft.

Which is a red herring anyway, as the claims for superiority in this topic are being made not on behalf of readers but of people who prefer Stargate to the WWE. Six of one...

I think it is them that are being so narrow minded that sf is only space and aliens. When the channel premiered it had fantasy and horror as well. I don't understand why every channel is trying to be so broad and untrue to its audiences.

Again: because they have to make money, and niche programming doesn't cut it beyond a certain point. One can dislike it, but it's not difficult to understand.
 
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If a zombie show can become the highest-rated cable show (beating Jersey Shore, ha ha!) on AMC of all places, simply by virtue of quality alone (I really cannot believe the existing AMC audience was all that interested in zombies), then I suspect a space opera show of similar quality could knock the socks off Skiffy.
I'm sure zombies tap into some primal fear or something and that's a large part of the appeal. I'm not convinced it's the writing or the quality alone.
 
If a zombie show can become the highest-rated cable show (beating Jersey Shore, ha ha!) on AMC of all places, simply by virtue of quality alone (I really cannot believe the existing AMC audience was all that interested in zombies), then I suspect a space opera show of similar quality could knock the socks off Skiffy.
I'm sure zombies tap into some primal fear or something and that's a large part of the appeal. I'm not convinced it's the writing or the quality alone.

Well the pilot was amazing but the writing after that has been iffy, I think. Lot of potential, though.
 
The claim that SF fans represent an intellectual elite is based on literature, not TV and movies, and it's true.

:lol: No, it's not. Most science-fiction "literature" is absolute shit, just like every other genre.
No, most of it isn't, although of course some of it is. It's been said (by an SF writer) that 90% of everything is crap and that certainly applies to literature; but SF is certainly more heavily weighted in that top 10%.

The claim that SF fans represent an intellectual elite is based on literature, not TV and movies, and it's true.

No, it's not. :rolleyes:

Skiffy readers will sometimes test better than the general population (especially on those self-administered IQ tests the sercon folk used to distribute at sf cons :lol:) because they're a self-selected group of folks who read for pleasure. They're no smarter on average, though, than folks who read mysteries or horror or even romance novels. So much self flattery - pfft.
They sometimes test better than the general population because they're generally smarter, more imaginative, more creative and better educated (with a more well-rounded education) than the general population. I know you're a big proponent of the mainstreaming of SF, but this is reality, Greg. :rommie:

Which is a red herring anyway, as the claims for superiority in this topic are being made not on behalf of readers but of people who prefer Stargate to the WWE. Six of one...
Yeah, gee, I would guess that the Stargate audience is a bit more sophisticated than the WWE audience. A little wee bit. Or was that an attempt at self parody?

Again: because they have to make money, and niche programming doesn't cut it beyond a certain point. One can dislike it, but it's not difficult to understand.
What seems to be difficult for some people to understand is that Sciffy can and does make money. Narrowcasting is profitable. It's just not profitable enough. This is why they turned Star Trek into garbage and it's why they're turning Sciffy into garbage; the suit people aren't satisfied with just making money-- they need to make obscene amounts of money.
 
Again: because they have to make money, and niche programming doesn't cut it beyond a certain point. One can dislike it, but it's not difficult to understand.

That's fine and well. But what purpose does it serve for an executive to insult a portion of your target audience? (sci fi fans are geeks)
 
They sometimes test better than the general population because they're generally smarter, more imaginative, more creative and better educated (with a more well-rounded education) than the general population. I know you're a big proponent of the mainstreaming of SF, but this is reality, Greg.

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The problem with fannish snobbery is that it can lead to a certain kind of self-congratulatory criticism that often seems more about flattering the critic and some small clique of self-proclaimed true fans than judging whether, say, SHARKTOPUS was a fun monster movie.

"Well, I suppose it's good enough for the lumpen masses, but we slans are above that kind of thing. Harrumph!"

Oh, please. If this was a 1930's movie, that kind of attitude would immediately be greeted by a pie in the face. :)

It's just science fiction. We shouldn't take it too seriously.
 
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I loved Sharktopus. I hope they can put him back together for a sequel. :bolian:

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.
 
I loved Sharktopus. I hope they can put him back together for a sequel. :bolian:

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.


The flipside of which, of course, is that "we're too kewl to like anything that's actually popular." Which one also tends to run into on the intertubes these days.

Glad to hear you liked Sharktopus, though. That was a movie that definitely didn't take itself too seriously!

I confess: I was up late last night watching SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM again--which gives you an idea what my tastes are like! :)
 
^^ Oh, I love B-Movies. I watch the Sciffy Saturday night movie almost every week (and write a little review over at ReNext). I don't think we should be too kewl to like anything; variety is the spice of life. The whole idea of letting "politics" decide what's good and bad is what I'm against.

And if you like the Blacula movies, you should dig up Count Yorga. You'd love that one. :D
 
....call it "FantaScy" or some such thing.

That's actually not bad. It would be more accurate than Sci-Fi or SyFy (Sci-Fi for illiterate dummies?).
At least FantaSci


To be fair, the wrestling thing is only a couple hours a week. The way people talk sometimes, you'd think syfy was running it 24/7!
And "The Real World" used to be the only reality show on MTV. You know, back when they showed music videos.

And now, after MTV2, VH1 & VH1 Classic having been overrun with crap instead of music (tho VH1 Classic does show music related movies (ad nauseum) and other music related programming), I'm still waiting for the next all music video channel.


I don't think fantasy or horror are that far from sci-fi and they generally find similar audiences, so they're not out of place.

And even the supernatural stuff like Ghost Hunters (which I don't watch) could have a place on the channel, as long as they don't start crowding out "actual" programming.

Wrestling has no place at all there, but with the generalization of a lot of cable channels, not a huge surprise either.
 
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.
 
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.
 
^^ Oh, I love B-Movies. I watch the Sciffy Saturday night movie almost every week (and write a little review over at ReNext). I don't think we should be too kewl to like anything; variety is the spice of life. The whole idea of letting "politics" decide what's good and bad is what I'm against.

And if you like the Blacula movies, you should dig up Count Yorga. You'd love that one. :D


Count Yorga, Vampire was the first GP-rated movie I ever saw (at the Midway Drive-In outside Seattle). It gave me nightmares as a kid. Don't think I've ever seen the sequel, though.

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.

(Note how I cleverly brought things back to the original topic!)
 
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.
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.
 
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.
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.

But why does all scifi have to be "highbrow"? And, at least among fans of my generation, I've certainly heard people speak in glowing terms of GODZILLA and old Vincent Price movies and such.

Heck, I practically grew up on FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, as did many others.
 
....call it "FantaScy" or some such thing.

That's actually not bad. It would be more accurate than Sci-Fi or SyFy (Sci-Fi for illiterate dummies?).

Yeah, well, you probably read what I said about the dumb leading the dumb. But if they see my suggestion, they're welcome to use it.

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.

The Valley 6 Drive-In in Auburn is still there. Maybe they do midnight showings of trashy monster movies.
 
(I really cannot believe the existing AMC audience was all that interested in zombies), .

Actually, I read somewhere that one of the reasons AMC was so receptive to THE WALKING DEAD was because their annual "FearFest" horror marathons in October always got good ratings. They deduced, correctly, that horror was one of their big draws . . . .

I can see there being some untapped interest out there in the horror genre, if for no other reason than that it's practically nonexistent on TV. I wouldn't mind seeing a greater variety of series inspired by various horror genres (supernatural, thriller, etc).

But AMC didn't have enough confidence in zombies as a particular topic to greenlight more than six episodes, and they were right to be conservative. They had no way to be sure that the series would turn out so good, and even if it did, it's risky to bank on the correlation between quality and ratings.A stupid, poorly-made zombie series wouldn't be seeing the kind of success TWD has.
 
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.

The Valley 6 Drive-In in Auburn is still there. Maybe they do midnight showings of trashy monster movies.

Glad to hear it. I have many fond memories of the Valley Drive-In, including a long-ago triple bill of DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and GOLDFINGER. I also remember seeing the first trailer for RETURN OF THE JEDI there . . . .

Do you remember the Duwamish Drive-In? That's where I saw both SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM and DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN for the first time.

Nothing will ever surpass, however, the immortal night the Midway featured a triple bill of TROG, VALLEY OF THE GWANGI, and WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH . . . .

Clearly, it warped me for life!
 
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