SyFy Channel

[Hyfen_Underskor]

How did AMC go bad? With shows like the Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and mad men, i beg to differ. There movies are not bad either.

I have to sort of put an asterix there, because TCM took their place as far as non-commercial, older movies goes.

 

[Professor Zoom]

And then there's that annoying trend of misspelling words like "Sci-Fi" (which is a misspelling itself).

A curious criticism from a poster who chose to misspell both hyphen and underscore in order to have a unique name.

As others have said, it's a way to trademark their name. Honestly, what's the big deal? Would you be complaining about the name if you really liked the content? I would think not.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

For all of the complaints about SyFy, I think there are more people watching the network now than ever before, IIRC..

Yeah. Personally, I think people tend to romanticize the past where Sci Fi/Syfy is concerned. Sure, they aired FARSCAPE back in the old days, but that was only one night a week. Most of their schedule consisted of reruns of old, cancelled shows. I used to refer to it as the Lost Elephant's Graveyard of Dead Genre Shows. I tended to watch the original stuff like THE INVISIBLE MAN and FARSCAPE, but had little interest in rewatching ancient episodes of THE INCREDIBLE HULK or whatever, aside from checking out an occasional ep for nostalgia's sake.

And, of course, now that pretty much everything is available on DVD, there's even less point in a channel that mostly reruns vintage sf shows. Anyone who wants to veg out on old BUCK ROGERS episodes can just buy the boxed set or download them from NetFlix or whatever . . ..

I think it's how it went down, not only did they add wrestling to the lineup but it took place of the day where they showed all their best loved original programming. Not bound to leave a good taste.

And maybe it's because I personally don't care for their reality tv type programming like Ghost Hunters/Face Off/Scare Tactics/etc, etc I would prefer old reruns to that. Though I never understood why they dumped a bunch of episodes into a block rather than air a show in a time slot where one might tune in every day. I suppose the new programming is easier to consume in random chunks and probably works better for the way they air their programs.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Sciffy should rename itself Sturgeon's Law-- 90% of it is crap. However, the other 10% includes some good stuff. The wrestling and paranormal shows belong on other channels, no doubt about it, but much of their original programming is good. Currently, Warehouse 13, Being Human and Lost Girl are very good. Haven is not very good, but it's entertaining. Merlin is good, but I don't get to see it very often. In the past, Sanctuary, Eureka and the first two Stargates were very good. Farscape was good, though I didn't care for it. And, being a big fan of B-Movies, I always tape the Saturday night movie.

I do miss the classic shows-- that's what they should be running instead of the paranormal and wrestling shows. Sure they are available on DVD, but DVDs don't catch and hook casual viewers. MeTV does show a handful of genre shows, but I think the world needs a nostalgia channel devoted exclusively to creative programming.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Sciffy should rename itself Sturgeon's Law-- 90% of it is crap.

SturFy?

 

[Greg Cox]

I think we can all stipulate that the wrestling doesn't belong, but, like I said, it's only one night a week and, at this point, the usual gripes about it have become boring and predictable. It's like complaining about death and taxes; it long ago lost any entertainment value!

 

[Hyfen_Underskor]

And then there's that annoying trend of misspelling words like "Sci-Fi" (which is a misspelling itself).

A curious criticism from a poster who chose to misspell both hyphen and underscore in order to have a unique name.

As others have said, it's a way to trademark their name. Honestly, what's the big deal? Would you be complaining about the name if you really liked the content? I would think not.

I know. That's why I made the comment (because it's really not a big deal, and I purposely misspelled my user name).

 

[NKemp3]

In the meantime, they still air plenty of good shows, both homegrown and imported: WAREHOUSE 13, BEING HUMAN, FACE/OFF, HOT SET, ALPHAS, LOST GIRL, MERLIN, etc.

Only problem is not one of those shows, with the possible exception of Alphas, is any good.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I think we can all stipulate that the wresting doesn't belong, but, like I said, it's only one night a week and, at this point, the usual gripes about it have become boring and predictable. It's like complaining about death and taxes; it long ago lost any entertainment value!

Sure, they aired FARSCAPE back in the old days, but that was only one night a week.

Those nights can be significant. I get your point but I think it's valid in a thread about the Syfy Channel.

And Farscape wasn't alone in that slot, there was usually something else with it. I used to look forward to ending the work week with Sci-Fi Friday. Maybe Syfy is trying to encourage me to do something less lame with my weekend but I used to enjoy that.

 

[Greg Cox]

In the meantime, they still air plenty of good shows, both homegrown and imported: WAREHOUSE 13, BEING HUMAN, FACE/OFF, HOT SET, ALPHAS, LOST GIRL, MERLIN, etc.

Only problem is not one of those shows, with the possible exception of Alphas, is any good.

Well, that's a matter of taste. I actually like most of those shows quite a bit, and wouldn't necessarily put ALPHAS at the top of the pack. I'm actually very psyched about LOST GIRL and BEING HUMAN coming back tomorrow . . . .

(Granted, I admit to being biased where WH13 is concerned, but, honestly, I was a big fan of the show before I got tapped to write the book!)

 

[Saga]

i love Warehouse 13. i haven't watched any of those other shows, though my uncle swears Merlin is great. just haven't found time to start watching it.

i do miss the old days of Sci Fi Ch. sure, i could watch Lost in Space or Dark Shadows on dvd...but you know sometimes i'd rather just watch a random episode of Space: 1999 than Ghost Hunters.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Sciffy should rename itself Sturgeon's Law-- 90% of it is crap.

SturFy?

SturFry.

I think we can all stipulate that the wresting doesn't belong, but, like I said, it's only one night a week and, at this point, the usual gripes about it have become boring and predictable. It's like complaining about death and taxes; it long ago lost any entertainment value!

It's been said that Wrestling pays for the shows we actually like. Which is a tragic commentary on society, but I guess that means we can tolerate it until Humanity evolves.

 

[Greg Cox]

Sciffy should rename itself Sturgeon's Law-- 90% of it is crap.

SturFy?

SturFry.

I think we can all stipulate that the wresting doesn't belong, but, like I said, it's only one night a week and, at this point, the usual gripes about it have become boring and predictable. It's like complaining about death and taxes; it long ago lost any entertainment value!

It's been said that Wrestling pays for the shows we actually like. Which is a tragic commentary on society, but I guess that means we can tolerate it until Humanity evolves.

Exactly. I mean, I could do without the infomericals at 3 am in the morning, too, but I assume they make sense, economically.

 

[Redfern]

Concerning the wrestling, it just depends upon the "spin" you give it. Let's try this...

"It's the 21st century. Though Humanity has made great strides in it's technological progress, its thirst for entertainment remains 'primal'. Much like the gladiatorial games of ancient Rome, people still lust to see man pitted against man in savage one on one combat. But now, those same technologies that let people communicate on opposite sides of the world have increased the cheering hordes from thousands into millions. The same medicines that have bred hardier and more nutritious crops and livestock to feed those millions have created warriors of unprecedented strength and endurance. Welcome to the 'new' Rome!"

Okay, purple prose laced with hyperbole to be sure, but viewed from that angle, it does come across rather like dystopian sci-fi, doesn't it?

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Hyfen_Underskor]

I think as far as wrestling goes, the typical Monster Truck fan watches wrestling to see the Rock hand CM Punk his posterior. The sci-fi wrestling fan (the science fiction fan who follows wrestling) is more likely to watch it for the storylines.

 

[Greg Cox]

Plus, as much as we don't want to admit it, there's probably some overlap between the wrestling and scifi audience. Back when I used to lurk on the old DC Comics message boards, there were always some fans who thought that [INSERT FAMOUS WRESTLER HERE] ought to play Superman or Batman or Nightwing or whomever . . . .

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Exactly. I mean, I could do without the infomericals at 3 am in the morning, too, but I assume they make sense, economically.

I think it's OK to say it's a tired point(wrestling on Syfy) but I think it's probably losing focus trying to defend it such.

Or should we be happy with cutting episodes to shreds to make more time for commercials and so on?

 

[Greg Cox]

Exactly. I mean, I could do without the infomericals at 3 am in the morning, too, but I assume they make sense, economically.

I think it's OK to say it's a tired point(wrestling on Syfy) but I think it's probably losing focus trying to defend it such.

Or should we be happy with cutting episodes to shreds to make more time for commercials and so on?

Good point. I was mostly just longing aloud for the day when we can have a thread about the Syfy channel that doesn't instantly turn into "Wrestling? WTF? Grrrrr!"

 

[RJDiogenes]

"It's the 21st century. Though Humanity has made great strides in it's technological progress, its thirst for entertainment remains 'primal'. Much like the gladiatorial games of ancient Rome, people still lust to see man pitted against man in savage one on one combat. But now, those same technologies that let people communicate on opposite sides of the world have increased the cheering hordes from thousands into millions. The same medicines that have bred hardier and more nutritious crops and livestock to feed those millions have created warriors of unprecedented strength and endurance. Welcome to the 'new' Rome!"

Meta.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I enjoy a lot of what SyFy make. Warehouse 13, Alphas, Eureka, Sanctuary, Being Human. The shows they import, Continuum, Almighty Johnsons. Sure there's nothing the quality of Farscape but there's still a lot of decent shows on Syfy.