Yep a thread about the evil abomination SCI FI channel.
So do you all really hate it that much?
I still think its funny how screwed they are, BSG is ending, Dresden Files-canceled, Painkiller Jayne-canceled, Flash Gordon-canceled, and they screwed them selfs by canceling Stargate SG-1. So now they have Atlantis, BSG untill it ends, the new Stargate series(you all know its coming, because sci fi is screwed)
So the real question is do you think Sci Fi will remake any old shows, and if so Which ones; because you know those movies can only hold scifi over for a week or so.
I really don’t understand how they stay in business.
Way back when I first got cable, I was so excited to finally get the Scifi channel. I thought it was gonna be great, scifi all the time. It wasn’t though. They never played classic sci-fi. It was always horror or B-movies. Occasionally, they would have marathons during the holidays but the rest was crap. The only thing I watched was Mystery Science Theater 3000.
I thought the last nail was when they cancelled Farscape. Then they come back with BSG. All they need is some competition with someone who would do it right and they’d be done.
Let’s be honest Painkiller Jane and Flash Gordon were both garbage. I’ll be sticking around for the rest of BSG, Caprica, SGA, and SGU. But I’d only ever watch Scifi on Friday/Sunday nights anyway so eh
They’ll have rasslin…
Since NBC owns them…I don’t think they are going anywhere soon. They will probably change them into something a little different than what we see today. I expect something like what happened to TechTV. Take a decent station and totally, completely, undeniably and with extreme prejudice, ruin it. However, in Sci-Fi’s case, it’s not that long of a road to travel. However, never underestimate the power of a pedestrian network like NBC.
We have a scifi channel here, too and it seems to be a … what shall I call it, a daughter channel or a branch of your scifi channel, because they have the same logo and the design of the website is the same.
But they play really cool stuff here, five or six hours of Star Trek per day, Stargate and all the other mainstream shows. And I think it was also the only German channel that ever showed Firefly, but I’m not sure. Maybe it’s a legal thing, your scifi channel can’t show Paramount stuff, but in other countries, they can just buy the rights and show it?
I don’t understand why SciFi is willing to spend money on making crappy original films (like Rock Monster) but not on quality episodic programming like BSG and Farscape. At least they still have Eureka. If they are looking for other series to re-imagine, I’d suggest Sliders.
I remember Sliders, it was out around the same time as Earth 2.
What I would give my right testicle for to see what be a reimagining of Space 2063!
Reimagined Space 1999?
Heck, yea! Space: Above and Beyond was one of my favorite programs.
Totally worth an official GWC re-watch. Or a “watch” for anyone who hasn’t seen it. Very much proto-BSG-ish. Very promising and one of those shows that unexplicably got canceled way too early.
I wonder if there’s some books or comics that continued the story after the last episode. There just happened so much in the last two or three episodes, the role of the company was never revealed and what about the alien who turned out to be the chigg and stuff. I’m totally curious!
Boxy, there’s two big reasons most people I know are Anti-Skiffy.
The amount of money they flush down the toilet making cr*p original movies when they could be channeling that money into projects that have half a chance of being something…
And the heinous, gawdawful, heavy handed MOD’ing, P.O.S forums filled with fanboy wankering of the highest order.
That’s why.
Can’t wait for Caprica …Duh.
True Believer looks dumb… but Rosario Dawson’s behind it, and I believe she’s kinda smart, so maybe…
And for some reason, I see some promise in the write-up for The Stranded. I’ll watch an ep. too.
The rest seem pointless, or worse.
(isn’t Deputized just Ben 10?)
Isn’t there also a show where it’s like stuff from the warehouse at the end of Last Crusade goes missing and two guys go and find it and new stuff?
I’m also looking forward to Caprica. All the other stuff - I couldn’t care less.
[rant]
What is it with scifi writers these days that they can’t write a decent space opera anymore but instead waste their energy on weird projects like
Each of them is from another world called Standfire, and now their past is returning to try and kill them.
Standfire? Are you kidding me?
And no, thank you I don’t want to see more shows like Sliders or Earth 2. I want to see a second season of Space 2063!
Alas, I’m reminded of my quite rambling post about the demise of the space opera in the sunshine thread.
[/rant]
I have thought long and hard about Scifi, and I believe I have some insight into why they can’t seem to get out of their own way:
Money.
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They have no budget. Seriously. The channel was formed on the idea that you could replay old classic Scifi material for free ala Nick at Night. They didn’t hire talent to develop new shows…they hired people to rerun old shows.
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Battlestar fell into their lap. They actually turned it down on the first go around. The only reason BSG exists is that is that Sky One in the UK agreed to foot half the bill.
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Do you know what the top rated show on Scifi is? Extreme Championship Wrestling. Do you know what those ratings are? In the mid to low 2s. American Idol gets mid to high 20s. Two and a half men gets low teens. A show is considered a flop if it gets under 7. Battlestar struggles to get higher than a 2.5. Low ratings = Low ad revenue. Low ad revenue = No budget.
In the end what I will never be able to describe is the apparent cognitive dissonance that is endemic to the management. They churn out what any person would recognize as craaaaaaaaaaaaaap and yet make no attempts to change their approach. They get craaaaaaaaapy scripts, occasionally put good actors in there and surround them with terrible sets, laughable effects and ridiculous direction.
Enough. Seriously.
Here is Solai’s six easy no brainer (HOW HAVE YOU NOT THOUGHT OF THIS!) ways for Scifi to be a tier 1 channel…six in honor of our Tricia.
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Know your audience: We are geeks and nerds. We are smart. Don’t insult our intelligence with Scifi original movies like, “Magma” and “Mansquito.” If you don’t have a lot of money for movies, dont spend it on craaaaaaaaaaaaap. Look at Rod Serling…how much budget did he have? Nothing. What did he have? Excellent writing, amazing direction. $ does not equal quality. (Good job with Eureka! That’s your model!)
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Consolidate the classics: Don’t stick Twilight Zone and other classics in the 2am slot. Look at Nick at Night as an example of how to not only celebrate these classic shows, but introduce them to a new generation. There are fans out there that will do the heavy lifting in terms of getting the word out.
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Revive good material: Look, we know you were given a chance to continue Firefly back in the day but turned it down due to the price tag. We understand. Now you have a chance to stop making craaaaaaaapy movies and perhaps extend the universe for shows like Firefly, Babylon 5, Red Dwarf, Farscape, etc.
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Crime and punishment: Find whoever thought Flash Gordan was a good idea and smack them with a fish. Then find whoever approved the idea and use the same fish after it has sat out in the sun for a few days.
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Marketing: If you show it…they won’t necessarily come. Why isn’t Tricia Helfer on “The View” (or The Man Show)? Where are the viral videos to hook new people or rehook those that have left? Have you heard about the new “Geek cool”? Why are you not capitalizing on that? You would seem to be at the center of the universe…do something about it.
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The Internet: You may have heard of it. Use it. More importantly…remember that core audience you have? Those smart people? Those people who are good with computers? Are you wondering why your ratings are going down? You may want to look into ways to combat the file sharing. Make it easy to get the content online. Let people who want to pay for it do so easily. By the way? Your forums? Shut them down. They are not doing anyone any good.
So, that’s it. Get the lead out Scifi. Seriously. Comedy Central figured it out. So did Spike. Stop your standard practice of shooting yourself in your own foot and give us quality content!
/rant off
hear hear!
Which is exactly what their German branch is doing and it’s working utterly well. They don’t make any original material, but look at their schedule for today:
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Jeremiah
Fire in the Sky
Fantasy Island (2 episodes)
Future Visions
BSG (2 episodes)
Star Trek TOS
SeaQuest
The Bionic Woman TOS
BSG (2 episodes)
Star Trek TOS
Lost World
Bravestarr
TekWar
Farscape
Beastmaster
Stargate SG-1 (2 episodes)
Doorways
Star Trek TNG
So, I mean, not all of that stuff might be worth watching, but there’s lots of Star Trek, BSG, SeaQuest, Farscape, Fantasy Island - a good mix!
Edit: io9 had this great article called SciFi Channel Wants To Take Over Your Lifea while ago. Insightful!
I’m a big fan of Sliders, well, pre-Cro Mag Sliders anyway. Really, I think it was the perfect concept for a scifi program because there are absolutiely no limits to what you can do with it. Want to have an episode where the South won the American Civil War? Can do! Want to play around in a world without electricity? Can do! Want to have a world where robots and computers eliminated all humans? Can do! And the best part is that you aren’t obilgated to leave your characters in these worlds. You can pull them out at the end of an episode or you can extend things as long as you want. You can explore any aspect of alternate history, you can have worlds with different laws of physics, you can even have the characters interact with different versions of themselves. It’s the perfect storytelling vehicle. Sadly, Sliders was ruined by the end of its run.
Ok, Sliders wasn’t all that bad, even though the concept was very Quantum Leap-ish.