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San Francisco, 7:21 PM
Sat Nov 7
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/04/09
The Conceit behind the change: A Lie
Besides the name, and a few commercials, what has changed about the network? How is Warehouse 13 different then any other fantastical show SciFi produced, like The Dresden Files, or The Chronicle? The network has been the home of Stargate for a decade, so why is the premier of SGU any different from the premier of SGA on SciFi? Eureka was the highest rated series on SciFi when it premiered, so calling it a "flagship series of the new network," is just loose PR spin, as it was already a flagship series before the name change.
While I still hate the new name, I'm not worried about the change as much as I was when it was first announced. The number of ridiculous "reality" shows is the same as it was before, WWE continues to rot up it's time slot thanks to the worst shoe-horn job in the history of cable programming, and if "Mansquito 2" is ever released, we know it will premier on Saturday night. So besides the name and branding, what has changed?
Answer: Nothing.
10/04/09
People watched it.
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BSG on its way out, Atlantis canceled, Dr. Who gone, changing star and I believe moved to another channel, and over 50% of the programming was "reality" like Ghost hunters and ECW.
Less than half of the programming is Science Fiction, and this was before the new direction was announced. They will do it gradually until there is nothing left but TNG reruns and Scare Tactics.
As for Warehouse the 13th: the series- it is okay. I enjoy some of it, but a lot of it is plagued by bad acting. Eureka is one my absolute favorite shows, but no matter how much I loved Seasons 1 and 2, season 3 was almost entirely garbage. I am very optimistic for the full length season 4, unless it mysteriously disappears like the 5th season of Farscape (No, I am not letting that go).
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Anything with Elizabeth Weir(seasons 1-3) ranged from bad to "watchable-at-best."
10/04/09
There's already late night TV for geeks like us: AOTS and/or [AS].
10/04/09
"Anecdote accepted. Snappy come-back not found."
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If they wanted to improve ratings, coming up with something new that is good as opposed to repackaging the same old crap would have been a better option.
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One thing they should strongly consider is taking shows with Sci-Fi elements like Knight Rider who's ratings on NBC were not good enough for the Network and try them on SyFy instead.
It's worked before, not once but TWICE. Sliders was rescued from Fox and got what, 2 more seasons on Sci-fi?
Stargate is the big example here. If it wasn't for Sci-fi taking Stargate when Showtime dumped it we'd never have had Atlantis or Universe.
They need to embrace that fact and run with it. Shows like Knight Rider (and even Bionic Woman) usually need more then 13 episodes to hit their stride and build a growing fan base. Especially when bad writing mucks up the first 8 episodes.
Anyway, They need to strike a balance between new IP of their own and rescuing shows from Broadcast Network hell.
SGU beat Dollhouse, but what if Dollhouse was part of a 3 hour linup with SGU and Sanctuary on the same channel?
There are lots of shows on other networks that would make a better fit on SyFy if saved from cancellation. Another example would be Middlemen from ABC Family.
I hope the point I'm making is coming through loud and clear, I tend to ramble.
10/04/09
One of the reasons shows go to a broadcast network rather than Syfy that they're too expensive to be supported by even the theoretical size of the audience that Syfy can reach. $1.5-2 million per episode is about all you can afford on cable.
TSCC cost $3 million per episode and even a broadcast network couldn't afford it any more. On the other hand, Sanctuary runs less than a million because of small casts and practically no sets.
(A notable exception here is Mad Men which costs ~$2.8 million per episode. I have no idea how AMC can afford it.)
10/04/09
Compare the Original Knight Rider to the 2009 version. It was a relatively small cast, and all they had was a truck. The 2009 version opened with a large cast of supporting characters, went with Val Kilmer of all actors for KITT and completely overdid it with CGI and on Screen Effects.
The second half of the show started to get things right. The cast was reduced to 4 people, they already had the warehouse so no reason to throw that way. They could have cut the budget on that show in half and it could have worked.
Val Kilmer, really? Was that necessary? Who the hell watched the show to hear Val Kilmer? The original actor wasn't available? They got Peter Cullen for KARR they should have gotten Mr Feeny back for Kitt. Bleh, Tangent.
I'm not sure what happened with Sliders. I was too young back then, didn't have cable or internet and background info on tv shows wasn't nearly as available as it is today. Who knows what happened. It could have been the direction the executives steered the show, just like Brennan and Braga did to Star Trek.
Think about it, Sliders and Stargate initially had a very similar premise. A group of adventurers travel to new and different worlds via a wormhole. The same thing happened on both shows though, eventually they spent more time fighting aliens then exploring. Thankfully Stargate executed it better.
It's not impossible. It can be done.
Another thing they could do is branch out into sci-fi cartoons. Especially old ones. Thundercats, Silverhawks, they would be perfect on SyFy. How about reruns of Cartoon Networks Clone Wars?
Hell, how about that Starwars TV show in pre-production for 2011. They should get in on THAT action.
Legend of the Seeker is another show they could pick up. It was designed for Syndication.
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I really hope that they would look at some of these shows abandoned by the network(s) *cough* TSCC *cough* and maybe give it some form of new life. They also need to make the breaks between Warehouse 13 and Eureka short or people won't stay interested, whether it was a ratings hit or not in the summer.
Anyone know how to pitch ideas to SyFy because I am sure there are others, myself included, who probably have some decent ideas for shows.