Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi? - io9 Comments

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

NancyinA2 — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:15:08 PST

Wrestling, Ghost Hunters - I hate them. BSG, Eureka - I love. We need more like that. SciF needs to bring back Lexx, too.

NancyinA2

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Knirfie — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:16:31 PST

I wish we would get some better shows on our dutch Sci-Fi channel, but we only get reruns of Star Trek TOS / TNG, Sliders, Dark Angel and crappy low-budget movies.

Knirfie

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

joneez — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:34:34 PST

Battlebots- Now that's wrestling I can get into!
If the new exec. reads this thread he'll see what scifi fans really want. Classic scifi flicks and serials (why not play the original Flash Gordon movie serials?) When you go to AMC & TCM to see Cherry 2000 or Wells' Things To Come, something's wrong. Dump the reality and horror, there's other networks for that crap. Show or bring back good original programs like Firefly and Farscape (Torchwood's pretty cool too.) I also like the idea of an all scifi news show. And how about... oops I seem to have run out of space on the schedule. That was easy! Execs make how much doing this?

joneez

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

vurtscribe — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:02:41 PST

They would totally win me back if they starting re-airing MST3K. No chunky marathon, but with a weekly time slot. They could milk that for at least five seasons if they started at the beginning.

Other things:
Show old, classic SF flicks
Drop reality (but that's not going to happen)
More SF mini-series based on actual works of SF
Bring back dead shows such as Firefly, etc.
No mythical/fantasy/horror sci fi originals--PLEASE!! (I tried to watch Chupacabra, it was just so bad but then I saw they made a sequel to it? Why?)

vurtscribe

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

PhysicalEd — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:26:28 PST

The only reality TV I'd like to see on SciFi channel would be the return of Battlebots. What the heck it was doing on Comedy Central I don't know.

But they lost us (my wife and I) when the dropped Farscape. We came back for and have enjoyed BSG and that is it for that channel. We did like the new Dr. Who but gave up when we missed when SciFi started the season up again, and we can't be bothered to catch up because they show the reruns all out of order.

Other than BSG at this point (and it doesn't have long to go) I'd just as soon watch old SciFi movies and reruns on there.

PhysicalEd

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

joneez — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:10:39 PST

I hope the new exec. sees that nearly every post here wants Ghost Hunters and wrestling gone! And dump the horror. I too would love to see old scifi movies and series, there's a hundred years of that stuff. How about the original Flash Gordon movie serials? Keep BSG, Stargate and bring back Farscape and Firefly maybe even show Torchwood (anyone seen that?) and you won't have time to show that crap anyway!

joneez

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

comp_wiz101 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:18:25 PST

Yes! Bring back Firefly AND Farscape...

comp_wiz101

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

PeggyK — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:14:52 PST

I'm with Xanthur (and lots of other people in this thread: dump Ghost Hunters (or at least limit the episodes to one hour a week) and wrestling and fill in the gaps with some old sci-fi TV an movies. Or purchase some non-US shows, like ReGenesis (in syndication in the US, but currently shown on Monday night at 1:30 am on ABC).

RE a Sci Fi Channel perfume...see the part of that Variety piece where they say that a big target of their "digital love" will be men 18-34? Doesn't bode well for us Ladies Who Love SciFi.

I get the same feeling. It's been that way for a while though, what with the wrestling and those ads for Enterprise that intone "and the Captain gets all the women", while showing a clip from the single episode where the captain got some nookie.

PeggyK

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

brett_l — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:08:12 PST

Could we go a whole year or two without a giant/mythical creature original movie? Let's just consider that concept mined out and move on. Unless you're showing them MTS3K style.

brett_l

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Sleepyhead — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:35:59 PST

@anonCom: Anoncom has it right. "Lifestyle" is not "SciFi as a lifestyle", it's a cable industry buzzword that means "make the programming increasingly generic and palatable to the widest audience". Trust me, cable execs would be happy if every channel moved away from its original niche (no Scifi on Scifi - no Court on CourtTV, sorry "TruTV" - no music on CMT or MTV) and was a generic hodgepodge of highly rated repeats and cheap reality.

Sleepyhead

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

gods-n-clods — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:21:15 PST

...anyone recall when AMC ran whole films, sans commercials, and played a great assortment of B-horror / sci-fi at Halloween?
It woiuld be great if SCI-FI Channel toook that up. Public domain Bela Lugosi and Ed Wood Jr. movies... in my dreams... would never happen.

gods-n-clods

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Xanthur — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:05:25 PST

Another vote for dumping Ghost Hunters, Wrestling, and gosh, how do I put it delicately...Horror! sorry, but who thought that scifi and slasher movies were the same demigraph anyway? I'm not talking about Starship Troopers here. That would fly if they spread it around a bit (no pun intended). When I settle down for some great space opera, I really don't want to see another schizophrenic killer hacking limbs and feeding them back to their victims. Unless the killer is a robot from the future or an alien trophy hunter. Heck, I like Firefly too but what about the old stuff spread around too? Starlost, Red Dwarf, Space: Above and Beyond, Earth2, Even the old black and white Lost in Space would be cool if they don't choke us with it.

Xanthur

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Craig Dawson — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:37:31 PST

I would have to agree with most of the comments here.
Where did they ever get the idea that SCi-Fi demographics are the same as that WWE wrestling crap?!?
That has to be one of the most deranged channel programming decisions I have ever seen. Do they really not have enough sci-fi, fantasy, or horror repeats or any other remotely SciFi-ish programming to fill in those time slots?!?

I would also like to see Farscape return. It was one of my all time favorite tv shows.

The new Battlestar Galactica series is my favorite tv show of the last few years and I am sad that it will end after this upcoming season. What is the reason? It could easily last another 2 or 3 seasons. It is the one of the very FEW shows that I truly look forward to watching every week.

Firefly was a pretty cool show (although a bit hoakey at times)... and while not at the same level as the new BSG or Farscape, I would like to see it return as a series that starts sometime after the movie Serenity left off.

I originally recorded Tin Man on my DVR but then deleted it when I realized we were probably not going to sit down for 4.5 hours or so of a show like that.
Did I miss much? I guess if I did... I can just rent the DVD sometime.

Craig Dawson

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

SunZhiQian — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:44:43 PST

I'd like to throw in another vote for getting rid of Ghost Hunters (and any other reality show they may come up with), wrestling, and the "SciFi Original" crappy monster movies with pad plots and effects.

Stargate (both versions), Farscape, Firefly, and BSG are all awesome shows. If the new guy will do more programming on par with those, wonderful.

And I'd also like to throw in my vote for the SciFi news show and bringing back the reruns of the good stuff...

SunZhiQian

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Chryss — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:32:21 PST

Tin Man was a great concept, pretty good script, nice art direction, and saddled with some really incompetent acting and direction. I now HATE Zooey Deschanel. Bleargh.

Speaking as an SF-loving woman, give me back shows like Farscape, Firefly, and MST3K and I'll bloody well tattoo the logo of your network on my arm. The special presentation of Mansquito...not so much. (Unless it's accompanied by two 'bots and a janitor trapped in space.)

Chryss

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Jim — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:24:57 PST

Totally agree - I couldn't believe the wresting thing? WTF? What are you people smoking?

Where is the demographic that says SciFi fans like wrestling? I mean there is nothing I want to do more on a Friday night while I'm compiling my kernal than to watch two oiled up dudes go at it.

Dear SciFi President... Go to the library. Ask the librarian for the SciFi section. Read. Maybe you will figure it out...

Jim

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

tk. — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:07:19 PST

Tin Man was pretty good, too, even if it dragged a bit in spots. But as much as I do find Ghost Hunters entertaining, I'm surprised they don't play more of the bazillion old sci-fi shows like Probe or Misfits of Science or something.

tk.

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

EncephelanetRepairHelperGuy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:04:33 PST

@AlfaCharger: Huzzah!

EncephelanetRepairHelperGuy

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

EncephelanetRepairHelperGuy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:03:04 PST

@zenpoet: Here, here!

EncephelanetRepairHelperGuy

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

AlfaCharger — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:52:44 PST

@Seth L:

I hear the new Vancouver is....

Massachusetts. Falling Dollar and special tax breaks make MA the place to shoot.

AlfaCharger

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

BadUncle — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:51:22 PST

Sci Fi seems to be following MTV's lead, and abandoning it's raison d'etre. Maybe some other network can actually build a science fiction channel.

BadUncle

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

ProgGrrl — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:38:45 PST

@Cheap Shot: Wow...really?

Hmm... *is reconsidering my previous post*

ProgGrrl

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

ProgGrrl — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:37:43 PST

RE a Battlestar Galactica movie...not likely due to Glen Larson (see here)

RE a Sci Fi Channel perfume...see the part of that Variety piece where they say that a big target of their "digital love" will be men 18-34? Doesn't bode well for us Ladies Who Love SciFi.

We'll see...

ProgGrrl

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Seth L — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:35:23 PST

I miss the old days of sci-fi so much. Lost in Space and Land of the Giants in the morning. Old BSG, Trek reruns, and of course, MST3K.

They don't even show classic sci-fi movies anymore!

And of course, if it can't be filmed in Vancouver, it doesn't get made.

Seth L

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Simon Piper — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:29:25 PST

Also, where is my "Spaceballs: The Animated Series"?

Simon Piper

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Simon Piper — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:27:43 PST

Mmmmm Zooey Deschanel

Simon Piper

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

doubledumbassonyou — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:27:04 PST

Remember when they had that Saturday morning Animation Station? That was the ballz, that was my first exposure to Macross, Battleship Yamato, and Star Trek The Animated Series ... perhaps they'd bring that back?

No.

They won't.

They won't even give us Farscape re-runs!

doubledumbassonyou

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Cheap Shot — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:26:04 PST

I've been on an interview with the creative director there and he told me Sci-Fi's new direction was more tailored for women viewers. Most of the new series play up the emotional side of things and less technology. I would rather watch reruns of The Twilight Zone.

Cheap Shot

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

zenpoet — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:15:54 PST

Drop ALL the reality shows, put more budget money into better scripts and better visuals. Keep up the good work on the ongoing series, and stop making "Sci-fi originals" about giant snakes, spiders, aligators, or any other such animals.

But seriously, no more Reality Programing. We like Sci-fi because it is unlike reality.

zenpoet

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

vurtscribe — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:11:17 PST

I actually really like Ghost Hunters, but I agree it's not SF. Then again, neither is their Saturday lineup of bad movies involving large snakes, gators, mutants, etc. Those aren't SF as much as schlock-horror. B movies are always fun, but they aren't sci-fi.

What has always disappointed me about SciFi is that they don't have much sci-fi on it at all and what they do have is rehashed, reheated, 70's shows. Yes the spin on BSG is good, and I was happy to see Stargate find a home but honestly, isn't there more that could be done? So many great SF works would be high impact in mini-series or series form (can you imagine Neuromancer as a mini-series, or even an animated series?).

Reality does not equal science fiction, if it did, then we wouldn't have the genre at all. I'm sick of reality shows in general. Who Wants to be a Superhero (or whatever it was called) was a depressing joke and humiliating to watch as a comic book fan.

End Rant

vurtscribe

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Metropolis — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:08:18 PST

Id like to see some type of scifi news type show. Maybe it could showcase sci authors/actors and possibly discuse current important scienctific/technological advancements, something like Wired on PBS.

Metropolis

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Garro — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:07:22 PST

You know if all those scifi original movies get cut, and in the slots are split 50/50 with quality series and some reality shows, I don't mind. That's IF they can come out with some decent stuff for once.

Garro

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

t3knomanser — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:05:20 PST

At least Ghost Hunters is on the science FICTION channel- better than when Discovery runs some credulous crap for ratings.

The only reality show should be one where the guests are attempting to replicate feats of mad science from days of yore. Animating the dead, flying cars, death rays.

t3knomanser

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Nebris — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:01:04 PST

@Falconfire: I think we need more Wrestling shows. Nothing says Sci-Fi like Wrestling!!!!

Yeah, WTF is up with that shit!! Prelude to a Spike/Sci-Fi merger?

Nebris

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

deckard97 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:58:59 PST

I'd rather watch reruns of "Lost In Space" than stomach so called reality shows. Ghosts? Wrestling? Since when did SciFi become the 'Supernatural Wrestling Network"? If you gotta sleaze, at least bring me Battle Bots!

(in silent prayer) ...and of course my dear and fluffy Lord, please oh please bring back Firefly. Oh, and Farscape too. Thanks.

deckard97

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

ComicDork — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:55:28 PST

SciFi is awful most of the time... Ghost Hunters? So ridiculous. Why not just have a program showing con artists conning people? (hey, I should pitch that).

There just isn't a lot of 'SciFi' on that channel... Friday & Monday nights?

And they make Doctor Who UNWATCHABLE with their horrible edits/commercial breaks... thank the sweet zombie jesus for the bittorrent

ComicDork

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

anonCom — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:53:04 PST

This whole "lifestyle" thing is the virus that infects The Sci-Fi Channel. I can't tell you how many times I had conversations that involved not-so-subtle trashing of shows like BSG, Farscape, and other space epics in favor of gooey-eyed admiration of reality schlock like Ghost Hunters and Crossing Over. The problem is that most of the top execs are cable industry journeymen who jump between networks and don't really know or care about sci-fi. They just want to get the soccer mom in peoria demographic.

anonCom

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Log1c — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:52:43 PST

Also broadcast in HD for the love of science! Seriously, it should be one of the cutting edge networks, throw in some 5.1 sound, etc etc.

Log1c

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

EncephelanetRepairHelperGuy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:41:48 PST

David Who? Sounds like a plan--

@Falconfire: Didn't the DGA end it yesterday?

EncephelanetRepairHelperGuy

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

chuloallen — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:19:09 PST

SciFi was awesome, but with the new shows like Ghost Hunter and reality shows its starting to suck.. not to mention WWE or what ever that fake thing is called..

really SciFi.. get back to your roots and have some good series and great movies-
The scifi movies may not always be great (ones funded by SciFi) there is always a gem or two.

chuloallen

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Falconfire — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:16:54 PST

eh until this writers strike is over i wouldnt hold out hope for anything. I strongly suspect we are going to have reruns going into the 2008-09 season the way things are going.

Falconfire

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

AlfaCharger — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:16:30 PST

I think we need more Wrestling shows. Nothing says Sci-Fi like Wrestling!!!!

AlfaCharger

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

Log1c — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:11:21 PST

I think whenever we talk about networks and Sci-Fi I think its required that some idiot in the comments mentions Firefly. So with no further adieu, BRING BACK FIREFLY!

Log1c

Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?

BioHzrd — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:09:26 PST

Sci-fi as a lifestyle - kinda cool idea, interested in seeing where they go with it.
Ghost hunters is good but, we don't need any more of it. Like that lame show that hunted Loch Ness and other silliness.

BioHzrd