~Y

Upsilon

oldandintheway

1. The highest up in the SFC food chain really hates science fiction. She has no love, feel, understanding or appreciation for the genre.

2. They do not know their audience or demographic.

3. MONEY! Why produce a good series like Galactica when you can do a "Flash Gordon" at a third of the price. There is a whole "Canadian Tax Credit" film market up there just waiting to produce the next cheap "Mansquito" or some giant snake movie for next to nothing.

He told me the best thing to do is just keep bitching and tell them what you really want on Sci-Fi. Sooner or later they will have to listen.

Hope he's right about that.

Zantor

LOL last comment!!!

olliverkirby

Balius

but then again, i gave up after they ruined sliders, tales from a parallel universe (redubbed "lexx"), stargate, and quite a few of my other formerly favourite sci-fi shows. and now that they play b-movies and wrestling? wow.

arachnophilia

sonikdeathmonkey

If SciFi wants low-budget shows, they should do a show featuring reviews, interviews, and documentaries on science fiction authors, literature and films. Interview the greats (before they die like Asimov) and do omething along the lines of Charlie Rose or Inside the Actor's Studio but with science fiction subjects only. Bring back SciFi Vortex and SciFi Buzz. There are plenty of ways to generate "original programming" without skyrocketing costs. Why not SciFi Wire on TV?

And what about other foreign SF? The United States, Canada and the UK are not the only countries in the world creating science fiction. Licensing costs to air some of the older SF works from other countries would be cost effective and expose those films to a wider audience. I'd love to see the original Solaris (the Soviet version) and Fritz Lang's Metropolis on SciFi. Those are classics and certainly not as costly as more modern films. And if they are, there are doubtless other films out there that haven't gotten the exposure, and therefore not the cost either, that are good. Typically, only the great foreign films make it overseas. The average and above-average films do not. But even if they're average, that's still better than the B-monster dreck SciFi broadcasts.

prof1515

They have so much to choose from.

1) Start running sci-fi shows by season semi-annually:
Throw up classic sci-fi from the late '50 like TZ, The Outer Limits and that other show whose name I can't think of... 60's stuff like Irwin Allen's programming, iTV, ST, Dr. Who... 70's stuff, a veritable cornucopia of sci-fi like $6MDM, Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Buck Rogers, and on and on. The friggin Questor Tapes... The same for the 80's and 90's...

2) Put re-runs of MST3K back up.

3) Get rid of the direct to Bulgaria as a major motion picture, "Sci-Fi Presents:" movies.

4) Dig up old crap like: The Phoenix, Lucan, Fantastic Journey and the Planet of the Apes TV series.

5) Put on, In Search Of... with leonard Nimoy and that similar Arthur C. Clarke show.

6) Run classic sci-fi more.

7) Get rid the reality-show crap, well except that Make Me A Superhero one...

8) On Saturday mornings or even weekday morning, get some classic sci-fi kids cartoon shows up.

Frankly, I am tired of the Sci-Fi Channel treating it's subject matter and viewers like many of our parents did when we watched or read this stuff... "You'll rot your brain..." or "Why do you waste your time with that crap?". Sci-Fi during it's origins was called, "scientific fiction" and "speculative fiction", why I am not not treated like that?

I can't stand these dopey real-life hunter shows, like UFO-Hunters and Ghost-Hunters especially. God, Ghost-Hunters is awful, a bunch of cognitively-limited 20-somethings scared of a bump in the night. Ugh. (Yes, I know I suggested putting In Search Of on, but c'mon Leonard Nimoy + 70's music/fashion + Amelia Earheart = what's not to love!)

That is all.

radio1

At one point the even shopped one about a carnivorous human/salad dressing monster called Man-naise!

Kid you not.

strider_mt2k

thoruen

dirtybacon

dirtybacon

But remember folks, SciFi has not hit the bottom of the barrel yet. Witness the shambling horror that is now A&E. A network that was once full of BBC shows, long form documentaries, and, I admit it, Law and Order reruns is now chock full of CSI, shows about dudes with mullets chasing down other dudes with mullets, and reality shows featuring the possibly inbred, likely retarded spawn of a dead mobster.

That's SciFi's future, right there.

robocop_is_bleeding

7. BE THE STANDARD BEARER! Skiffy should be setting the standard for sci fi. Let's see some really out there creative efforts from them. Let's see some movies adapted from the best of today's speculative fiction.

Kiamat

Again, I think it's not that it costs too much to rebroadcast these shows, but it's more than SciFi/NBC-Universal is willing to pay.

And I'm guessing that Henson/Hallmark has made the rebroadcast price to high for Farscape, too?

Of course, SciFi was able to acquire rebroadcast rights to the SG1 eps originally produced by Showtime (owned by CBS/Viacom). Maybe they were super cheap?

Or perhaps Skiffy is run by morons.

Tardy

MysticleRogue

if they want to show those "B"-movies as least do it through MST3K

krissouth

More BSG - less monsters.

So... when was the last actual episode of BSG? (not Razor) That's right. TOO LONG AGO!!

It's like it's a big secret to them that their ratings skyrocket when that shows on?!

"Great job on BSG last week guys, ratings were through the roof... next on the agenda, monster movie marathon 39287, we've got ants, spiders, snakes, armadillos, porcupines... what else people?! Come on!! This is our bread and butter!!"

avconsumer

CozmicDreamer

braak

The problem is that, as someone else pointed out, science fiction need not require a large budget. Of all the genres, science fiction has the widest scope and can entail practically anything the imagination can conceive. Science fiction horror? Yes, just look at Alien or The Fly. Science fiction westerns? One of the best was Brisco County Jr. (another Fox series that was unjustly cancelled after one season). A science fiction romance? Yes, possible! Science fiction drama? But of course!

The key to good science fiction is the same as with any fiction: writing. Couple that with competant filmmakers (and even their B-monster movies have people with talent even if they're producing garbage) and they have the potential to create good science fiction. But they have to be committed to turning out good science fiction, not simply content to churn out "original programming".

As for their present line-up, if it weren't for Doctor Who, I don't think SciFi has much to offer. Stargate Atlantis has failed to impress from the beginning (Stargate SG-1 wasn't spectacular but at least it was watchable). Dresden was likewise unimpressive but at least it was an attempt. The Ghost Hunter, et al stuff is simply uninteresting if not downright pathetic. And wrestling? You couldn't see smellier sh*t if you stuck your head in a toilet.

SciFi needs to recognize their niche and be content with it. They need to emphasize "quality" over "quantity". They need to acknowledge that attracting more casual viewers at the expense of dedicated viewers is only destructive in the long term. They need to remember that science fiction is a long-established genre with plenty of history that can be mined for programming ideas and content. They need to remember that if any characteristic defines science fiction, it is intelligence and they need to realize that Mansquito is not a reflection of intelligence.

There's still time to save SciFi. There's still room for SciFi to fulfill the promise it held back in 1992 (how I longed for it then). But it will require effort and dedication and some appreciation of science fiction rather than accounting to do it.

prof1515

There's something wrong with a "sci-fi" channel when I only watch the channel 1 hour a week, and I consider myself a sci-fi fan.

bitgod

shehanum

shehanum

Belabras

Witchery

Alano

I used to love the Sci-Fi channel. Now I'm bored. Wrestling? Who's idea of a bad joke was that?

A number of things skiffy can and can't do. Someone earlier suggested that shows like Firefly and Journeyman be brought in from their respective networks when they fail there. It's not that easy. Generally, budgets are high for science fiction shows, which is strike one. But part of budgeting a network show is based on predicted ad revenue. Networks are rolling in ad revenue for "big hit" shows and can afford to spill a little money from them onto something that they think will do well later, or is a critical darling. The Sci-Fi channel can't afford something like that. Their "big hit" shows are BSG and Eureka, which are lucky to get a 1.2 rating. Love them though you may, they don't command the ad revenue that shows like American Idol or Lost does. Plus, how many of you know about what happens when the ratings plunge? First, they give free air time, but if they don't have any inventory, they have to refund money. Imagine lowly Sci-Fi channel being forced to give away inventory or money because its expensive shows don't make the upfront contract ratings. They would die a quick death.

My hope is that they could do something innovative, or at least fun. Anyone else remember watching old B&W movies late Saturday night on creature features? There are about a bazillion REALLY GOOD science fiction movies in the public domain that can be had for a pittance (broadcast-wise). Put 'em on late Friday-Sunday nights as an homage to those very creature features we loved 20 years ago.

Or at least get rid of the fucking wrestling.

larry_832

Agro

So, yeah, I'm not particularly happy with the way they run things. I hold out hope, because they frequently show a great deal of potential, but it usually seems wasted.

Anyone remember the Riverworld movie/mini thing they did? I always wished they would expand on that a bit, as it sort of ended on a huge cliffhanger.

etho

gods-n-clods

loudambiance

loudambiance

Doing that, though, would involve going places that I doubt Sci-Fi would be willing (or even able) to go. Space has fewer commercials, for one, and more interstitial content. They produce very few original series/movies, but import content from various networks in the States and around the world.

Perhaps most importantly, though, Space doesn't restrict or censor its content. If a movie airing on Space has nipples, it damn well shows those nipples. The same goes for violence, language, and other "mature subject matter"...and I just don't see Sci-Fi going there while it's under the aegis of NBC Universal.

TheAlmanac

@Ryan H @Gopherit : QFT! How is ECW sci-fi related?

MercuryPDX

Kill your television. Blow it up and post the footage on youtube.

Between I tunes, Amazon, Netflicks and streaming video, you can get all the Sci-fi you want, at your schedule and at your command.

So you have to wait a day after the broadcast. So what?

Time to surf on over to hulu to catch the Sarah Conner nonsense for more hot killer robot fun.

Dug

MercuryPDX

For as long as I can remember, Sci-Fi cancels (or simply doesn't produce) every piece of good television they get.
Farscape - cancelled.
Lost Room - no development beyond the mini-series.
Dresden Files - cancel city.
Invisible Man - cancelled.
MST3K - el cancelo

Instead we get Tremors: the series and Wrestling. Goddamned wrestling, for Gort's sake.

The suck soooo very hard.

Belabras

Scifi network aside (we don't get that channel here), I'd like to know when the Discovery Channel became the motorcycle assembly channel...

diverguy

/wrestling fan. But knows it doesn't belong on sci fi channel

Plague

I also can't understand why NBC wouldn't bring Battlestar Galactica over to a network audience during the writer's strike - it's not like the shows weren't already in the can - and it's not like it's a bad show that wouldn't gain viewership being aired on a more visible channel.

pinkraygun

nman

olliverkirby

cy1701

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

I remember when Sci-Fi first started, with it's wild CGI show breaks and constant movie marathons. I loved the network, I'd put it on all the time just to have it in the background.

These days, I don't even recognize it. The few shows on the network that I actually care to watch, I get off BitTorrent. It's rare that I find anything on SciFi worth watching.

Chiper

Nice one.

extracrispy

That's what I'd like to watch on SciFi right now.

Klappstuhl

Sci Fi channel started to suck especially after they started to show stupid "reality" anti-science shows, like that crap with John Edwards (?) and "Ghost twinkies" or whateverthehell it's called. I mean, at least the new version of "In Search Of" that was on for about 5 seconds was kind of fun.

victheremin

As for original programming, they have a show called Hypaspace which is kind of like your Morning Spoilers in video form, which airs a full half hour weekly and 5 minute segments between shows. Which brings up another great feature: shortest. commercial. segments. EVER. Shows begin on the hour and end 5-7 minutes early with some sort of feature like Hypaspace in the time remaining before the next show.
Then there's The Spacey's, an anual award show that celebrates "the best in sci-fi, fantasy and horror films, television series and video games."

They also play Eureka episodes, albeit a lot later than US airings, so I download them online rather than waiting for the Canadian broadcasts. Speaking of which...
@Plague: Eureka has amazing ratings and was the highest-rated series launch in Sci Fi's history, so they'd be complete morons to not renew it. I'm sure it's just delayed because of the WGA strike.

Anyhoo...love the Space Station. Anyone who's a fan of sci-fi and all around good programming should watch it.

Bluecell

tspack

shehanum

shehanum

Cacafuego

I tried the same thing with AMC when they started running commercials and a lot of crappy movies. It didn't work so I have made good on my promise to them; I do not watch their channel any more. Soon, it seems, I will also stop watching SciFi.

TV networks need to treat viewers better. Their market is shrinking under the onslaught of the proliferation of other media choices. The only way for them to win us back is with quality programming. The only thing we have to fight back with is our remotes. If you don't like what they offer, tell them and turn their network off.

I for one will not watch TV just because it is on or strictly out of habit. My time is too valuable to waste in front of some IQ draining show like ECW.

MilesFromNowhere

psaurian

Cacafuego

Final

Farscape and Battlestar Galactica are two of the best SciFi shows of the last generation. Farscape never should have been cancelled. I wish they'd pick up Bionic Woman like they did Sliders. I wish they'd pick up some better anime though and atleast one Kaiju show.

Big Battel > ECW any day

Final

jacques e loupe

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

...and news flash, for it's entire run most of the episodes of SG1 were one-hitters, not just the last craptacular seasons. No one forced the writers on SG1 to get lazy, they did it on their own. I like the story arc's too, but your assuming everyone has your, ah, "taste" for lack of a better word.

Epaminondas

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

Mister Adequate

Not everything is going to be amazing and earth shattering. With the SciFi channel, you know what you're getting.

dreamrot

Frozen-Tex

ProgGrrl

Jeff-Minor

When you look at what is on, you can see the DNA for something great, but when left in the hands of the incompetent, comes out as less than crap.

Some of the great movies are done on such elementary premises, such as "the Fly." The other thing I have a problem is that they so often go to horrible special effects, when special effects are not REALLY needed at all, even in science fiction. I think its important to, if used at all, use the budget for one or two great scenes, and leave the rest up to knockout writing.

Its science fiction, and unless you have the budget for a T2, or Abyss, or even Event Horizen, keep the idea small, and give the audience what they really want: a great story.

zenpoet

SciFi's actual time-of-death was the minute that they canceled Dr. Franklin Ruehl.

He was better than a slap on the belly with a wet trout.

Atrocious

Sci-fi channel is the reason SG-1 sucked the last few years too. They kept forcing them into doing self contained episodes when the only reason most people watched it was for the overall story arcs. The show still had some room to grow (I'm looking at you episode where Baal takes over the Orisi) but instead we got episodes about retarded slugs that turned people into pig-beasts.

theOmegaMan

I can assure you, they are not being sold. They are a part of NBC/Universal so no signs of a buyout.

Now if the channel had the editors of this blog at the helm I would be glued to that channel.

Beam me outta here!

Cheap Shot

draconismoi

Destination Truth isn't too bad... mainly because they take the subject matter with the seriousness it deserves (none.)

At any rate, Sci-Fi has seemingly found some sort of niche - enough to sell advertising, at least.

Gideon

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

...and for those of you who actually like those Ghost Hunter shows, always remember to use a condom.

Epaminondas

And I've never understood how wrestling is scifi... homoerotic? yes. Soap operas? yes. Scifi? No.

ComicDork

What good are cheap shows if no one is watching them? Does anyone know what their ratings are like (especially for their Saturday night crap fests?)

MysticleRogue

Plague

Ghede

I doubt it. The shows they're doing have got to be cheap cheap cheap, so their bottom line is low. They're not going anywhere.

edosan

Oh and although I never watch them.. Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth (a show I'd never heard of) are their two biggest hits, so they ain't going anywhere.

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

As difficult as it is to get into the new crap they're airing, it's even harder when you remember SciFi's lack of respect for it's viewers when it cancels it's best show and doesn't even have the decency to allow it a proper ending until the fans start boycotting the station (Farscape ended in "to be continued" and was brought back with peace keeper wars to officially conclude the series). Maybe the station should be bought out and managed by someone who can give the fans what they want.

... and that's my two cents. :)

MysticleRogue

Stargate used to be a lot of fun... but the last few seasons were terrible (despite the addition of some great new cast members) and Atlantis has just never captured my attention.

Battlestar is probably the best show on television, but it's been handled poorly.

Lost Room was the most interesting thing they've done in years, and they didn't do a damn thing with it.

But, hey.. long as we can see movies about giant snakes and crap. It is astonishing that the channel is still on given how bad it is. I used to watch it ALL THE TIME and now... I watch Ghost Hunters (cause it's just so... absurd watching these plumbers hunt ghosts) and Battlestar when it is new. Once Battlestar is over, however, I hope the bloody thing goes out of business and maybe something better can take its place.

I agree about Dresden... great IDEA for a show, bad implimentation. I liked the actor - but the scripts were rotton.

Gideon

Next on the agenda?

Plague

annelise13

It certainly doesn't help that whomever truly runs the network is totally incapable of understanding the difference between sci-fi and fantssy- they are not the same and most sci-fi lovers dislike fantasy, some useless network execs need to learn the difference.

And whatever happened to their great Saturday morning cartoon block with animated Trek, Thundarr, the Herculoids, and real space ghost?

Oh, and I so totally agree that the very worst thing sci-fi ever did was to start that stupid ghost show.

Unless scifi is being intentionally destroyed, it appears unlikely to survive much longer.

RIP Sci-fi channel!

aixelsyd

@RusM: Cinematic Titanic had a great first effort and I'm looking forward to more.

Anyway, whet can I say about SciFi? There's a lot of great SFTV that they could do, but they show infomercials, wrestling and paranormal reality shows all the time.

edosan

mattclary

I just mention this on the off chance somebody is lisening

codydog

Sometimes the movies/minis are worth it: I loved Children of Dune. It was a great improvement over their Dune, but then the second and third books seem much simpler to adapt. But the only high-profile minis I can recall since then are Earthsea and Tin Man, of which the less said the better.

Dunc

extracrispy

BSG is the only thing I can stomach on it nowadays. It's really too bad, as they could at the very least be showing a better variety of older shows and movies if they are not gonna make decent original content.

Hell, the only reason I have cable is to see LOST, BSG, Terminator and Heroes episodes a few hours before they hit the torrents and newsgroups.

Pham Nuwen

aspiringexpatriate

And good sci-fi costs money. They get 'enough' ratings by making cheap sci-fi.

Granted, they are doing BSG, and they only really have the money for one good show at a time. They spend the rest on crap films.

aspiringexpatriate

But the original owners who sold it to USA in the first place were bozos, too. Anyone remember Tekno Comics?

RRich

Rus

Fwiw, the channel has actually produced a few decent made-for-TV movies, The Breed and Dark Kingdom. Neither had the production value to compare with "real" movies, but they're far from bad and even further from Ice Spiders. Occasionally there's the interesting miniseries event, too. That Oz one was a step in the right direction though the end product was absolutely horrible. (I'll give it a "yay" for Zoe Deschanel and monkeys flying from bosoms, but that's it.)

AgtShadow

That being said... I love vegging out to their crap B-Movies. Some (a small handful) are actually decent. Dagon was pretty sweet. Oh yeah... and if a movie shows boobs, do what Comedy Central does and run it uncensored after midnight. Its a sad weird country we live in where they can show someones head popping off, with blood everywhere, but not a nipple.

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

pax252

@Gopherit: Sci-Fi and USA (which does show wrestling) are owned by the same parent company. The term is "repurposing," the advantage is "cheap," the reason is "Bonnie Hammer," and the result is "cheap."

Rus

sandmanfvr

And I know its not their fault but I hate whoever canceled Odyssey 5 as well.

theOmegaMan

NcSchu

SavannahJack

To TNN's credit, they did the franchise right and showed TNG multiple times a day, rocketing their viewership. Viewership that robbed SciFi of much needed ratings.

From there, it's been downhill. From the cancellation of Farscape, to missing out on opportunities like picking up Firefly when FOX canceled it. Someone thought that ECW Wrestling was a better match for the channel.

Anyway, it's going to need a major shakeup before any real, pure programming will come back. I know it's about making money, but really, is anyone watching any of with crappy programming with real regularity?

Ken

1) Run when you hear the phrase "A SciFi channel original series/film"

2) There's more to scifi than Star Trek and Stargate

3) Ghosthunting type shows just don't do it for me

sir_eccles

scifi is a really dull channel that's trying to be too many things at once. they have magazines, they do blogs, they do all sorts of stuff, and yet at the core of it most of their shows with the exception of BSG, jumped the shark. Stargate was great until the end of Season 7 ,then it just sorta sucked. Atlantis? I stopped watching that after the millionth "aliens ate my brain" episode.

The ghost hunter stuff is just stupid, and the movies? Well they make decent money off the movies, and that's fine, but if they're not going to invest in dcent original programming, and not even bother to buy good product to sell ads with, screw 'em.

Plus, they kinda screwed with BSG, giving it a full season, but then saying "that's it." ARgh.

njudah

gods-n-clods

Gopherit

Gopherit

radink360

TX1

PVIII

Then there came Sci-Fi Prime. I remember sitting down and anxiously awaiting the Invisible Man, I wasn't too impressed, but stuck around for this other show... Farscape. My mind was blown and it was the reason I decided to go into film and TV.

But since the cancellation (and besides BSG... when it's on), the Sci Fi Channel seems to be nothing more than B Movies, poor "reality" programs, and sometimes "wrestling."

My old boss worked there after Farscape was cancelled. She saw what they did. Sadly a message board post won't do anything to fix the problem of Ms. Hammer.

Loserface

Rather than try to actually focus on science fiction, they've ALWAYS tried to be as mass appeal as possible. And cheap.

Considering the wealth of material out there (from ALL over) that they could chose from, there's no reason for the outright dreck they run most of the time.

The good stuff is the exception.

RRich

Seriously, there is a LOT of it. HUGE amounts. Let it be the channel that you can turn to at any time of the day and expect to see something that involves SF. Not horror. Not generic action movies. Science Fiction.

There is nothing wrong with re-runs. Just plundering the 90's forward you could do an entire 24/7 line-up without repeating yourself. Hell, I bet they could buy the rights outright to a lot of forgotten shows on the cheap. Burn through a one or two season show in two or three months and then release a DVD set to coincide.

Then make new headline shows to fill the big time slots. Go with the BBC model of commissioning a three or four shows with 6-8 episode stand alone seasons. That gives you roughly 4 seasons a year. Anything that does well in quarter 1 gets picked up again, films in quarter 2 and airs season 2 in quarter 3. Keep the shows rotating and see what sticks.

Release DVD sets and direct downloads FAST. And keep them reasonably priced. 8 episode series? I should be able to pick that up for $30-$40 max. Often a show does only OK in ratings and by the time the DVD gets released and the real money starts coming in it has already been long cut.

Co-operate with foreign channels. Import the best stuff from around the world. Hell, if there is good foreign language SF, I bet you could pick it up cheap, subtitle it and get a cult late-night following for some French or German show. Then release THAT on DVD. And download.

Basically, be happy serving a small and reliable market. Don't try and be everything to everyone. There is nothing wrong with being a small profitable station. Unless you happen to be owned by NBC and have to show 5000% growth every quarter. In that case, you and everyone who enjoys you as you were is proper fucked.

Ryan H

Tommmcatt

extracrispy

sandmanfvr

PVIII

Frozen-Tex

Snarkybartfast

braak

She stepped down last January, but her legacy is felt still.

Rus

And Sci Fi is not setting itself up for a buy out. That's one of the stupidest thing's I've ever read. It's a prime property for NBC U, and ratings have been up consistantly for the past 5 years +, with the craptacular Oz movie its highest mini EVER (beat even Taken).

While I love to complain about Sci Fi, they're running a business. I hate ECW as much as the next guy - but as long as we get BSG, those Farscape minis, Firefly reruns, camp like Eureka, etc., it's hard for me to complain TOO much.

If it was up to me, they'd be running forgotten shows Earth 2, SAaB, and Odyssey 5 (they have the rights to all three), but it's not, and they'd probably get bottom-of-the-barrel ratings. Maybe it's time for ANOTHER true Science Fiction channel. Maybe that's the answer...

PVIII

sandmanfvr

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