What's with all the Syfy hate, guys?

[Zontar]

You know, it could be worse, people. they cold be spending most of their time airing Cops. You know, like another geek-centric station that got off the rails, and renamed.

I pity you Yankees. Up here our speciality channels are legally required to stick to what they are specialized in or they will loose their licence, so Space is always stuck with science fiction and fantasy (Orphan Black is original content from it, for example) and Teletoon will continue to have animated movies and shows (which, due to the "minimum Canadian content" law, will also mean we will keep seeing Canadian animation be predominately shit), and so on. Hell, G4 Canada is still true to its core.

 

[thewatergamer]

Because its lost all quality? I haven't checked into the SyFy Channel in about 2 years now, but last I checked they had little to no good classics and all "Syfy Originals" or whatever, those shit low-budget ripoffs of much better and popular shows at the time

 

[Something Amyss]

Syfy is still cool. People complain it carries wrestling, but hell, look at Kane, and the Undertaker. A demon, and a dead man walking the earth! Okay, it's not that great of an example, but still.

Especially since they stopped being those characters years ago. Kane's unmasked and I don't know when the last time they actually referenced how horribly burned he was by Paul Bearer/whoever they decided did it at the time, and Undertaker stopped truly being "the Deadman" before I graduated high school. Even since his "return," he's pretty much been a hybrid of his former characters. ECW even went out of their way to mock this sort of thing early in their SyFy run.

The guys we tend to see now are guys either wrestling under their real names or under names that sound like real names. Even Hornswoggle got nerfed. But you got yoru John Cenas and your Roman Reignseseses. Aside from watered down legacy characters like Kane and 'Taker, is there ANYBODY in WWE who has a character on that level? The Ascension's the closest I can come, and they strike me as more LoD or Headbangers than Brothers of Destruction.

Anyway, to bury the lead, I wouldn't care about wrestling being on there if there was good programming on there. Hell, WWE's got entertaining enough again that I watch it occasionally. Probably won't ever be as big on it as I was in the 1990s, but I don't object to wrestling (as the above rant might have indicated).

 

[Rebel_Raven]

You know, it could be worse, people. they cold be spending most of their time airing Cops. You know, like another geek-centric station that got off the rails, and renamed.

I pity you Yankees. Up here our speciality channels are legally required to stick to what they are specialized in or they will loose their licence, so Space is always stuck with science fiction and fantasy (Orphan Black is original content from it, for example) and Teletoon will continue to have animated movies and shows (which, due to the "minimum Canadian content" law, will also mean we will keep seeing Canadian animation be predominately shit), and so on. Hell, G4 Canada is still true to its core.

Yeah, G4 died a sad death in the states. It's now esquire, and I have no idea what it's doing now.

I don't see many more problems with channels going the route of g4, thankfully. Do they do the "Screen Savers" up there, still? I miss that show.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

You know, it could be worse, people. they cold be spending most of their time airing Cops. You know, like another geek-centric station that got off the rails, and renamed.

I pity you Yankees. Up here our speciality channels are legally required to stick to what they are specialized in or they will loose their licence, so Space is always stuck with science fiction and fantasy (Orphan Black is original content from it, for example) and Teletoon will continue to have animated movies and shows (which, due to the "minimum Canadian content" law, will also mean we will keep seeing Canadian animation be predominately shit), and so on. Hell, G4 Canada is still true to its core.

So what I'm getting is that in Canada, Sy-Fy's wrestling would involve more aliens and probes.

 

[Zontar]

Snip

I'm going to be honest, without the theatrics that make up more of the show then the actual fighting, there's only one wrestling program which belongs on a channel about science fiction:

 

[Zontar]

So what I'm getting is that in Canada, Sy-Fy's wrestling would involve more aliens and probes.

Pretty much. Also, there wouldn't even be lip service given to the idea that it's real.

Also there'd probably be a cameo by at least one actor who has been on Stargate, Eureka, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica or Orphan Black every few episodes as a guest star.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

So what I'm getting is that in Canada, Sy-Fy's wrestling would involve more aliens and probes.

Pretty much. Also, there wouldn't even be lip service given to the idea that it's real.

Also there'd probably be a cameo by at least one actor who has been on Stargate, Eureka, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica or Orphan Black every few episodes as a guest star.

I need to sign up for Canadian TV. Maybe ask Canada to annex California. CAs unite.

 

[Zontar]

I don't see many more problems with channels going the route of g4, thankfully. Do they do the "Screen Savers" up there, still? I miss that show.

I'm afraid not, we just rebroadcast yours while it was still on, so it died along with it. But other programming has filed the void. It's not as good as it used to be in the golden age, but it's doing decently over all.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Syfy is still cool. People complain it carries wrestling, but hell, look at Kane, and the Undertaker. A demon, and a dead man walking the earth! Okay, it's not that great of an example, but still.

Especially since they stopped being those characters years ago. Kane's unmasked and I don't know when the last time they actually referenced how horribly burned he was by Paul Bearer/whoever they decided did it at the time, and Undertaker stopped truly being "the Deadman" before I graduated high school. Even since his "return," he's pretty much been a hybrid of his former characters. ECW even went out of their way to mock this sort of thing early in their SyFy run.

The guys we tend to see now are guys either wrestling under their real names or under names that sound like real names. Even Hornswoggle got nerfed. But you got yoru John Cenas and your Roman Reignseseses. Aside from watered down legacy characters like Kane and 'Taker, is there ANYBODY in WWE who has a character on that level? The Ascension's the closest I can come, and they strike me as more LoD or Headbangers than Brothers of Destruction.

Anyway, to bury the lead, I wouldn't care about wrestling being on there if there was good programming on there. Hell, WWE's got entertaining enough again that I watch it occasionally. Probably won't ever be as big on it as I was in the 1990s, but I don't object to wrestling (as the above rant might have indicated).

Nah, Undertaker's feud with Brock utilized the Urn, IIRC, as did the feud with CM Punk way back when.
Kane still does the pyro. Plus he's been unmasked for a while.
I mean, they aren't hard core into the characters, but there's still some elements.
Boogeyman makes halloween runs, though I wish his character'd come back more.

I do agree that most wrestlers have been coming in with normal sounding names, and less gimmicks, which is a shame. It's hard to find solid sci-fi elements in WWE. I'm glad to talk to another person that doesn't mind WWE on Syfy.
WWE hasn't been as good as it was, I agree. I watch now and then, but it starts to feel like reruns. I think politics are starting to screw things up making people stay champion a little too long, and so forth.

 

[Zontar]

I need to sign up for Canadian TV. Maybe ask Canada to annex California. CAs unite.

Meh, all of our original content these days is exported down south to you guys if it's in English, since the new industry standard for the past decade or so has been for our content to be made specifically for export to the US (examples are things like Flashpoint), but I do know for a fact some parts of the US have Canadian satellite service (my cousins who moved to Minneapolis 12 years ago have one of their televisions use Bell Satellite while the rest use some American cable service)

 

[beastro]

Have we forgotten that Syfy (back when it wasn't called something stupid) used to be awesome? I mean a decade ago Sci Fi gave us the Stargate 'verse, Battlestar Galactica, Farscape, The 4400, The two Dune miniseries, The Sci Fi 'verse (Eureka, Alphas and Warehouse 13). Did we forget how awesome those shows were?

That's like defending the Discovery, TLC and A&E of today by calling back to their solid programming of the 90s.

 

[FPLOON]

Well, I just miss their anime blocks... That shit was tight as fuck when Toonami wasn't around... Also, if I remember correctly, both Eureka and, especially, Warehouse 13 had conclusive finales and Alphas was fucked by not getting another season... For me, I saw potential in Helix before diverting all of my attention to 12 Monkeys instead, Reactor is a slightly better Wil Wheaton Project, I forgot why I still watch Dominion, Z Nation exists, and, apparently, I would watch anything movie with sharks in them and/or it's major draw is its main cast...

Other than that, all the hate comes from the title change, the [current] general direction of the channel itself, and Asylum in general... Otherwise, any show that even has a hint of potential is "rarely" watched by those who still hold hatred towards Syfy (via one of those three reasons I just mentioned) to even give it a ghost of a chance... Plus, they don't show anime anymore, which is a crime in and of itself...

 

[Smooth Operator]

So just keep calling it good because they knew good programming a decade ago... seems like a really great idea.
I'm sure somewhere in there they will find a gem or two, but pretending all their shit is great because some of it was long ago is really moronic.

 

[Something Amyss]

Nah, Undertaker's feud with Brock utilized the Urn, IIRC, as did the feud with CM Punk way back when.
Kane still does the pyro. Plus he's been unmasked for a while.

Undertaker's urn was described as a psychological advantage when he worked with Punk. Don't know about Lesnar. Kane's been completely retconned, and while the fire effects are still cool, he's not really supernatural. And worse, they seem to have taken away the more psychological elements of the characterr which actually would still fit in with some of the channel's old programming (they did a fair amount of horror/spooky stuff for a long time before reality TV, even if it wasn't strictly sci-fi). And honestly, I always took Boogeyman as more of a mindscrew character anyway.

I'm not sure I really lament this, though. It was weird in thee 90s when you had guys like Stone Cold wrestling zombies,. but it did have the benefit of adding more colour. Wrestling's kind of silly in the first place. It always seems weird to try and play it straight. Sort of like Batman.

I'm glad to talk to another person that doesn't mind WWE on Syfy.

Always glad to help.

I think more people would be okay with it if they didn't perceive it as an "X for Y" scenario. I remember back when Farscape got canceled, a lot of people took it out on Stargate because the show replacing it was Atlantis. The reality, however, is that Sci Fi would have dropped the show with or without Stargate. The writing had been on the wall for a while, and it was more a question of "when" rather than "if." This is a pattern we've seen repeated since with shows like Eureka and Warehouse 13. So they see the loss of shows and the inclusion of wrestling as being sort of the same thing. And in a sense, they're part of the same phenomenon, but it's not like there's a direct cause-and-effect relationship going on here.

I think people will stop caring if, say, the shows mentioned in the OP turn out to be good. And they don't kill them off.

I guess what I'm saying is, "god," I miss Eureka!"

>.>

WWE hasn't been as good as it was, I agree. I watch now and then, but it starts to feel like reruns. I think politics are starting to screw things up making people stay champion a little too long, and so forth.

Since I picked up Hulu Plus, I've been watching it some, and it's certainly still fun, but yeah. It's not something I've gone super out of my way to follow.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

...which is why in the late 00's we had the afternoon have all 5 Treks and both Stargates from that time having reruns: there wasn't enough new science fiction being made down south)

I remember back when Space basically wasn't much more than the Star Trek Reruns Channel. It was awesome. The Trek series and their reruns of Tales from the Crypt late on Friday nights ruled all.

Here in Quebec, we've got Channel Z, and it seems like we've loosened the legislation a bit - which sucks. That means we get stuff like Lost Girl, Grimm or Supernatural, just wedged in-between pointless animal control-themed Reality TV shows or God forbid - freaking pawn shop-based Reality TV shows. It's made Z's programming blocks completely freaking bonkers to look at. And it sucks, as I distinctly remember the early aughts, back when the channel was crammed full of nerdy goodness. We had a games review show, a tech review show with its own sister act consisting of nothing except two guys nerding out over obscure features of the latest Linux distro...

The problem seems to be that a lot of SciFi, Tech or Horror fans tend to get their fix from sources other than specialized networks or even general public broadcasting. Internet's taken up a lot of space in that regard, so the specialized channels that used to be able to survive on limited viewerships had to adapt or die. Quebec's take on MuchMusic is a pretty solid example, seeing as it's secured the distribution rights to the French dubs of Agents of SHIELD and Gotham.

Where's my MTV at? It's gone, drowned out by Reality TV, annoying French dubs of series I'd rather keep watching in English and tired takes on "Cool Kid Stand-Up Comedian Adds Useless Commentary Over FailArmy rips, Because Fuck Original Content".

Sometimes, on the clearest of nights and if the blood moon shines high, some asshole decides to fill half an hour of dead airtime with freaking Katy Perry videos.

 

[The Jovian]

Allow me to reemphasize what I've said for the benefit of those who have gotten the wrong impression.

Basically what I'm saying is that we've let our disappointment with how low-brow the network has become affect our perspective of things. Sure they seem too focused on reality shows and wrestling now but if you look at the amount of sci-fi shows they have in development its kinda hard not to believe that they are going back to their roots (even if they're doing so at a snail's pace).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_Syfy#Upcoming_programs

I mean they're adapting critically acclaimed sci-fi books and graphic novels, remaking Blake's 7 and are making a Superman prequel show set on Krypton, whether or not these shows will be good is still in the air but what matters is that Syfy is trying again, and when Syfy is trying, great things will follow.

What I was saying, wasn't "Syfy is awesome now please watch every single agonizingly bad thing that they do." It was: "Syfy is returning to its roots, very, very slowly."

By all means guys, hate on the bad stuff they do, but don't dismiss the potentially great stuff that they are doing right now. 12 Monkeys is a really good show and based on its ratings I don't think its going to last much longer. My problem wasn't that Syfy was being hated for all the shit that it does, my problem was that all of its attempts at extending an olive branch to us (i.e. their new sci-fi shows and miniseries) were flat out dismissed without any evidence of them being bad. Why?

And before you answer let me debunk some of the answers that would pop up.

1. "They will cancel it pretty quickly": Yes they will if you don't watch it. But they won't unless the ratings are really low, the reason behind the last wave of sci-fi shows getting axed was because Syfy was ran by a collection of money grabbing twats that is by no indication still in charge (or at least still the majority in the Syfy board of directors). Furthermore Stargate Atlantis was canceled because of MGM's financial difficulties which further resulted in the lack of a follow-up movie and Universe getting axed as well. Syfy was still in support of the franchise when it ended.

2. "It's going to be cheap like their movies": Um, when exactly has Syfy ever produced a sci-fi (mini)series on the cheap? Maybe there are a few examples but as far as I know they've never looked cheap like their movies do. BSG's production values are on par with a theatrical movie, late-era Stargate verse's shows' as well, and one of the upcoming shows The Expanse, which Syfy claims is the most expensive show they've ever produces, I've read interviews with the cast members saying that they've never been on TV sets as large as this show's, the reception the pilot episode got at comic-con was mostly positive with some critics saying that its a faithful(ish) adaptation of the books. No their shows will have the same excellent production values as before.

Guys I'm not saying you should like everything they do, heaven knows how much we're all sick of Sharknados at this point, what I'm saying is give their sci-fi shows a chance. If they suck its not Syfy's fault, the network has given every indication that they're now 100% behind new sci-fi material. Change doesn't happen overnight people, Syfy gradually went to shit and it will gradually stop being shit if we can offer enough of an incentive for them to do so. If their new sci-fi shows bomb because we didn't give them the attention they needed, the Syfy might just give up on us agin, and as I sci-fi geek I don't want that.

 

[DefunctTheory]

What I was saying, wasn't "Syfy is awesome now please watch every single agonizingly bad thing that they do." It was: "Syfy is returning to its roots, very, very slowly."

And what we're telling you is that SyFy has burned up all their good will. All of it. Zilch left. They haven't earned anyone's respect (Except yours, I suppose), and so they wont get any.

Maybe those shows will be good. Thats always a possibility. But there is absolutely no reason, at this point, to believe they will be, or that SyFy is making a honest attempt at quality right now. When those new shows are released, and they blow your socks off, you can make a new thread called 'Sci-Fi Channel is back, Bitches!' Until then, its still a big pile of shit, with no end in sight.

 

[Something Amyss]

Allow me to reemphasize what I've said for the benefit of those who have gotten the wrong impression.

What I was saying, wasn't "Syfy is awesome now please watch every single agonizingly bad thing that they do." It was: "Syfy is returning to its roots, very, very slowly."

You mean that one person out of a couple dozen respondents? Because most people actually answered your question and were on topic, and a lot of it can be summed up thusly:

When those new shows are released, and they blow your socks off, you can make a new thread called 'Sci-Fi Channel is back, Bitches!' Until then, its still a big pile of shit, with no end in sight.

To reiterate: we have no faith in SyFy. They destroyed every single good piece of programming on their network, and we don't trust them to do a competent job with the new content. Hell, they've had "back to their roots" programming going on for the last five years. How much of it has gone anywhere? None? I'm going to go with none.

It seems with one exception, everyone got your point. They're just not impressed.