Is Sci-Fi channel killing the genre?

[globex]

Every time I watch stargate I get really annoyed by the bullocks that is shown on the channel during the advertisement and just in general. Whether it maybe wrestling some lame Sci-Fi movie what ever it annoys me. Some shows aren't even remotely related to the Sci-Fi genre.

I really feel that, people who are trying to tell a Sci-Fi story should avoid the channel all together.



But, what I like to know is I think the Sci-Fi channel, is destroying the genre rather than redefine it. They have cancelled so many great series I wouldn't even know where to begin.



The channel, has turned into a reality tv channel rather than "Sci-Fi"...

Discuss.

[jenks]

The Sci Fi channel isn't the be all and end all of the genre, not even close, in fact I don't think they want to be a strict genre channel any more, they've been talking about changing their name...

[Insipid]

I wouldn't say that they are killing the genre, but they sure are violating it in ways that would get a human being sent to prison for 25 to life.

[MarshAngel]

Of course they're not destroying the genre, they're just failing to keep up or lead in positive and popular trends.
Their greatest failing is a simple matter of taste. Obviously they're not always responsible for the content of the movies they air but they are responsible for having decided they were worth airing in the first place. There's nothing wrong with the occasional B-movie (some of them are so hilariously bad that their flaws are entertaining) but a bad movie every week is overkill.

I think they've used their time very poorly. They rush things to air that aren't worthy and don't take enough risks. I'd rather see fewer episodes of a series and longer times in between airing to ensure they get it right. If they'd started out nurturing quality, they might have had good, mature series on the air and not be obligated to fill the empty spots with crap.

[Briangate78]

Nah, SCI FI is running shows like Sanctuary, Eureka, SGA, BSG, Dr. Who, and etc. They also green-lighted new shows like SGU, Caprica, and Warehouse13. They also would of likely renewed SGA for a 6th season to run along SGU if MGM was not so cheap and the producers were not afraid of producing 40 eps, lol. Well Joe M and Paul M were ready to produce 40, Brad Wright, not so much.

[Lord batchi ball]

They aren't destroying it persay they are diluting it

[Skydiver]

they COULD be promoting the genre, building it up and doing all they can to get rid of the 'scifi is nothing but stuff for fan boys living in their mother's basement' cliche.

instead they seem determined to play it up. the super duper cheesy saturday movies? pimping cliches and seeming to aim for 'how much can we crank out how fast and how cheap' instead of any sort of quality.

they COULD be like peter jackson in a way, making such a good movie/series that people forget it's scifi and just enjoy the drama. Instead they just seem to look no further than the profit margin and how much they can make for how little.

IMHO, they are doing nothing to improve the general image of scifi, but are rather enforcing every cliche out there

[Briangate78]

It seems ECW, reality shows, and new game shows perform towards the bottom of the list. The only show to really break through was Ghost Hunters. Scare Tactics did not even make the top 10 for some weeks. I hope we see a direction of more scripted shows. Shows like Stargate have excellent rerun value and it is even more revenue for the network.

[the fifth man]

While I enjoy a few shows on Sci-Fi, like Stargate, BSG, and Sanctuary, they do show a lot of crap too. Way too much IMO. I don't even give their Saturday movies a shot anymore. Most are just horrible.

[Doze]

While I enjoy a few shows on Sci-Fi, like Stargate, BSG, and Sanctuary, they do show a lot of crap too. Way too much IMO. I don't even give their Saturday movies a shot anymore. Most are just horrible.

Agreed! Big snakes, UFO hunters and WWE...F...G what ever it is, is not SciFi.
Why can't they play some old Lost in Space or other SciFi like that on the off times?

[Bee11]

The english sci-fi channel is AWFUL reruns of 70's shows or shows on at time i just can't sit down in front of the tv
the american channel seems so much better

[343_Guilty_Spark]

The reason the UK scifi chanel ain got much good stuff is cos Virgin and bravo have the startrek stuff, and Stargate is always n Sky 1 and 2. dont leave much in the line of things for the Uk scifi channel to show. but the US Version i say is killing the genre. SCifi cancelled SGA, and it called time on SG1. its about time someonetold the board that run the thing that its not what the projected figures say should be on maybe they should take a look at the REAL figures before making stupid choices

[1LostFurling]

To answer in short...HELL YES THEY ARE!!!

I mean c'mon, when your strategy is pick an insect, enlarge it, make it evil/mean add a bunch of stupid actors....PRESTO CHANGO.......you have a Saturday night movie. The only thing those Saturday night movies don't have are 20 year old women with their fake titties flapping around on screen. Too bad tho....

[343_Guilty_Spark]

To answer in short...HELL YES THEY ARE!!!

I mean c'mon, when your strategy is pick an insect, enlarge it, make it evil/mean add a bunch of stupid actors....PRESTO CHANGO.......you have a Saturday night movie. The only thing those Saturday night movies don't have are 20 year old women with their fake titties flapping around on screen. Too bad tho....

Please stop i just hd a alaughing fit lol

i agree. i mean all these tv channel execs dp is look at a projected viewing sheet. and they seem to see that SGA was gettin poor viewing, maybe cos it was on a channle that freaking sucked?? If they looked at the viewing figursin the UK for the same eps of SGA it was about 20% higher, and thats just projected

[Pitry]

The very existence of the channel is bad - instead of science fiction being shown on primetime on regular networks and therefore given an actual chance, like Heroes, Buffy, X Files,TNG/ DS9, B5 etc in the US and the various UK shows (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Merlin, Primeval etc), they're helping ;people dismiss the shows "oh, it's on the SciFi channel, why should I even watch".