Sci Fi Channel= appaling wasteland

[UCBooties]

Did Eureka get canned? That was a lot of fun.

[XaLEv]

AniMonday's a recent thing; before then, I don't think they showed that much, if any anime at all.

He's referring to the Saturday Anime block which predates AniMonday (eugh) by a decade. As far as I know they stopped it before 2000.

[The Yosemite Bear]

hey remember they had a really good movie directed by Bruce Cambell.

[Patrick Degan]

Did Eureka get canned? That was a lot of fun.

If it was in any way remotely witty or clever, either it's already been shitcanned or soon will be. Such programming does not fit in with the New Improved Vision™ for SciFi.

[Saxtonite]

I know they showed anime super late at night, because I would swap between Adult Swim (which used to be mostly anime) and late night Sci-Fi.

They do that now. They are airing the Gundam 00 first season dubs, 2 episodes every Monsday night. Speaking of that, I missed it

That's good and being aired now.

[Andrew J.]

Did Eureka get canned? That was a lot of fun.

If it was in any way remotely witty or clever, either it's already been shitcanned or soon will be. Such programming does not fit in with the New Improved Vision™ for SciFi.

It got renewed for a third season, actually.

Man, look at all the negativity in this thread. Okay, admittedly the Sci Fi Channel's got too many reality shows and craptastic made-for-TV movies, and ECW isn't remotely science fiction-related even if it is the most watchable hour of wrestling on television. But can you all really overlook the good stuff? The aforementioned Eureka, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, an anime block that recently became pretty decent, classic Twilight Zone, Doctor Who episodes for those people that don't feel like BitTorrenting them right after they air in Britain...you have to admit, it's not all bad.

[SylasGaunt]

Man, look at all the negativity in this thread. Okay, admittedly the Sci Fi Channel's got too many reality shows and craptastic made-for-TV movies, and ECW isn't remotely science fiction-related even if it is the most watchable hour of wrestling on television. But can you all really overlook the good stuff? The aforementioned Eureka, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, an anime block that recently became pretty decent, classic Twilight Zone, Doctor Who episodes for those people that don't feel like BitTorrenting them right after they air in Britain...you have to admit, it's not all bad.

Yeah but of what you have listed:

Battlestar Galactica- Has, what? About half a season left?
Stargate- SG-1 and Atlantis are both canceled.
Eureka- Hasn't resumed play
Dr. Who- On hiatus until 2010 at minimum.

Plus who knows how long the anime block will stay good.

[Big Orange]

The Sci-Fi Channels plight reminds me very much of UPN, where there are a few flagship shows that are either suddenly cancelled or heavily drawn out, with little else of genuine worth on there, mixed in with tons upon tons of cheap, cheesy filler that is edited from video archives (like When Static Electric Goes Bad! as a hypothetical example).

Sci-Fi Channel seems to be the worst example of a apparently much broader problem, with the bigger American networks being run by similarily myopic idiots who are out of touch with most viewers and the march of technology. Network television is yet another fundamentally broken system in America that needs a drastic overhaul to avoid collapse.

[Jade Falcon]

When the Sci-Fi channel aired a block of Law & Order SVU (and started the ECW bullshit) I knew it was doomed.

They don't have much of an excuse for putting Law & Order on now. Don't get me wrong, I likethe L&O franchise, but it's pretty much a dominating force on the Hallmark channel now.

The only Sci-Fi channel made stuff I viewed was Dune and Children of Dune, but they were how long ago?

[Darth Nostril]

The only Sci-Fi channel made stuff I viewed was Dune and Children of Dune, but they were how long ago?

Hang on, let me just check the dvds ...they were originally aired in 2000 and 2002 respectively

[Kanastrous]

...and somehow managed to be worse than the David Lynch feature, in spite of being better.

[Jim Raynor]

When the Sci-Fi channel aired a block of Law & Order SVU (and started the ECW bullshit) I knew it was doomed.

They don't have much of an excuse for putting Law & Order on now. Don't get me wrong, I likethe L&O franchise, but it's pretty much a dominating force on the Hallmark channel now.

The only Sci-Fi channel made stuff I viewed was Dune and Children of Dune, but they were how long ago?

Hallmark showing gritty cop dramas? Just another example of cable channels straying from their stated focus topic.

-AMC ("American Movie Classics") often shows terribly-reviewed flops that were in theaters just a couple years ago.
-TLC ("The Learning Channel") is obsessed with fashion and decorating.
-SciFi has wrestling, and even their actual scifi is mostly B-movie garbage.
-History has way too much Modern Marvels and Ice Road Truckers type shows.
-Any geek will tell you that G4 destroyed TechTV.
-Of course MTV hasn't shown actual music in over a decade.

Cable TV sucks now.

[Atavarius]

Did Eureka get canned? That was a lot of fun.

If it was in any way remotely witty or clever, either it's already been shitcanned or soon will be. Such programming does not fit in with the New Improved Vision™ for SciFi.

It got renewed for a third season, actually.

Man, look at all the negativity in this thread. Okay, admittedly the Sci Fi Channel's got too many reality shows and craptastic made-for-TV movies, and ECW isn't remotely science fiction-related even if it is the most watchable hour of wrestling on television. But can you all really overlook the good stuff? The aforementioned Eureka, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, an anime block that recently became pretty decent, classic Twilight Zone, Doctor Who episodes for those people that don't feel like BitTorrenting them right after they air in Britain...you have to admit, it's not all bad.

Sorry, but Stargate has been crap for about as long as its been on SciFi, so I can't give you that one. Its spinoff sounds as though its gonna be just as craptastic as Atlantis S5 was. Also BSG has 8 or 9 eps left, although I admit its spinoff premise sounds pretty good. I can't see Eureka lasting too much longer.

Honestly its time for them to just rename the channel as there is so little SciFi left.

-AMC ("American Movie Classics") often shows terribly-reviewed flops that were in theaters just a couple years ago.
-TLC ("The Learning Channel") is obsessed with fashion and decorating.
-SciFi has wrestling, and even their actual scifi is mostly B-movie garbage.
-History has way too much Modern Marvels and Ice Road Truckers type shows.
-Any geek will tell you that G4 destroyed TechTV.
-Of course MTV hasn't shown actual music in over a decade.

Totally agree with you here, aside from Modern Marvels. That show can be pretty good, depending of course on the topic. What really annoys me now is the amount of cryptozoology and conspiracy theory garbage on the History Channel, and its starting to leak onto the Discovery Channel too.

[CaptHawkeye]

This looks like a pretty unique case of not merely a show, but a network jumping the shark. Though it's happened before. See: MTV, G4, other assorted "has been" and "never were" networks.

The last time I watched Sci Fi I had the misfortune of tripping over one of it's "Network Original Movie" shitfests. I can't remember exactly what it was but it probably involved some giant bug/animal and a washed up porn star.

[Coyote]

The last time I watched Sci Fi I had the misfortune of tripping over one of it's "Network Original Movie" shitfests. I can't remember exactly what it was but it probably involved some giant bug/animal and a washed up porn star.

You need to narrow it down a bit more.

[Uraniun235]

The last time I watched Sci Fi I had the misfortune of tripping over one of it's "Network Original Movie" shitfests. I can't remember exactly what it was but it probably involved some giant bug/animal and a washed up porn star.

I'm pretty sure that's one of the key aspects of their current business model - shovel out dirt-cheap shitball "horror" flicks. The ratings might be crap, but if it costs even less to air then they can still pull a profit, and as a bonus their asswipe relatives and girlfriends and stoner buddies can all get a crack at "being on TV" or "directing", and the expected audience probably isn't as discerning and therefore possibly more receptive to advertising. It's win-win for damn near everyone, except the audience.

[Edward Yee]

I remember two things regarding ECW on Sci-Fi:
#1: Supposedly it's actually Sci-Fi's highest-rated program. (Telling, ain't it?)
#2: Sandman's early run on the show actually mocked TV executive attempts to meddle with the program... even if the rest of ECW on Sci-Fi back then sucked.

[FedRebel]

did you guys read the wiki on lake dead? the only "Sci fi" aspect of it possible was genetics, the plot revolved around an incestuous family trying to snag some new blood.

Horror tends to squeeze into the science fiction spectrum barely on a case by case basis, SciFi just went for 'one size fits all' so if it relates to Science Fiction (the cheap kind), horror (any kind), fantasy, any "reality" program which can be construed from the above, or Pro Wrestling; it will air on SciFi.

They should just rename the channel S.H.I.T. for Science-Fiction, Horror, Irrelevant, Television.

[Pelranius]

Basic cable has generally being going to shit these days. History channel has always been a joke (they've cut back on Hitler at last, only to spam the viewers with all sorts of shit about popular culture that belongs on the Food Network or MTV), the Military Channel is on the level of Sparky stupid and Spike is only good for James Bond reruns. I shudder for the day when USA reaches the Monk finale. Hopefully the Closer and Saving Grace will be around on TNT for a bit longer.

What re you talking about? All I have had from history is "2012- end of the world prophecies" for the last couple weeks.

Modern Marvels, that show about lumberjacks and Ice Road Trucker come to mind. The "2012" business is just them showing whatever is fashionable (I remember them making a whole bunch of fluff about the Mid East during the Second Gulf War but that had its shelf life like all the other History Channel hobbies).

[CaiusWickersham]

I used to watch Sci-Fi, back when it had Saturday morning anime (dubbed OVAs, got me back into anime after a childhood of thinking the Lion Voltron was the coolest thing on TV), Mystery Science Theater 3000, Dark Shadows (the original in all its heavy make-up and live performance goodness), along with some real sci-fi.
In addition to the listed channels that have lost focus, there is also Bravo (used to show operas and live theatre, now shows L&O and reality shows) and A&E (same, though I do enjoy Parking Wars and my sister watches Intervention and Rookies).
Uncle Caius here even remembers when Cartoon Network showed something other than Scooby-Doo and their own stoner cartoons.

[MKSheppard]

-History has way too much Modern Marvels and Ice Road Truckers type shows.

HERESY!HERESY!HERESY!HERESY!HERESY!HERESY!

Modern Marvels is awesome. And Ice Road Truckers is vaguely awesome, for the sheer cool factor.

[Elfdart]

This looks like a pretty unique case of not merely a show, but a network jumping the shark. Though it's happened before. See: MTV, G4, other assorted "has been" and "never were" networks.

The one that really pissed me off was AMC. They used to show truly classic movies unedited and without commercial breaks (though they did have commercials between movies). Luckily, Turner Classic Movies and Fox Movie Classics filled the void. AMC sucks out loud.

The last time I watched Sci Fi I had the misfortune of tripping over one of it's "Network Original Movie" shitfests. I can't remember exactly what it was but it probably involved some giant bug/animal and a washed up porn star.

Wanna know how bad Sci-Fi sucks? Lifetime has better movies. Hell, Playboy TV has better movies than Sci-Fi even if you leave out the sex and nudity. Sure the acting and dialog are terrible and so are the production values, but there's more variety when it comes to plot and story, such as the porn western 3:10 to Poon Town with Lorena Sanchez.