Sunday, May 08, 2011

Mark Wilson calls SYFY Heartless and Pointless


Mark Wilson writing in his Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog about the recent cancellation of Stargate Universe had some really harsh words for SYFY.

In his article Mark stated:
  • This was a heartless mistake by the network--a mistake by which Syfy elected to announce to its viewers that it's willing to foot the bill for whimsical dramedies and pointless reality shows, but not actual science fiction.
  • With the death of SGU, replaced on its schedule by cooking shows, wrestling, and light fantasies, Syfy is now entering a period where it will experience more and more difficulty convincing science-fiction fans that it should be taken seriously.
Yep, pretty harsh. I have been saying for awhile now that it was really difficult to call SYFY a true platform of serious science fiction. For me the writing was on the wall when Farscape was summarily axed. The pattern now should be obvious even to the most catatonic now. Stargate, Farscape, Battlestar Galactica and now Stargate Universe and these are just the most obvious. Difficult to take serious, Mark? Impossible! They can not even bring themselves to call the network Sci Fi and do it with a straight face! Ghosts and wraslin, if that's your bag, you will love SYFY, Science fiction fans will have to look elsewhere.

Mark's article

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dollhouse? SyFy never even carried that.

Beam Me Up said...

Whooooooooops! I was sure I saw that on the list...fix it right now.
THNX Anon

Beam Me Up said...

all fixed!

Charles said...

If its all about ratings you have lost me. Im 63 and watched star Trek in black and white. Someone needs to start a true SI FI network.

Beam Me Up said...

Charles, I wish I knew just exactly WHAT they were thinking (fyi, star trek, same here! We got our first color tv in the seventies) If it were simply ratings, why not stay with the shows that rate the highest in their line up that ARE science fiction. Yeah, we all know that wrestling and starbucks has the potential for more advert income, but it is damn hard to take serious a science fiction channel that doesn't show any science.

Dave Tackett said...

It's pretty much unanimous that the "Syfy" channel mostly sucks. But, obviously it's about maximizing profits. Remember, ratings are only part of the equation. Unfortunately, making a show like BSG or Stargate costs hundreds of thousands per episode, while crap like Ghost Hunters costs thousands (maybe hundreds) per episode.

Beam Me Up said...

As much as I would like to say that there MUST be a voice of wisdom at SYFY that will lead them all out of the wasteland.....sigh.

Your right Dave...Thanks for the comment.

John said...

Ummm... BSG wasn't canceled???? Far as I know BSG had a good, long life and the writers decided to end it themselves... In regards to Farscape... I agree completely. The Invisible Man was another good show that got the boot along with more than a few others. The whole way in which they figure out the $ value of a show is antiquated in my opinion and a lot of the time it doesn't account for newer tech like streaming and DVR. Hell, I'm one of those guys who hasn't watched a commercial in I don't know how long... Unless I'm fast forwarding through one and see the Old Spice guy... Then I'll stop for him. LOL.

Going back to Farscape... You know, after it got canned they reversed their decision partially and budgited the show for the movie... That should have been a wakeup call for them... "Hey, we were using antiquated rating systems and canned this show but now all of a sudden a Frack ton of people are complaining about it being canned... Gee, I wonder if we're not doing something wrong here... And the abacus says... Nope, everything is great".

Most TV today is pure crap... And to be quite frank, I watch a lot of the lower budget shows like Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Swamp people and things of that nature because at this point it's either that or having some propaganda forced down my throat. For example, take Grey's Anatomy... I loved that show but once George's wife magically decided she was lesbian after 30+ yrs on this Earth... No... I don't want to watch that crap nor have some BS message pumped where the fracking sun doesn't shine. Thanks but no thanks.

All that being said... I do like that new show Being Human... I didn't think I'd like it at first but I usually give a new show at least a once-over and I was pleasantly surprised... But seeing as how I actually like the show I'm sure it'll be canned too. ;)

Beam Me Up said...

Thanks for the comment John.
Yep, Being Human kinda grows on you but I have lost track of it. Last few weeks have been a no show. Whats up? They couldn't have done a season run already could they?

Monolith2013 said...

Yup, they ended the season about a month or so ago... One of the things I like about this show is that they're not afraid to pack a crap ton of major plot lines/archs into 1 season (downside if you miss an episode or two though), instead of being lazy about it and sticking to 1 or 2 long and drawn out plot w/a crap ton of filler. This all says a lot about the capabilities of the writers and I'm looking forward to the show's second season if it gets renewed. There were more than serveral major plot shifts and turns (while maintaining the overall linear track) during the first season and it left me wanting more. The characters are interesting and believable far as Sci Fi goes and the chemistry is good.

Anonymous said...

It was Caprica, not BSG that was ruthlessly and brainlessly canceled.

I almost don't want to start watching the next rendition about Bill Adama just to avoid the inevitable disappointment...but I'm sure I will watch it out of starvation!

Beam Me Up said...

Crap! ok, Thanks Monolith 2013. Well that might be an example of how good the show is! To me it just seemed to have just started! I know there were a few shows and a lot of different plots, as you said, but it didn't seem like a whole season. Moniker of a good show.

Beam Me Up said...

Anon, you know, that is probably why I couldn't seemed to get interested in Caprica. But it seemed the way everyone was talking it was on borrowed time right from the start and it seemed every time I grew interested, I got sucker punched.