The Sci Fi Channel recently announced that it would rebrand itself as "The SyFy Channel." Although admittedly this has more to do with their inability to brand a common term like "sci fi," their meaningless re-shuffle has raised the hackles of geeks across the internet. (The American television-watching internet, that is.)
Various marketing people have stepped up to proclaim that the rebranding will allow the channel to widen its audience. By not painting themselves into a corner, the network is now free to explore fantasy and the wider realm of speculative fiction.
These are the statements which really stick in our collective craw. Some may remember a time when the Sci Fi Channel actually showed science fiction. In recent years it has devolved into the network that airs giant blocks of terrible monster films, sprinkled with bits of shows like ECW Wrestling, Ghost Hunters, and (notably) Battlestar Galactica. Last night's lineup is a perfect example of the channel's typical programming: Leprechaun movies 1 through 4, followed by two hours of professional wrestling.
I like Ghost Hunters a lot, but it isn't science fiction, in any sense of the word. I like anime, but I can't be bothered to stay up until 11PM on Monday nights to start watching it. I absolutely love the new Dr. Who, but watching the episodes on the Sci Fi Channel is an exercise in frustration, as the channel constantly breaks into the middle of scenes to air large commercial blocks.
Once Battlestar Galactica ends this Friday, what does the channel have left to offer to science fiction fans? I mean, science fiction fans who have already seen "Mansquito."
Unfortunately, this rebranding is only the most public and self-aware manifestation of the Sci Fi Channel's race to the middle. In this, it follows in the footsteps of every other cable channel which started out as marketing to a niche audience, but eventually devolved into showing the same crap as everyone else. From the day when MTV showed its last music video, to the day when The Learning Channel became TLC and started airing shows about expectant mothers, we are all made to suffer for the greed of the network executives.
Meanwhile, some of the most innovative science fiction is being developed on other networks. NBC's show "Kings" (which has some weird cross-promotion deal with the Sci Fi Network, such that ads for "Kings" are being shown there) is an ambitious stab at the alternate reality genre, following the trials of a young soldier in a contemporary America that never existed. The premiere airs this Sunday at 8PM, and I've made a note to watch it.
Another show for which I'll use the word "promising" is "Boldly Going Nowhere," by the producers of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." The show's concept can be summed up as "Star Trek TNS Meets The Office." I approve of this concept. FOX recently picked up five episodes from the pilot, which will be filmed later this year.