My Love/Hate relationship with the SyFy Channel

So, currently I live with no cable television.  I work as a pastry chef, which means late nights, and that I am not at home  to see almost anything but soap operas and infomercials in real time.  Ahhh, well, this is where Tivo or DVR rear their tempting heads.  Alas, I live in Manhattan/New York City, and did I mention I work in the food service industry?  With my limited income, I have compromised by paying for internet, through which I have the lovely, free service known as Hulu.

Anyways, I have seen ads all over the city which reminded me that the new off-season television season is upon us, and cable networks have all started broadcasting their original programming.  As I have limited time to watch television shows, I am currently watching only a few shows, including Wherehouse 13.

I am willing to give most shows on the SyFy channel a shot.  Sometimes this works out beautifully, as it did with Battlestar Galactica or Farscape.  Other times, I don’t make it through a single episode, as most memorably, part of an episode of The Black Scorpion, which I watched with my dad.  (No wonder that one didn’t last.)

Most of their more recent offerings have been well thought out, well scripted, and if they are not too original or touching, they are at least watchable and enjoyable.  I like Eureka….I like Wherehouse 13, but I am not devestated if I miss an episode, and I am not burning to see the nest episode.  It is merely an ejoyable 45 minutes for eating, or folding laundry.

Then there are the disasters.  Those shows which don’t make it past maybe even three episodes.  The ones which make you wonder how they made it out of the boardroom and got a pilot.  Included in these shows is the Black Scorpion, among others.  Weak plot, bad, predicatable action, stilted dialogue, and awful costumes.

Yes, it is as bad as it looks. Can you believe it made 22 episodes?

I also have to include many of their original movies in the bad catagory.  They may get some B-list stars, but unless they are going for campy with someone like Bruce Campbell, I think that their original movie section largely falls short of the mark for good programming.  Just watching the trailers makes me avoid the movie, and I am pretty sure they are supposed to have the opposite effect.  Of course, they are mostly creature features, and if that is what you are there for, they deliver.

Lastly, there are those show which make it great.  How can you explain to someone the depth of character development that went into Battlestar Galactica?  It truly explores human emotion, and human rationalizations.  It takes the fantastic and makes it seem real, while also presenting a social commentary on the state of the world today.  This program took risks, did the unexpected, and ended before it lost its touch (though I mourned its end none- the- less).  If you are one of the few who hasn’t seen it, I encourage you to rent it and give it a try.  It is free at your local library!  

Yay, Muppet Love!

 I admit Farscape was not nearly as deep, but it was fun, it was surprising and it again had the character development that I look for in any show I watch. Plus it had muppets!  How can anyone not love the use of muppets?

I also enjoy many of the SyFy mini-series. They, too, can be hit and miss, but when they get it right, it is multiple days of fun.  Some of my favorites are The Lost Room, Tin Man, and Dune. SyFy also provides a home for imports from other channels, like Stargate and Dr Who.  Can I say how sad I am to see David Tennant leave?  Best Doctor Ever! 

You will be missed!

So I love the SyFy channel for producing the shows I love, and I hate them for all the terrible hash-ups with poor production quality and worse scripting which ruin their reputation and waste my time.  I guess it is the same drama that any television channel must suffer through, but I mean really! 

Did you hear why they changed the spelling on thier name?  To try and sound less geeky and appeal to a wider audience.  To be fair, they say it is because it is easier to trademark the name/brand, and that people had confusion with which letters to capitalize  in SciFi (WTF?)  I don’t buy it.  I’m sorry, no matter how you spell it, we all know it stands for science fiction.   The current audience tunes in  for the Science fiction programming, so keep it comming! No more of this pro wrestling, or bad movies, or ill-concieved series that no one expected to last when they dreamt it up.  Battlestar Galactica worked because it was smart scifi and look how it increased viewership. 

I mean, the United Nations held a conference featuring Battlestar Galactica insiders talking about terrorism, armed conflict, and  human rights.   How many networks can boast that?  A few more shows like Battlestar, and their reputation will grow by word of mouth, beyond the usual suspects (nerds/geeks).  Meanwhile, I will watch whatever I can, however I can, in hopes of finding that next great phenomenom, even if I have to suffer through the riff-raff to get there.