An Open Letter to the Sci-Fi Channel

Discussion in 'Misc. TV Series' started by SoulManX, Jan 11, 2008.

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  1. SoulManX

    SoulManX The Inspector!

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    Dearest Sci-Fi, Why are you not way more awesome?
    Don't get me wrong, when you're good—like with Battlestar Galactica or Eureka (and I'll even give you credit for Doctor who, despite that being a BBC show you just imported)—you're a phenomenal destination network. But let's be honest here, there's not a lot of "good" on your schedule.
    The Stargate franchise is stale, Flash Gordon (left) is a derisible, stillborn remake, and ECW Wrestling is…wrestling! (And I swore an oath never to speak of Who Wants to Be a Superhero again.)

    The thing that infuriates me is that you have so much potential. We're living in the Age of the Geek, where pop culture has finally come around to our way of thinking. Where the most-watched shows on TV are geek-nip like Heroes, Lost, and Bionic Woman; where we buzz about movies like Pan's Labyrinth, Spider-Man, I Am Legend, and Iron Man. The audience could not be more primed for this material, so why are you offering them Ghost Hunters International and crappy "original movies" like Mansquito?
    Again, why aren't you more awesome? After the jump, some friendly advice.

    Why aren't you adapting more classic sci-fi texts—like you did with Dune—into miniseries events? (Ones that, hopefully, will fare better than Tin Man.) Where's the Foundation saga, or Ender's Game, or Footfall, or The Man in the High Castle, or The Forever War?
    Why aren't you engaging today's premiere purveyors of genre material and giving them ten episodes to do whatever the hell they want? I'd watch contained, BBC-style series from folks like Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, Warren Ellis, Charlie Huston, Neal Stephenson, or China Mieville. The names alone would attract viewers by the truckload. And even if what they produced were failures, they'd be interesting failures—marked by reaching too far, instead of not far enough.

    Why don't you try a daily sci-fi soap opera? Airing late at night, so people could actually be home to watch it—or DVR it. Why can't the same kind of serial storytelling that's worked for 50 years on shows like General Hospital be marshaled to create compelling science fiction? (Actually, I've got to give Evan Narcisse a tip of the hat for this one. Because I'm just that kind of bloke.)

    Mark Harris was right when he said that science fiction needed to ditch the nostalgia if it's going to reclaim its integrity. Lucky for those of us who love sci-fi that there's a whole network devoted to it. I just want them to fulfill their mandate.

    Imagine that. (No, seriously. Get to work imagining.)



    http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/01/scifi-open-lett.html
     
    #1 SoulManX, Jan 11, 2008
  2. Morg

    Morg Grumpy mod

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    Flash Gordon sucks, I stopped watching it

    Wish they never cancel Invisible Man and few others I actually enjoy watching
     
    #2 Morg, Jan 11, 2008
  3. SoulManX

    SoulManX The Inspector!

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    :up:
     
    #3 SoulManX, Jan 11, 2008
  4. Gilpesh

    Gilpesh Registered

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    I am so happy it is getting a real release on dvd soon. :woot:
     
    #4 Gilpesh, Jan 11, 2008
  5. superhero

    superhero Registered

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    I wish they would show more sliders, quautam leap the incdabile hulk and the invisble man. I would like to see more twlight zone too. i wouldn't mind seeing the live action spider-man. i used to rented them at block buster.

    just in case you didn't know the invsiable man comes out on dvd in march.
     
    #5 superhero, Jan 11, 2008
  6. Kenny Eugene McCall

    Kenny Eugene McCall I'm a Marvel, I'm a DC!

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    I agree. Sci-Fi still has so much potential, it's ridiculous! All they need to do is divorce themselves from the NBC-Universal network stable, if they can, and find decent people who care about science fiction programming to run the channel and right the ship.

    I'm pretty sure some of us, myself included, would love to run the Sci-Fi Channel, and put the focus back on sci-fi and fantasy with a mix of classic and really good new series, original sci-fi related news programming, game shows designed for sci-fi and fantasy fans, and most importantly, some great epic TV movies and theatrical releases. That is, if we had the money to do it!

    Speaking of which, I'm going to debut a new thread this weekend that's sort of a mock spinoff of the Sci-Fi Channel. It's called the Superhero Hype! Channel, and it deals with comics-related classic and new live-action and animated shows and movies.

    Look for it. I know you'll like it!

    Kenny.
     
    #6 Kenny Eugene McCall, Jan 11, 2008
  7. Prison Mike

    Prison Mike Don't drop the soap!

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    I don't remember the Sci-Fi Channel ever being awesome. It always sucked, IMO.
     
    #7 Prison Mike, Jan 11, 2008
  8. Morg

    Morg Grumpy mod

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    when? haven't seen any news
     
    #8 Morg, Jan 11, 2008
  9. Gilpesh

    Gilpesh Registered

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    #9 Gilpesh, Jan 11, 2008
  10. Abaddon

    Abaddon Watching

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    they need to pick up Journeyman if it's not too late.
     
    #10 Abaddon, Jan 11, 2008
  11. Morg

    Morg Grumpy mod

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    #11 Morg, Jan 11, 2008
  12. \S/JcDc\S/

    \S/JcDc\S/ Registered

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    They should pick up Journeyman :up:
     
    #12 \S/JcDc\S/, Jan 11, 2008
  13. SoulManX

    SoulManX The Inspector!

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    NBC screws with everything it touchs:o
     
    #13 SoulManX, Jan 11, 2008
  14. Addendum

    Addendum Registered

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    Before my cable company got the Sci-Fi Channel, it was good.

    They had Anime on Saturday Nights, MST3K after they moved from Comedy Central, the original Twilight Zone, the original Outer Limits, just to name a few.

    Then about 2003ish or so, they dropped Babylon 5, the Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, reruns of MST3K, and the anime was long since gone.

    Now the channel is a joke since they mostly show movies that are straight to DVD, except for the few times they show a decent movie.
     
    #14 Addendum, Jan 11, 2008
  15. Morg

    Morg Grumpy mod

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    Hardly, Invisible Man, Farscape, StarGate, BattleStar Galacttica were some good shows
     
    #15 Morg, Jan 11, 2008
  16. TheCorpulent1

    TheCorpulent1 SHAZAM!

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    Farscape was classic. Invisible Man was hilarious, too. Sci Fi really should be better. Not only do the have crappy shows now (and I say this as a longtime viewer of the Stargate franchise who's just watched it get worse and worse for years), but the good shows that they do have, they **** up with enormous delays (BSG). They really pissed me off when they brought wrestling onto the channel, too. Wrestling is not sci fi.
     
    #16 TheCorpulent1, Jan 11, 2008
  17. Morg

    Morg Grumpy mod

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    That I don't understand, when I heard they added wrestling I know sci-fi sold out and no longer cared about the real sci-fi shows
     
    #17 Morg, Jan 11, 2008
  18. Lighthouse

    Lighthouse Fairness, Equality, Bacon

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    I would love to see a faithful version of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? God, I would love to see ANY faithful Philip K. Dick miniseries.
     
    #18 Lighthouse, Jan 11, 2008
  19. Gilpesh

    Gilpesh Registered

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    Heck. He could have his own series on all the short stories he has done.
     
    #19 Gilpesh, Jan 11, 2008
  20. Addendum

    Addendum Registered

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    Well, he's dead. But an anthology series of his stories would be good. But thinking of a title that couldn't be misconstrued as a double entendre or the title of a porno would be tough.
     
    #20 Addendum, Jan 11, 2008
  21. Abaddon

    Abaddon Watching

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    Philip K. Dick's Invagination Experience: A Reality Tour
     
    #21 Abaddon, Jan 11, 2008
  22. Addendum

    Addendum Registered

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    Dick Tales :woot:
     
    #22 Addendum, Jan 11, 2008
  23. Abaddon

    Abaddon Watching

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    ha, you win
     
    #23 Abaddon, Jan 11, 2008
  24. SoulManX

    SoulManX The Inspector!

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    NBC should leave this channel and let them run it they way it should be. I miss the old superhero shows they use to show.
     
    #24 SoulManX, Jan 11, 2008
  25. Gilpesh

    Gilpesh Registered

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    :huh:

    People don't know?
     
    #25 Gilpesh, Jan 11, 2008
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