Why are specialty cable channels starting to suck so bad?

[3dman27]

don't you mean CARTOON NETWORK? it sounds like a good idea

 

[BlackSymbiote]

I never realized how completely unfunny Saved by the Bell was until last night, and I used to love that show.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

You didn't like the "Friendship bracelet" episode? You mad!

 

[Timstuff]

I never realized how completely unfunny Saved by the Bell was until last night, and I used to love that show.

And even if it was funny, it would still have no right to be on a channel called "Cartoon Network".

Clearly, lack of material is NOT the key factor in why specialty networks are going down. As Darkush pointed out, there are dozens of shows Sci-Fi channel could be showing, and yet they shovel crap like Passions in our faces. With Cartoon Network, there are a buttload of classic shows they could be airing, but they choose to air a live action teenibopper sitcom instead.

And that leads me to this conclusion: the bean counters have decided that devoting a channel to filling a specific niche isn't as profitable as trying to fill multiple niches, so they reccomended breaking away. "We've noticed that most people who watch Adult Swim were born in the 80's, so an 80's sitcom is bound to snag some good ratings." While it might make a little sense from that perspective, it ruins the image and perception of the channel as a whole, and inevetably will only hurt them.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

"Friends Forever"

 

[Matt]

to paraphrase Ralph Wiggum

"Save by the Bell is funny...just not haha funny"

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Look at all these people crawling out of the cracks and saying SBTB wasn't funny. Y'all weren't sayin that crap 10 years ago

 

[Incrediblejeff]

The only channel that's pissing me off is G4.I used to watch G4 almost 24/7,and then they added The Man Show,Star Trek,Street Fury,Banzai,Brainiac,Fastlane etc.Then they cancel G4TV.com
and now this:http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/20/1749228&from=rss

 

[Rowen]

And even if it was funny, it would still have no right to be on a channel called "Cartoon Network".

Clearly, lack of material is NOT the key factor in why specialty networks are going down. As Darkush pointed out, there are dozens of shows Sci-Fi channel could be showing, and yet they shovel crap like Passions in our faces. With Cartoon Network, there are a buttload of classic shows they could be airing, but they choose to air a live action teenibopper sitcom instead.

And that leads me to this conclusion: the bean counters have decided that devoting a channel to filling a specific niche isn't as profitable as trying to fill multiple niches, so they reccomended breaking away. "We've noticed that most people who watch Adult Swim were born in the 80's, so an 80's sitcom is bound to snag some good ratings." While it might make a little sense from that perspective, it ruins the image and perception of the channel as a whole, and inevetably will only hurt them.

you hit it squarely on the head. note the word you said profitable. why it seems these networks show other material besides the founding program its originally based on, is because its about making a profit.

the tv stations networks weren't probably making alot of money off thier orginal program to stay in business, so they decided to branch off & show other material that will catch more vewiers, more ratings, thus =more moeney. it does take away the credibility that these network stations founded on,

but if thats one of the ways they choose to stay in business, than i guess thats what they have to do. to keep their earnings

 

[Addendum]

Look at all these people crawling out of the cracks and saying SBTB wasn't funny. Y'all weren't sayin that crap 10 years ago

I didn't like Saved By The Bell when it first came out. I thought it was crap back then, and still think so now.

 

[HR-PUFF&STUFF]

zacks hair bugged me, kind of like Rickhard Dean Anderson's in the first few season of Stargate.

 

[The Kid]

Look at all these people crawling out of the cracks and saying SBTB wasn't funny. Y'all weren't sayin that crap 10 years ago

I was. I will again. it's not funny.

And Cartoon Network, Disney, and all the rest that show crap that has nothing to do with it's channel's main purpose needs an old fashioned beat down. What is wrong with these toon channels dedicated to animation, showing live action? What the **** is this crap.

 

[3dman27]

good question

 

[KenK]

I think the Cartoon Network definitely has issues, when it cancels JLU and the new He-Man, but shovels its own original, lame cartoons.

The Sci-fi channel Saturday movies are cheesy and bad, in a Drive-In sort of way. I can't be too mad at that. Also, Passions does have some fantasy elements which makes it different from a regular soap. But man does it suck.

I do wish Sci-fi would get back to showing Babylon 5, Crusade, Farscape on a regular basis. How about putting shows like SeaQuest, Earth 2, Andromeda, Earth: Final Conflict, War of the Worlds, Space Above and Beyond, Friday the 13th: The Series, V: The Series, the Hulk, X-Files, Buck Rogers, Old Battlestar Galactica, Forever Knight, Invisible Man, The First Wave into regular rotation?

Other genre shows I would like to see on Sci-Fi: Get Odyssey 5, Surface, Threshold, Prey, VR5, The Visitor, The Tick, Alf, Mork & Mindy, Legend, Brisco County, Jr., MANTIS, Century City, Mercy Point, Wolf Lake, Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Land of the Lost, Werewolf, Nightstalker, Kindred: The Embraced, Brimstone, Captain Power, Superforce, Ultraman, Highlander: The Series, Highlander: The Raven, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, G Vs. E, The Dead Zone, Space: 1999, Blake's 7, Red Dwarf, The Wild Wild West, Get Smart, Men from UNCLE, Mission Impossible, Nowhere Man.

There have been so many sci-fi/horror shows over the years. I would like it to become a true repository of sci-fi offerings.

A lot of those shows did, at one time, air on Sci-Fi. I used to watch repeats before work when I lived in Boston and didn't have to leave the house 'til 2 in the afternoon.

 

[The Lizard]

I didn't like Saved By The Bell when it first came out. I thought it was crap back then, and still think so now.

Yep, it's always been poorly-acted simplified sitcom crap aimed at ten-year-olds.


Admittedly, its corniness is now amusing to watch as an adult just to make fun of it, and some of the girls were cute, but nostalgia doesn't make crap into gold.

Sci-Fi has always been up and down on the crap-o-meter as well. Now is a low point thanks to their brainless made-for-TV movies.

 

[Addendum]

The only thing I know about Saved By the Bell is the connection with Showgirls in Elizabeth Berkely.

 

[Matt]

Oh, and to answer your question...its because network TV got good again. ITs all a balance. If Network TV is showing quality programming, cable TV inevitably falls into a slump.

 

[lars573]

I do wish Sci-fi would get back to showing Babylon 5, Crusade, Farscape on a regular basis. How about putting shows like SeaQuest, Earth 2, Andromeda, Earth: Final Conflict, War of the Worlds, Space Above and Beyond, Friday the 13th: The Series, V: The Series, the Hulk, X-Files, Buck Rogers, Old Battlestar Galactica, Forever Knight, Invisible Man, The First Wave into regular rotation?

Other genre shows I would like to see on Sci-Fi: Get Odyssey 5, Surface, Threshold, Prey, VR5, The Visitor, The Tick, Alf, Mork & Mindy, Legend, Brisco County, Jr., MANTIS, Century City, Mercy Point, Wolf Lake, Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Land of the Lost, Werewolf, Nightstalker, Kindred: The Embraced, Brimstone, Captain Power, Superforce, Ultraman, Highlander: The Series, Highlander: The Raven, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, G Vs. E, The Dead Zone, Space: 1999, Blake's 7, Red Dwarf, The Wild Wild West, Get Smart, Men from UNCLE, Mission Impossible, Nowhere Man.

Space has shown or does show 75% of all those shows. They even had Lost in Space on for the first year or two.

 

[huskerwebhead]

You mad!

Wow. That's not getting old.

 

[roach]

1) I love SCIFI Fridays....and Ghost Hunters is good
2)Where is it written that Adult Swim is just for cartoons...I dont think Robot Chicken is a cartoon.

 

[Obi-Ron]

It's animation, that's close enough.

 

[The Kid]

I hope they start showing porn next. That'll get good raitings for sure.