'Syfy' HD

Can't believe you didn't take that chance to bash them on their WWE crap also. Seriously -- WTF -- I want a sci fi channel that shows SCI FI.

-- Brian

Does that one hour a week really affect you that much?

Since BSG and SG:Atlantis are ending I don't think I need scifi anymore.

To be replaced by Stargate Universe, Caprica, Warehouse 13, Revolution and others.

So what's in a name?

MHD = Music HD || Palladia = ???
SCI-FI HD = Fantasy, Horror, Cheap SF TV and Movies || Beyond HD = ???

Learn from the New Coke experience. Why change something that's been known for 20 years or more?

Here we go with the obligatory 'bash the WWE' post of the thread. Wow, one hour a week. Go apply for a job at the CW. I hear they feel the same way about the WWE.

I wouldn't expect the WWE to go anywhere(and it better not). It is a big moneymaker and NBC Universal has two outlets for it(USA, SCIFI). I was surprised they didn't go after Smackdown as well after the CW didn't pick it up again.

But back to the title. I think that would be one of the dumbest network name changes. Almost as bad as 'MHD==>Palladia' and 'Court TV==> Tru TV'. 'Beyond' HD. Beyond what? Sounds like a crummy tagline for a HD network. Like "It's not TV, it's HBO".

SCIFI should keep the name the way it has been since the beginning. Everyone knows the SCIFI channel. Nobody would know 'Beyond'.

I agree, what's the deal with name changes. I know it as Sci-Fi and why or what would a name change accomplish? I can't believe a name change will do a thing for the popularity or non-popularity. Some people may never find it, if they change the name.

I don't think Bonnie Hammer actually likes science fiction. This isn't the first time a name change has been proposed. I think "Adventure Channel" or something like that had been suggested in the past. Changing the name would allow them (in their minds) to schedule anything they want without us whiners complaining about the lack of science fiction and excess of horror or reality programming on our "SciFi" Channel.

I think a name change is a very bad idea. Sci-Fi already has the name recognition, and changing it to Beyond or anything else would actually cause some confusion and cause it to loose viewers. In ratings its anywhere between 8-15 in cable network ratings, a name change will not help and would probably hurt it. If you told someone you watched something on Sci-Fi they immediately know the channel your talking about, a name change would loose that name recognition and people may actually think that they don't have the channel.

Look at what happened when WB merged with UPN they changed the name to CW. The CW ratings were lower than the last year of the UPN's and WB's. That should not have happened as it kept the highest rated shows from both networks and didn't have the lower rated shows pulling its ratings down. I think the name change confused people.

This is exactly what I was thinking. An all-science fiction channel was a good concept that SciFi will never completely implement. Thus, since they have painted themselves into a corner with the SciFi moniker, they should change the name to something more descriptive of their actual programming. I'm thinking something like LAME HD. That way everything they air will fit right in.

[I am still fuming over the cancellation of Atlantis while letting insipid programming like Ghost Hunters and their T&A Movie Weekend remain. All that's left of good TV there is Eureka--and even that's beginning to take a dive.]

But seriously (actually I was), I can see going with Beyond. As in the "other realm" or "other dimension" type of programming.

As if names like FX, Spike, Oxygen, MOJO are any better. Besides, what counts is programming. Put good shows on and people will watch no matter what the darn channel is called.

I want to reserve a whine credit if they change the name. I don't really understand why they are running LOST in a 4 hour block on Mondays. I might actually watch LOST from the start if they were to run it at 7:00 Mon-Thu, but being on Monday, they are in direct competition with Chuck, Terminator:SCC, Heroes, Big Bang Theory, I've seen LOST, so it loses in that situation.

USA has a lot of big name movies, while SciFi seems to have a lot of B movies, some of them are absolutely atrocious.

I love SciFi, and I don't have a problem with the Horror, supernatural stuff either, surely they can get rights to better stuff than some of the horrible stuff they run on the weekends. They do run some decent SciFi flicks and Eureka, BSG and the Stargates are good shows and I'm there every week.

It's not about bashing the WWE...it's that the WWE has no place on the SciFi channel. It would be like airing BSG on the Food Network...it just doesn't fit. Of course, I don't watch wrestling, but that's not really the point.


I know Beyond. It's one of Showtime's channels.

Maybe they were thinking of this timeless classic.

They change the name and I will stop watching it! It's as simple as that!

I guess they will miss you. If the programming is the same, what's in a name?

Aarrr, Matey, that's the rub!


(TLaP day falling on a Friday encourages a TLaP weekend)

Bonnie Hammer is an idiot. That is all.

Too late. Some of their most popular shows haven't technically been "sci fi" for years, why start now?

I can probably live with some off beat stuff, I just don't want them to dump SciFi as the main focus of the station. Even though some of the movies they show on the weekend are kind of cheesey, I just don't want to lose my SciFi, it was the main reason I jumped on Directv, as soon as I heard they had SciFi in HD, I set up an installation the next day.

The offbeat stuff pays the bills so they can do original programming and no matter how much we bitch, they do more orignal SF theme programming than any other network I can think of.
Now there are some I wish had gotten longer runs ala Dresden Files.

Who's with me? I figure all I need is a few hundred thousand partners.

My agenda: No Bonnie Hammer. No name changes. No wrestling. No "reality" shows. Nothing but science fiction, fantasy and horror, with the emphasis on science fiction. (Personally, I'd prefer only science fiction, but they've run fantasy and horror since the beginning, so I'll concede those.)

Also, no hacking up classic shows to make more room for commercials.

The problem with the SciFi Channel is they've never been able to have the courage of their convictions. In fact, they've never been sure what their convictions were. They're part of the NBC Universal conglomerate and all the machinations of how to maximize "shareholder value" has always compromised their mission, if they ever even had any commitment thereof. Have they? Ever...?

They've had exactly one great series: the remake of 'Battlestar Galactica'. We're all in agreement there, are we not? Winner of the Peabody Award, the industry's most prestigious recognition of programming quality, a couple of years back. During the subsequent year , I expected them to pimp the hell out of that award on every piece of promotion NBC Universal pumped out. Instead, I saw nothing. Nada. They seemed to have no idea how to promote this unexpectedly prestigious and original series. It was like having the best pitcher in baseball and only letting him take the mound every tenth game. Instead of building on the foundation of serious quality set forth with this groundbreaking series, they instead spent their original programming budget commissioning 'Painkiller Jane', 'Flash Gordon', and 35 "freak of the week" el-cheapo Saturday night movies per year. They had a chance to position themselves, differentiate themselves, as the "thinking man's channel". They had a gem in a series this past year in 'Charlie Jade' - a spectacular Canadian/South African series the likes of which Americans had never seen before. They rolled it out on a Friday night at 8:00 PM (CJ is a 10:00 show if there ever was one), got no ratings traction, and promptly exiled it to the coveted Tuesday morning at 2:00 AM timeslot, probably bumbing an informercial for Ginsu knives. That show is freakishly good, as the half-dozen of us who have seen it can attest. But they wasted it.

What if instead of 'Flash Gordon' they had commissioned a number of intelligent, serious, high-concept series on the same order as BSG or 'Charlie Jade'...? Whither then, SciFi Channel? Instead of the high road, they took the low road. And how's that worked out for 'em, huh? They've shot the brand with a broadside to the foot. So they try to re-brand and re-tool, as if none of us has been paying any attention. If they adopt the same paradigm, they're gonna' get the same result. Why should we, getting ready to bid farewell to the best sci-fi program of all time, believe them if they say they're going to change? I'm sorry, but commissioning 'Caprica' from Ron Moore to try to capitalize on the vestiges of 'Galactia's' corpse, ain't going to do it. No way, no how. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig, no?

In the end, they are a business
So, there's no way we can expect many shows on par with BSG, or SGA, SG1, Farscape etc. The best they can do is an occasional new SciFi show against a backdrop of crap like reality shows and wrestling. I suppose the best we could hope for would be some crazy kind of takeover by a group that aims to just produce great SciFi and would be happy to just break even in the process. Maybe a newly retired Bill Gates would decide to give back something to the geek community (for enduring Windows in it's pre 3.11 days ) and take over--all SciFi, all the time!

It's 'beyond' freakin' stupid.

I like Charlie Jade but the first 5-6 or so episodes are very hard to get thru. Plots are too murky. I doubt it would have drawn very well numbers wise in primetime. There was a reason why a new team was put in place at CJ at about mid series.

Besides BSG, they have produced 10 seasons of Stargates (5 Sg1, 5 Atlantis) with more coming (Universe) so I would think that can be called a franchise for them. Three seasons of Eureka and Farscape is another that got 4 or 5 seasons and a lot like to bitch that it got cancelled, I bet no other network would have given it more than one season. The Lost Room and Tin Man were viewable mini series and they do have stuff in the pipe that may or may not turn in to something good. Caprica, Revolution, Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, Stargate Universe. What other network, FOX?, ABC?. TNT? etc have more than 1 or 2 SF themed shows in the works?

They do have those cheesey original movies on Saturday nights. My problem with those is you would think every 4 or 5 weeks they would have one that actually was good but they seem to be batting about .100 on those.

I agree; CJ did meander about a bit during the first half of its run, but was still hugely entertaining. IMO it got better every week. And that new writing team had really hit their stride by this point in the season. It has shaped up into an outstanding sci-fi program, about the best I've ever seen on Skiffy, bar one. Very popular elsewhere around the world, but virtually unknown here in the U.S.

One thing they could do to raise their profile is commission 'The Lost Room' into a full-fledged series. That premise could be fascinating with the right development and talent. But they seem to shy away from more adult fare. It will be interesting to see where 'Caprica' goes because, near as I can tell, that will be their last stab at swinging for the fences. If it goes down in flames, expect nothing more challenging than the likes of 'Eureka' from Skiffy in the future. Oh, and wrestling of course. That's so sci-fi.