The Sci-Fi Channel

[Fast Learner]

Braveheart is fantasy in the sense that it doesn't tell the historical story of William Wallace in any recognizable form. But it's more of a historical fiction type of thing. There's no magic or anything, no.

 

[LightPhoenix]

The Sentinel was picked up by Spike TV a year ago.

I'm quite satisfied with Sci-fi being the Sci-fi and Fantasy channel. It would be great if they showed startrek, but again, Spike TV bought them out. Spike TV has lots of sci-fiish stuff that used to be on UPN.

I'd dream of merger between Spike TV and Sci-fi but then I'd only have one good channel instead of two!

I believe Spike TV is owned by Paramount, which is why Spike TV gets a lot of shows that were on UPN, also owned by Paramount. Paramount, AFAIK, also owns the rights to Trek, so of course they want it playing on their network.

On the other hand, I know USA owned SFC at some point in time, but I don't recall who owns USA (Turner, maybe?), and if the two channels are still owned by the same people.

[EDIT] Did a quick search, and as of mid-2004, GE owns both USA and SFC.

 

[Chimera]

And there hasn't been a second season of Madhouse!

I think a good part of that is because of the Alts. They took the show in a direction other than the producers intended and tried to be all "noble" and "teach"; letting people go because they'd "learned enough" instead of letting those people stay and win the money. Heck, they should have been getting rid of the a-holes for NOT learning enough!

Of course, most of that rolls down to one particular Alt who turned out to be a diva wannabe and drama queen.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

I believe Spike TV is owned by Paramount, which is why Spike TV gets a lot of shows that were on UPN, also owned by Paramount. Paramount, AFAIK, also owns the rights to Trek, so of course they want it playing on their network.

On the other hand, I know USA owned SFC at some point in time, but I don't recall who owns USA (Turner, maybe?), and if the two channels are still owned by the same people.

[EDIT] Did a quick search, and as of mid-2004, GE owns both USA and SFC.

Yanno, i gotta wonder.
Spike TV is supposed to be the first Mens network.

What board room exec got it into his mind that most "guys" love startrek o.0.

 

[Fast Learner]

A smart one.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I'd forgive the Sci-Fi channel almost anything for making semi-decent Dune movies. Of course, I don't have a TV, so it's kinda moot...

 

[Swoop109]

It seems like the Sci-Fi Channel is having a mental disorder on what to put on the air. They bombard us with crap like John Edwards, Scare Tatics, Tripping the Rift, Andromeda, and Mad House. Then they turn around and produce the Dune movies, Peacekeeper Wars, Earthsea, and the new Battlestar Galactica.
Is it just me, or does it seem that there are two sets of creative teams at work here? One to produce trash and the other to produce real scifi/fantasy programs.

BTW, bring back the War of the Worlds tv series!!! But only the first session.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Classic Twilight Zone around 1AM is always fun

Well if they keep with 'tradition' there'll be 24 hours (or reasonably close) of classic Twilight Zone on New Year's Day but it may have been USA Network. There was also the 'Sci Fi Santa' movie marathon leading up to Christmas Day.

 

[LightPhoenix]

It seems like the Sci-Fi Channel is having a mental disorder on what to put on the air. They bombard us with crap like John Edwards, Scare Tatics, Tripping the Rift, Andromeda, and Mad House. Then they turn around and produce the Dune movies, Peacekeeper Wars, Earthsea, and the new Battlestar Galactica.
Is it just me, or does it seem that there are two sets of creative teams at work here? One to produce trash and the other to produce real scifi/fantasy programs.

Personally, what I think (read: theory based on no evidence) is going behind the scenes at SFC is thus. First of all, I don't think they're doing so well financially. They're probably keeping afloat, but I don't think that it is by that much. There are a number of reasons for this, some of which are the fault of the execs, and some of which aren't. Why it is doesn't particularly matter, but I think there are two general schools of thought as to why this is. One is that it's the fault of the executives for mismanaging the station according to it's primary goals (a channel for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), whereas the other is that it's the fault of the genres themselves.

I think that the people who run and work at SFC are pretty well split down these two lines. I think there are a number of people there who believe that the channel can be financially successful based simply on the genres it represents. I also think there are a number of people there who believe that it can not. The current sort of bipolar attitude of the channel in regards to sci-fi programming specifically, and programming generally, is due to the fact that there are these two factions, and they don't agree, and therefore programming is generally a struggle and a compromise. Right now I would suspect that the higher-ups are more towards the latter attitude - that the genres aren't financially feasible. After all, these genres do tend to cost a lot to make (at least, make well), and aren't generally accessible. Since I think the station isn't doing so well, I think that these people have come in to power, so to speak, and are starting to try to push the channel away from what it was originally meant to be.