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SciFi Channel Bowing to Texting "Standards"

post #1 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:21am
Thread Starter 
The SciFi Channel is changing it's name to..."SyFy". Yes, "SyFy". Here's the accompanying article. If you think, "That's like something I'd call it if I was texting someone," make sure you read the last line in the link.

I'm surprised it didn't read: "From the ad geniuses that came up with the new name of 'Spike TV'..."
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post #2 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:27am
Coincidentally SyFy is the common abbreviation for syphilis according to the international UN texting standards as well.
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post #3 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:30am
That's pretty awful.
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post #4 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:31am
The new shitty name is a lot more reflective of the network's quality than its current one.
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post #5 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:38am
As Drew/Moriarty twittered, somewhere Harlan Ellison's head just exploded. "Sci-Fi" was already bad enough.
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post #6 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:39am
Remember when SciFi used to be worth a shit?
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post #7 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:55am
The idea of being able to copyright SyFy sounds like the main reason more than it being how you'd text it. But if they wanted a copyrightable name, they sure could have done better.
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post #8 of 31
3/16/09 at 10:57am
I guess Stargate: The Channel is probably already copyrighted by James Spader huh? Bummer.
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post #9 of 31
3/16/09 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lima Oscar Lima View Post
Remember when SciFi used to be worth a shit?
Early 1990s? When they had Stargate, Farscape? Actual science fiction films.

Now it's just Y and Z list stars doing giant animal and mutant monster films.

BSG is on it's way out. What is filling it's place? More gameshow/reality crap?
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post #10 of 31
3/16/09 at 12:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lima Oscar Lima View Post
Remember when SciFi used to be worth a shit?
No?
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post #11 of 31
3/16/09 at 12:20pm
The Sci Fi Channel was good when it aired...classics like...Glen A Larson's Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, Filmmation's Flash Gordon, The New Adventures Of Wonder Woman etc. Then when Bonnie Hammer became president of the network she actually said..."Science Fiction is too Spacey" That is when the network failed to be good, when it got...Hammered, and drek like...Ron D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica became it's most popular series, turning a fun, space opera, the whole family could watch, and turned it into nothing.
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post #12 of 31
3/16/09 at 12:27pm
As long as this doesn't interfere with the wrestling and the airings of Braveheart.

Seriously, if the Game Show Network can last showing reruns of old game shows, how does SciFi not manage to show reruns of the dozens of old SF shows just sitting out there?
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post #13 of 31
3/16/09 at 12:37pm
Bonnie Hammer has been trying to turn Sci-Fi into a general "adventure" channel for years now. This renaming has less to do with "text speak" and more to do with re-branding. I wouldn't be shocked if Sci-Fi resembled the more generic male geared channels (Spike, G4) in a year or so.

I don't really care. This channel has been an abortion for at least a decade now.
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post #14 of 31
3/16/09 at 12:58pm
lets face it -- scifi channel is pretty much useless anyways. They've rebroadcasted every sci-fi show ever made at least a hundred times and they abandoned all the original programming that was fresh and interesting (Farscape, Invisible Man, Secret adventures of Jules Vern, GvE, First Wave , The Chronicle) and the shows they have on the air have either gotten stale (Eureka) or are gone (BSG, Stargate franchise ... worlds should be cancelled before it airs)

The Scifi Channel only gets 1-2 hours out of me a week and honestly, I'm glad BSG is gone it's been such shit this year it's not even funny. It could have been resolved as a fucking 2 hour special.*

* of course I reserve the right to ammend that if the finale this week is outstanding... but so many fucking worthless filler episodes it's crazy.
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post #15 of 31
3/16/09 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew S. View Post
Bonnie Hammer has been trying to turn Sci-Fi into a general "adventure" channel for years now. This renaming has less to do with "text speak" and more to do with re-branding. I wouldn't be shocked if Sci-Fi resembled the more generic male geared channels (Spike, G4) in a year or so.

I don't really care. This channel has been an abortion for at least a decade now.
I remember her. Shortly after this, there was a huge influx of UFO films crap.
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post #16 of 31
3/17/09 at 9:08am
They are ryght, though...

Why insyst that your key demographic know how to spell?

Elytist snobs...
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post #17 of 31
3/17/09 at 9:15am
I always preferred "Skiffy".
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post #18 of 31
3/17/09 at 9:21am
Sci Fi to SyFy...rhymes with...Why = Good bye.
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post #19 of 31
3/17/09 at 10:45am
I'd only been watching SciFi the past year or two for Doctor Who myself, otherwise I could give a shit about the network. Chances are they'll wind up dropping Doctor Who soon anyway, so I'll ignore that channel like I ignore G4.
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post #20 of 31
3/17/09 at 11:39am
And if you have BBC America, you can catch Dr. Who there.
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post #21 of 31
3/17/09 at 11:54pm
C'mon people, you can't tell me you don't stay up late Sat nights to watch awesome shows like Giant Fucking Snake vs. Big Ass Mutant Alien starring Leftover Dude from Cancelled SyFy Friday Night Spaceshow. Pleaaase.

Lie somewhere else.
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post #22 of 31
3/18/09 at 8:37am
The problem with the channel is that here in the UK they are a joke. They think they are all cutting edge and that and the show stuff from 20 years ago. We just got the channel in HD and they showed Minority Report in HD but in 4:3 ratio!
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post #23 of 31
3/18/09 at 2:30pm
They are a joke here in the US as well.
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post #24 of 31
3/18/09 at 2:40pm
David Howe is the current president of the channel.

http://scifipedia.scifi.com/index.php/Dave_Howe

Quote:
Howe is charged with launching a new global brand identity for SCI FI and driving SCI FI's continuing strategy to expand and diversify its business portfolio beyond broadcast and digital media into new affinity areas such as video gaming, mobile, licensing and merchandising and the youth market.
You can blame this guy.
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post #25 of 31
3/18/09 at 11:59pm
Howe's about that! He has to be an improvement over...Bonnie Hammer.
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post #26 of 31
3/24/09 at 5:34pm
http://www.hollywood.com/news/SyFy_S...Not_So/5414665

Quote:
The Early Days — Part 1

Before the Sci Fi Channel launched, Isaac Asimov (a member of the Sci Fi Channel's Board of Advisors along with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry), Laurie and I presented the concept of a 24-hour cable TV network dedicated to science fiction to a packed room of SF writers at the Science Fiction Writers of America meeting.

The writers were not happy — and that's an understatement. They said they wouldn't watch it. They would oppose it unless we called it the SF Channel because calling it "Sci Fi Channel" was a put-down to the SF genre, as "sci-fi" is slang for SF and science fiction — and a huge mistake. And I said if we called it the SF Channel, people would think it's about the city of San Francisco.

I was booed.

Then Isaac started to speak and said that the name had to be Sci Fi Channel and not the SF Channel in order to draw a wide, diverse audience and be successful. To be in a financial position to acquire and produce the best programming. That's really what counts, right? The writers came around and agreed. Heck, it was Isaac Asimov saying "Sci Fi Channel" was OK, and that was that.

What would Isaac have said if the name was instead SyFy Channel. He would have said (we believe): That's just plain dumb.

SyFy, say it's not so!

By the way, when the Sci Fi Channel launched, did you know the launch party was at the Hayden Planetarium in NYC where we threw the switch? And the first thing that was on the screen was "Dedicated to the memories of Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry," members of the Channel's Board of Advisors, who both, regrettably died shortly before the channel launched. At the launch was our master of ceremonies, Leonard Nimoy, and sitting next to Laurie and me was the late Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Gene's widow, and Isaac's widow Janet.

We'll have more tales from the beginnings of the Sci Fi Channel right here. Stay tuned.

Mitch Rubenstein
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post #27 of 31
4/1/09 at 1:05am
I heard about the Sci-Fi Channel launching at a science fiction convention way back. I was actually excited. I really thought it was going to be good. And then the reality set in. Thanks for reminding me about my old dreams.
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post #28 of 31
4/1/09 at 1:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
And if you have BBC America, you can catch Dr. Who there.
True, but Sci-Fi gets the first run, right? And dunno about Tim's neck of the woods, but the PBS station here has been running the shit out of Seasons 2 and 3 of New Who.

Granted, not that it really matters, what with the specials probably not airing in the US until the new series starts up next year (just an educated guess). More Who is always good, though.
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post #29 of 31
4/1/09 at 12:13pm
PBS out here hasn't run Dr. Who since the 90's. - shame really, as that's how I was first introduced to the show.

I'm hoping that eventually our cable company will start carrying BBC America so I can watch new episodes and give Torchwood a try.
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post #30 of 31
4/1/09 at 12:24pm
Well, Sci Fi Channel has shown Dr. Who in a comprehensive fashion, something BBC America doesn't seem interested in doing.
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post #31 of 31
4/2/09 at 7:59pm
I read somewhere ( i really wish I could find the link for it or even remember where I read it) that the advertising company that usually works with the channel wasn't consulted about the name change and hated it so much that they actually put out a press-release saying that they had nothing to do with the new name.

I'll probably watch Caprica when it airs, but thats about it seeing as how BSG is over and Eureka has apparently been canceled?
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