Sci Fi Channel Looking For A Change

Hubby and I have been wondering for years what was wrong with the top brass at the Sci Fi Channel. Now that they've decided to change the channel's name to the spiffy (and juvenile) sounding SyFy we are really wondering. I get the feeling that no one running the channel is actually a sci fi fan. If any of them were they would know better than to do and say something like this,

Sci Fi Channel Aims to Shed Geeky Image With New Name

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.

“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”

Mr. Howe said going to Syfy will make a difference.

“It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have,” he said.

1. I'm a 32 year old stay at home mother of 4 and I've been a fan of science fiction (and the related fantasy genre) since the second grade. Stereotype much?


2. Is the Sci Fi Channel really going to yield ground to the purveyors of this snobbish stereotype of sci fi fans by changing its name?


3. Who cares about being "cool" and impressing the "cool" kids in the lunch room? I want good science fiction stories not "coolness". "Coolness" is over rated. I thought we were grownups here.


4. The new name "SyFy" sounds like something an unimaginative teenager thought up (with apologies to all of the imaginative teenage sci fi fans out there).


5. This move will surely alienate long time fans like myself who have put up with all of the other weirdness (wrestling, reality shows, and those horrible Sci Fi original D movies, come on now) from Sci Fi channel execs so far. As it stand the only thing I'm watching on Sci Fi are the last few episodes of BSG and reruns of the other good shows that have been canceled (SG1, Atlantis, Enterprise). I'm getting tired of hving to wait forever and a day for new episodes of Eureka and Doctor Who (get a move on already).


6. And another thing, if it weren't for those so called "geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games" and their girly counter parts (women do go in for the geeky stuff too you know) the very medium in which we are having this discussion wouldn't exist. You better know which side your bread is buttered on.

Then there is this,

In terms of television, the new brand better reflects that the channel has programs that are not about the typical sci-fi themes of space, aliens and the future.

You know there is more to sci fi than space, aliens and the future. There is the past, the present, the exploration of human intellect, human morality, and personhood to name just a few sci fi topics.

See also, Sci Fi Channel Has a New Name: Now, It’s Syfy

One big advantage of the name change, the executives say, is that Sci Fi is vague — so generic, in fact, that it could not be trademarked. Syfy, with its unusual spelling, can be, which is also why diapers are called Luvs, an online video Web site is called Joost and a toothpaste is called Gleem.

Reminds me of earnest youngsters who, in looking for a special and "unique" name for their offspring, totally massacre the English language leaving one wondering about their common sense.