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The End of an Era: Sci-Friday to End

Discussion in 'Archive: SF&F: Films and Television' started by The2ndQuest , Apr 15, 2010.

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  1. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Sci-Fi is Moving Friday Shows to Tuesdays

    Caprica, SGU & Sanctuary will be moving to Tuesdays starting Oct 1st (WWE Smackdown will be moving to the channel in their place that night).

    Though almost expected, given how abysmal Friday ratings are on TV across the board (let alone genre material), and how shows like Eureka and Warehouse 13 have done pretty well on that night, it's still a significant end of an era for Sci-Fi.

    Sci-Fridays were the cornerstone of the network's programming for over a decade, bringing us Farscape, The Invisible Man, First Wave, SG-1, SGA, BSG and imported Doctor Who, among others.

    It's just kinda weird to see it go, even though the programming itself lives on on another night.
     
    The2ndQuest , Apr 15, 2010
    #1
  2. rumsmuggler

    rumsmuggler Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2000
    I guess i'll have to find something else to watch on fridays now other than Clone Wars.
     
    rumsmuggler, Apr 15, 2010
    #2
  3. Koohii

    Koohii Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 30, 2003
    This is not dissimilar to what happened when San Jose's PBS station ran out of new Doctor Who to show in the early 90s. Without the new source of Who episodes, their Sunday night Sciencefiction programming fell into disarray. Sure, Red Dwarf had them going for a little bit, but not much. And the other mainstay programs weren't enough. They pressed on anyway, but I wasn't the only one that lost interest. Top that off with the lack of good new mystery programs for Friday--lots of Poirot (which I didn't like) and silly mystery/comedy shows, and it was in for trouble there.

    It all just fell apart.

    Sorry to see history repeating itself again.
    It is indeed a sorry thing when professional "wrestling" usurps Science fiction on a station supposedly dedicated to scifi.
     
    Koohii, Apr 15, 2010
    #3
  4. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    The bright side to this is those shows will likely show significant improvement in their ratings, which may help keep them around even longer. With shows like Stargate sometimes doubling ratings when DVR viewings were accounted for, it makes sense to move them to a night where people will be less likely to DVR them because they're going out.
     
    The2ndQuest , Apr 15, 2010
    #4
  5. Jedimarine

    Jedimarine Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 13, 2001
    Meh...Tuesday is when I usually got around to Friday night programming.

    Don't think I've watched anything in real time since BSG's finale.
     
    Jedimarine, Apr 15, 2010
    #5
  6. Radical_Edward

    Radical_Edward Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 2, 2002
    The move makes sense...in fact, one could wonder why they hadn't done this earlier.

    The issue, though, is the replacement. I can't even bring myself to say the name of that...that...that...it.

    I still get a bad taste in my mouth when I think back to the day when the Sci-Fi Channel announced that their future plan was to move away from showing science-fiction oriented programming. And again when they previewed their list of in-development shows, the overwhelming majority of which were buddy shows with a stereotypical hardboiled detective and witchdoctor/voodoo priestess/shaman and trendy hip-hop guru teaming up to fight crime. And again when they decided to throw half their budget into monster of the week movies.

    This new programming decision joins that esteemed list.
     
    Radical_Edward, Apr 15, 2010
    #6
  7. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    The only thing to their credit is that they've pulled back from their intentions in 01/02 to move away from "space shows" in the wake of the failure of Legend of the Rangers, which led to horrendous crap like Tremors: The Series. Thankfully BSG changed their minds somewhat.
     
    The2ndQuest , Apr 15, 2010
    #7
  8. Jedimarine

    Jedimarine Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 13, 2001
    Well...the hope should be...with Syfy proceeding with casting off the mantle as "your source for science fiction" other providers will sniff out the audience for potential viewers.

    G4 & Spike are both growing networks who have drank from the tankard of sci-fi syndication...perhaps original programs could come next.

    It's a difficult thing just now...the media is starting to do pieces on popular shows getting canned for being unprofitable...meaning they aren't getting either a) good enough "real time" viewers to attract sponsor revenue and/or b) bad back end dvd sales...so they are not worth keeping...and it's getting more mercenary.

    Lowest common denominator TV isn't just for a fledgling networks these days...I heard that WWE, while living on cable, has been trying to get a network special or 2 mixed in...that's how far things have come...it'll at least be a guaranteed audience.

    If audiences could adapt to a low budget sci-fi show, it might prove to be a success...but in general, "low budget" sci-fi only attracts niche markets...and even bigger budget ones need time to attract a following. Sci-fi fans are timid to fall in love with shows.

    It's going to be a very telling rest of 2010 to see what survives...I wonder about many of Syfy's remnant shows...Sanctuary, Eureka...even SGU, if sponsor numbers aren't strong.
     
    Jedimarine, Apr 15, 2010
    #8
  9. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Well, pretty much all those shows are already renewed. Caprica ain't going anywhere since they want to keep doing BSG material and they'll want to play nice with Moore. Sanctuary doesn't cost that much to make and also has Tapping's "Queen of Sci-Fi" presence in it's favor. SGU's numbers before the break were quite good and doesn't have much in the way of content overlap, and even though it's character-centric, it's the only one of the main shows that can really be advertised as an action series.

    Eureka is the only one I would worry about since it's already been on for so long, I could see the cast wanting to move on.
     
    The2ndQuest , Apr 15, 2010
    #9
  10. Lord_Lahmien

    Lord_Lahmien Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2008
    Personally I like. I tend to watch the Sci-Friday shows online either over the weekend or the next week anyway because I spend most fridays nights out with friends. This wa I may get to watch them in real time, commercials and all.
     
    Lord_Lahmien, Apr 16, 2010
    #10
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