Should Syfy take another chance on space adventure?

[Sorshen]

Dark Matter wasn't exceptional but it was fun. Fuck Syfy.

[Witchblade77]

At this point they should just shut the channel down, its strayed so far from its original purpose, that its hardly recognizable as what it once was, its hard to believe it ever had the great shows that it did.

I haven't watched it since they announced the cancelation of Dark Matter, didn't even finish KillJoys.

KIlljoys are worth finishing your watch of. personaly I loved the way they wrapped it up. I mean it was obvious that they planned a lot more and had to condense the last season especially but at least they GOT to finish the story, unlike Dark Matter (which I'm ALSO very salty about, god damn it that show was so much fun and ended on such a cliffhanger )

but yeah, I pretty much gave up on that channel the same way I gave up on sci-fi shows on fox. I'm too afraid to get attached to something they will almost inevitably cancel despite the show having fantastic premise and promise and just needing to be given a chance and a steady timeslot.

- - - Updated - - -

SyFy has an additional problem. They expect to own the show. Dark Matter wasn't cancelled just because of budget, it was cancelled because SyFy didn't own the show. Dark Matter wasn't losing the network money. How many other shows fall into that category?

expanse. yes, I know amazon bought them and gave them more seasons, but before that - they canceled expanse because they didn't own the show OR its syndication.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

KIlljoys are worth finishing your watch of. personaly I loved the way they wrapped it up. I mean it was obvious that they planned a lot more and had to condense the last season especially but at least they GOT to finish the story, unlike Dark Matter (which I'm ALSO very salty about, god damn it that show was so much fun and ended on such a cliffhanger )

but yeah, I pretty much gave up on that channel the same way I gave up on sci-fi shows on fox. I'm too afraid to get attached to something they will almost inevitably cancel despite the show having fantastic premise and promise and just needing to be given a chance and a steady timeslot.

Part of it was with them canceling DM, I kind of forgot to look for KJ when it came back, and by the time I realized it was back, I was too far behind to care. I'll probably sit down and binge the while thing at some point.

The channel is really just pointless now, they have what, 1 show, Resident Alien? 2 others in limbo, Van Helsing & Wynonna Earp. I don't think they even air their shitty movies anymore.

I've given up on Fox as well. Its a double edged sword, I want to support new scifi shows, even if they are on Fox, but with their track record, I don't want to get invested in something that will last a season like that Karl Urban show, Almost Human.

[Witchblade77]

Part of it was with them canceling DM, I kind of forgot to look for KJ when it came back, and by the time I realized it was back, I was too far behind to care. I'll probably sit down and binge the while thing at some point.

The channel is really just pointless now, they have what, 1 show, Resident Alien? 2 others in limbo, Van Helsing & Wynonna Earp. I don't think they even air their shitty movies anymore.

I've given up on Fox as well. Its a double edged sword, I want to support new scifi shows, even if they are on Fox, but with their track record, I don't want to get invested in something that will last a season like that Karl Urban show, Almost Human.

oowwww owwww owww. Almost human getting canceled still hurts me almost as much as Firefly. it had some rough edges and occasional wonky acting, but two leads had such great chemistry and they set up some really interesting storylines (which they of course also butchered a bit by doing what they did to firefly and airing episodes out of order... because why learn, right? >_> )

but anyways, yeah, I have a feeling that at this point syfy lost so much good will when it comes to sci-fi shows, especially space oriented sci-fi shows that their shows not getting enough viewership and getting canceled is a self fulfilling prophecy and this point. same for Fox

[VinceVega]

Nah, we need either something original like battlestar galactica was, OR a classic scifi adaptation, like Asimov's Foundation, Peterson's Wheel of Time or Simmons' Hyperion etc.

Mostly unfilmable, until now.

Well Foundation is coming on HBO and Wheel of Time is coming to Amazon Prime.
Hyperion is... too high concept i think.

They could do the bobiverse. I don't think you need too much as most of it is set either in space without anything special, VR in rooms like in every house or a beach and later on in basically normal cities or feudal times. Some outliners where it gets more alien but that is nearly always a short period.

Or Malazaan... but that i would rather like to see with a channel who has the money and doesn't make it cringy campy.
Red Rising would also be intersting and could cache in into the whole "every show must show everyday racism and how bad it is" we get left and right.

[AcidicSyn]

Every time the idea of a new sci fi show comes up I say the same thing. It's usually unpopular and its definitely unoriginal but I'll say it anyway:

I want a Mass Effect story in a TV show. Not Shepards story, just something in that universe. First Contact war comes to mind.

Could just be a bunch of 1 hour long short stories that interconnect a la Tales from the Loop, no need for some big space opera. (though I'll take that too)

[Daws001]

Well Foundation is coming on HBO

Foundation coming to Apple TV+.

[VinceVega]

Foundation coming to Apple TV+.

Ah yes sorry... i just knew it is getting a show because i saw the trailer an eyeballed the wiki for the book^^
Saw HBo and here we are

[Nynax]

At this point they should just shut the channel down, its strayed so far from its original purpose, that its hardly recognizable as what it once was, its hard to believe it ever had the great shows that it did.

I haven't watched it since they announced the cancelation of Dark Matter, didn't even finish KillJoys.

This. I literally just move on when I see a show is from SyFy. I've associated SyFy with D rank shows and movies for so long, I just assume anything they put on is crap.

Just like the History Channel lost their way in a bid to be "relevant."

[Kithelle]

oowwww owwww owww. Almost human getting canceled still hurts me almost as much as Firefly. it had some rough edges and occasional wonky acting, but two leads had such great chemistry and they set up some really interesting storylines (which they of course also butchered a bit by doing what they did to firefly and airing episodes out of order... because why learn, right? >_> )

but anyways, yeah, I have a feeling that at this point syfy lost so much good will when it comes to sci-fi shows, especially space oriented sci-fi shows that their shows not getting enough viewership and getting canceled is a self fulfilling prophecy and this point. same for Fox

I loved Almost Human, but I guess I'm biased since I'm a bit of a Karl Urban fan

It's like Fox hates sci fi but they keep making sci fi shows and most of them often become a one season wonders. I was also into that tv adaptation of Minority Report, if I remember correctly it ended on a cliffhanger. Decided to dump The Orville onto Hulu

If they dislike sci fi so much why even make more?

[Lex Icon]

as a sci fi fan i just gotta say get used to cool shows getting canceled. but don't let that stop you from enjoying new stuff.
lot's of great stuff get's canned prematurely and for people to miss out on what could've been because of fear of dissapointment is probably a bigger problem.

[alturic]

Syfy, that stupid shit channel that cancels good shows for no reason?

It should die and have its corpse molested imo.

You know, outside of the big networks, I think a good chunk of these... (forgive me) B-networks end up canceling not because there isn't a "following" (albeit small), but it's just that a small following that it's profitable until the second or third season where the actors start thinking they are A-listers.

- - - Updated - - -

This. I literally just move on when I see a show is from SyFy. I've associated SyFy with D rank shows and movies for so long, I just assume anything they put on is crap.

Just like the History Channel lost their way in a bid to be "relevant."

After reading this, it makes me wonder... SyFy (I think?) is one of those channels that's just laughable to the majority of the public, acting, etc. Akin to Lifetime movies. They are so terrible but they keep making them. Then you have shows (I know, more expensive on a recurring basis but still) that are actually *WAY* better than their original movies and they end up cancelling them.

Like, seriously how the hell did Sharknado get like 5 sequels.

[Twdft]

Like, seriously how the hell did Sharknado get like 5 sequels.

We have a channel in Germany that shows old sci-fi and fantasy stuff all the time and they have a recurring event "Worst Movies of All Time" where they show Sharknado and others with two guys making fun of the movies after ad segments. They even got into Sharknado 3 while filming a documentary about making of the movie.

[Mihalik]

Something that would actually get us excited for the future.

Go watch The Orville now.

Just shut up and watch the whole first season.

[Ringthane]

I'd be happy if Syfy took another chance on sci-fi. Or went off the air forever. Why another network hasn't started up by now to replace it from some other company I don't know.

[qwerty123456]

This. I literally just move on when I see a show is from SyFy. I've associated SyFy with D rank shows and movies for so long, I just assume anything they put on is crap.

Just like the History Channel lost their way in a bid to be "relevant."

The History Channel still has some History on it. You really wanna see something that lost it's way watch the Travel Channel. Fucking thing is 99% ghost shit now.

[Shadowferal]

OP seems manic-depressive about outer space.

[alturic]

I'd be happy if Syfy took another chance on sci-fi. Or went off the air forever. Why another network hasn't started up by now to replace it from some other company I don't know.

IF sci-fi shows were profitable, either SyFy would keep producing sci-fi shows, or other networks would have more. It's pretty much telling you that it's not profitable after a season or two (in the case of SyFy) or the majority of the population doesn't want (see: ratings) sci-fi shows in the case of major networks.

I'm just trying to nail down when these decent enough shows get shut down is it because I'm in the minority in terms of the channel demo and liking the show or if the actors start thinking they are A-listers and want more money the next season to where the little bit of ratings the show did have doesn't make it profitable any longer.

[Something Wicked]

We have a channel in Germany that shows old sci-fi and fantasy stuff all the time and they have a recurring event "Worst Movies of All Time" where they show Sharknado and others with two guys making fun of the movies after ad segments. They even got into Sharknado 3 while filming a documentary about making of the movie.

So basically a really lazy Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Got it.

[Nynax]

You know, outside of the big networks, I think a good chunk of these... (forgive me) B-networks end up canceling not because there isn't a "following" (albeit small), but it's just that a small following that it's profitable until the second or third season where the actors start thinking they are A-listers.

- - - Updated - - -



After reading this, it makes me wonder... SyFy (I think?) is one of those channels that's just laughable to the majority of the public, acting, etc. Akin to Lifetime movies. They are so terrible but they keep making them. Then you have shows (I know, more expensive on a recurring basis but still) that are actually *WAY* better than their original movies and they end up cancelling them.

Like, seriously how the hell did Sharknado get like 5 sequels.

I'm guessing, but most likely it's the "shotgun budget productions" approach that really took hold after Paranormal Activity's production budget of $15,000 went on to make nearly $200 million. It spawned this idea that you could make a ton of extremely low budget films/shows on the off chance that one of them grabs some viral success or becomes a cult classic. Your profits are then so overwhelmingly large that they more than make up for all the failures.

So it could simply be that Syfy relatively spends barely any money on shit shows/movies because the profit margin works out for them. Then whenever they try something big budget to actually improve the channels brand the gains are smaller than they see in the low budget stuff, while the risk is much greater, so they just go back to pumping out low budget crap. Somehow it makes enough money.

But then, tbh, Netflix isn't too far off from the same strategy. Their bar for "low budget" is just higher and they have the raw data of prepaying customers to be very targeted in what they produce.