SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Do you agree or disagree with the new name branding? I, personally, dislike their television promos and really miss the old Sci-Fi ones with the curious monsters and the whisper (sci-fi).

These new promos look like a GAP commerical of sugar happy joyness! Nothing can go wrong in Imagine Greater land.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/07/techn...

Syfy parent company NBC Universal's USA and Bravo networks have both undergone high-profile revamps in recent years, with what most would call positive results. And at the Sci Fi Channel, says network president Dave Howe, transformation has been a topic of conversation for years. "We were always talking about changing the name," says Howe, "because it didn't capture all that we could do. The network wasn't just about aliens, space, and the future, but that's what people thought when they heard Sci Fi."

I have maintained ever since they first announced this that SF fans already KNOW SF isn't only about aliens and space and the future. Idiots.

Furthermore, Ys do not "capture" anything more than Is do. Again, idiots.

I look at another nearly blank page (syfy.com) with 2 big Flash place-holders. I doubt I will use the website anymore than I watched SFC. I suppose the best thing about it is that SyFy, like the channel, has nothing to do with Science Fiction.

I've watched the channel since it was launched, and know full well that it's always been about more than aliens and space and the future - it's also about really bad horror movies, apparently.

I can understand their reasoning, but could deal better with it if they just went Si-Fi (a la Wi-Fi), because I can't help but read the new spelling 'Syfy' as 'siffy'. = ( At a minimum, they should have kept the intercap - it is supposed to represent two words, after all.

A podcast I listen to remarked that Syfy reminds them of syphilis... and I have to agree. I think the change is stupid all around.

ΨΦ

Very good, Jon.

You know, I don't care. If, when I turn Psyfry on, it shows me something other than Stargate, I might decide that "Syfy" is a good thing. Until that happens to happen, I'll withhold judgement.

Luckily, in the UK we can't pick up this Stirfry abomination.

I think that "SyFy" is an attempt to drag in more "hip" young people of the illiterate generation of cell phone lingo....

Businesses have been using poor spelling for my entire life. Aside from the trademark consideration, I've never understood the reasoning behind this. Does anyone--anyone--think that Unkle Tommy's Chiccun is going to taste better than Uncle Tommy's Chicken?

Precisely! How does a misspelling make it more enticing?

If they are so concerned about refocusing their branding, they should've gone for a total renaming. This is rather pointless.

Chris wrote: "I think that "SyFy" is an attempt to drag in more "hip" young people of the illiterate generation of cell phone lingo...."

I'd heard that this was the case - hipper and younger.

I have taken to calling it 'siffy' as well. I think the whole thing is stupid. Yes, sci-fi, the genre, has a stigma. No, spelling it differently will not change that. Trying to make it hip for the illiterate generation will not make anyone think it's somehow less geeky. I guarantee that the people I work with who go 'oh, that' when I mention sci-fi will not suddenly go 'oh, I should check that out.'

For the record, I quite like the channel in general. Well, not the crappy horror movies or the wrestlig, but Eureka is one of my favorite shows, Sanctuary isn't too bad if you can get past the cheesy effects, and Warehouse 13, which just started, has potential. Plus I got my Dr. Who and Torchwood fixes up to a year before BBC America usually showed them.

I, however, will not miss the old channel spots all that much. But, then, I could live without sparkly world, too.

Michelle M. wrote: "Precisely! How does a misspelling make it more enticing?"

Maybe they are catering to people who are too mindless to read or think or do anything but stare at a tv. Reading the "Sci" part of "sci-fi" requires a little bit of brain-power to understand that it is not "ski". Dumbing down your brand, and catering to people who can only recognize a word if it looks like it would sound phonetically is a bad, bad sign. I mean sine. O_o

Becky...you are too cool...

blackrose...I'm with you..I like the channel, though I don't watch all the cheesy Kevin Sorbo Anaconda Minotaur killer alien abduction performing T-Rex movies either.....

but they have some cool shows....i miss Battlestar Galactica...

The name change doesn't bug me so much. I hardly see any science fiction on it anyway, other than old Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns. I'm still waiting for The History Channel to change its name. I can't remember the last time I saw a show about real history on it.

Chris wrote: "Becky...you are too cool..."

Takes one to know one.

"...cheesy Kevin Sorbo Anaconda Minotaur killer alien abduction performing T-Rex movies..."

Too funny!

Sandi wrote: "I'm still waiting for The History Channel to change its name..."

Hi-Chi

Sounds like a Starbucks drink.

Michelle M. wrote: "Sounds like a Starbucks drink."

Hahaha! I thought of an ancient oriental calming exercise, (now with deep-breathing methods!) but I like the Starbucks drink!

I hate it. Sci-Fi, at least, stands for "Science Fiction." "SyFy" stands for nothing. I like the comment that said it looks like "siffy." Which, naturally, makes me thing of syphilis. NOT a good thing. Oh, well. I've been trying for months now to figure out what wrestling has to do with science fiction...

Jeff wrote: "wrestling has to do with science fiction..."

Reminds me of fantasy. :P

sounds like a venereal disease to me... :p

Apparently (?) they did this because SciFi cannot be trademarked??

Personally, I've watched the Inside Battles over SF, SciFi, Sciffy, all that, raging for years on years...is this any MORE ridiculous???

I like Speculative Fiction so much better - time we grew up, which, based on the content of the channel undergoing a name change - the level of programming is not very challenging, these days.

The wrestling - that gave me a gawp of startlement, too.

I am waiting for the day we get a decent representation - amazingly enough - this role is being slowly taken over by mainstream channels...the better quality stuff is going there, so really, need we brawl about the ghetto any more? (except it's fun, ;0)

I am not even going to get started on the Scifi (not Syfy) Channel and the terrible changes it has undergone over the last decade, because it gets me too upset. It is the same to me as if I were a child with my favorite blanket (like the Scifi channel has been my favorite channel for many years) and someone took it from me and just shredded it before my eyes. It instills in me the same sadness, anger, and resentment. It is the spoiling of a nostalgic treasure for me. I also remember when The Learning Channel (TLC) actually had very interesting educational programming on it and I watched it often, but now (and for at least the last 5 years) it has had nothing but home improvement and do-it-yourself type shows on that are mind-numbing. It has gone down hill worse than any channel I have ever known, but the Scifi Channel is following it swiftly. I must confess that, if it weren't for Eureka and possibly Warehouse 13, I probably wouldn't bother watching the Scifi Channel at all this summer. :'-(

are you kidding!? I can't wait to watch "Swamp Monster 23: Revenge of the Bog"!! :)

TLC = soon to be changed to "Tee Ell See"

Chris wrote: "TLC = soon to be changed to "Tee Ell See""

With a Spanish version called Ti El Si.

Or Teal Sea.

Becky wrote: "Or Teal Sea. "

I like that.....wow, we just keep amusing each other...

Well, at least we know that there is one brand that will probably never need to change it's name... MTV.

I think that one's safe. ;)

As long as we forget that the "M" used to stand for "Music."

What?? You mean it hasn't always stood for "Mindless"?? *gasp* ;)

I thought it stood for "Moronic." Now, I have been disillusioned.

It seems we've all been duped... Maybe it stands for "Misleading" and MTV has just been laughing at us all along?

The last 2 weeks it has been "Michael TV"

Syfy, TLC and MTV went the waves of moronic-ville, sitting back with a lost dosage of unreality. I miss the OLD versions of Sci-Fi and TLC. The "real" educational shows and classic science fiction/fantasty/etc genre. Remember when Sci-Fi showed the old anime films? I stick to that station nearly all Saturday or Sunday.

Not anymore. It's far too mainstream, full of hype and glitz. Just plugging away to pop out crappastation horror flicks, seq-ILL number two-thousand. Anyone watch the Sand Worms? Ummmm wasn't that Tremors but this one is set in Iraq featuring Lynch's Dune Sand Worms? And for a moment during the commercials I swore they might have plugged in a Boba Fett action figure to fall into the Sand Worm. Feh. BORING CRAP ON TOAST!

Warehouse 13 seems like it has potential to be good. I was drawn in by the characters immediately and there were plenty of dangling threads to lure ya for future plots. I wanna see the Ark of the Convenant ;)

That said, icky icky BICKY do on Syfy. Spelling it that way for "hip" kids and quick texting as well as appealing to ESL users. In an article, there was a complaint that people couldn't pronounce Sci-Fi correctly hence the Sy.

I vote for a new genre station for all of us - The Towel Channel. TTC.

Tanja wrote: "Syfy, TLC and MTV went the waves of moronic-ville, sitting back with a lost dosage of unreality. I miss the OLD versions of Sci-Fi and TLC. The "real" educational shows and classic science fiction/..."

The Sand Worms movie actually was set in Afghanistan, not Iraq, but you are right...it was a second rate rip off of both Tremors and Dune.

Can we guess the next rip off?

The Towel Channel.
You are one hoopy frood.

Tanja wrote: "...I vote for a new genre station for all of us - The Towel Channel. TTC."

Is this a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide?

Well mine is. I don't know if that was Tanja's original intent!

Yes. Reference to Hitchhiker's Guide.

It can be announced on Towel Day (there is an official towel day)

Just got this Tweet from SciFiWire:

http://scifiwire.com/2009/07/first-mo...

I'm embarrassed for my age group. I hope they weren't watching wrestling or Ghost Hunters. :P

Remember the good old days when the upper crusties were complaining about SciFi being an improper term? What do you suppose they'll do with SyFy? SciFi is great but this new term is just teaching kids to spell it wrong. ;-)

PS: My dog is a HUGE towel fan!

Eureka is good, anyway.

You mean Ureeka?

Gawd. Wrestling airs after Warehouse 13. what has happened to the old station? :(

No, 'Eureka'. The science is stupid, but the show is fun, IMO.