Monday, September 09, 2002
Frell
Sorry, I lost my composure for a second. But what the frell are the honchos at Sci-Fi thinking??!??
I mean, look at that last sentence. I even curse now in Farscape-ese.
I used to be a devout practitioner of the Sci-Fi Channel. In my early college days, there was rarely a day that my set did not find its way to the channel with the little saturnine logo, with an offbeat collection of the best and the worst television that had ever been conceived, all dedicated to the themes of science fiction or horror. It didn't matter that it was quality or dren; what mattered was it was there.
Times changes, as so did the Sci-Fi channel. It became more commercialized, and, looking for a more mainstream audience, began to drop the Sci-Fi material that was not popular in order to bring the next big thing. Endless repeats of Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, interspersed with made-for-TV science fiction movies. Several times they made great additions - "Alien Nation", "MS3TK" for instance, but for the most part it seemed they had lost focus.
Until the network began to produce its own programming. "Farscape", "The Invisible Man", "Third Wave" - all promising shows that showed what the Sci-Fi channel could be. And although two of these shows died premature deaths, the Sci-Fi channels' additions of old "Star Trek" and "Babylon 5" and purchasing of "Stargate SG-1" and "Outer Limits" showed the network was heading in a new and bold direction.
So, although original programming had once again shrunk from three nights a week to one, this season promised to be Sci-Fi channels' strongest ever. The abominable Lexx was gone and forgotten, and a truly strong full night of programming was unveiled: Stargate, Farscape, and the Dead Zone (I would have preferred I-Man to be given another go, but that's okay). And now...Sci-Fi has decided that Farscape is to expensive and must be given the axe.
Let's see...in the past year only one show on Sci-Fi has gotten the cover of TV-Guide, and done so twice...Farscape. Three actors on the show got the "Performance Not to be Missed" from TV Guide, and Farscape won the Saturn and several other awards for best Sci-Fi show on television. And the Sci-Fi channel is cancelling it.
Well, his could be the swan song for my relationship with the Sci-Fi channel. The Dead Zone also airs on USA, the brainless illegitmate half-brother of SCi-Fi, so I can watch it there on Sunday night, a full two weeks earlier. And unless they pull the plug on all the syndication outlets, Stargate still airs on umpteen other channels, albeit one season (and cast) back. Perhaps Sci-Fi channel should recognize the fact that syndication revenues could have offset production costs for many of their shows. Perhaps what they will put on next will be even better. But as of now, I sure won't be watching. I have grown accustomed to my Friday nights journeys into the Unknown Territories, and seeing what trouble John Crichton and his group of 'violent criminals' can get into week by week. And although this season was perhaps not as good as what had come before, I was still there, week after week. This was the only sci-fi themed show in my memory that could me cry- and it did so - three times.
Frell.
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