# SciFi Channel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800 "2004-06-05T13:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/1 "2004-06-05T13:51:32Z")
Years ago I watched The Science Fiction Channel all the time. It had some great stuff. Now I don’t watch it at all. Once _Farscape_ went off the air, I never found anything worth watching. Their in-house movies are rubbish, and most of their other movies I’ve already seen, can see elsewhere, own on DVD, or am not interested. Films I’d _like_ to see don’t seem to make it into their schedule. And unlike Canada’s equivalent channel, they censor the films. _Crossing Over_? Please. :rolleyes: _Stargate_ was barely watchable as a feature. The couple of episodes of the series I’ve seen were enough to convince me not to watch the series. In the past year or two, I’ve found SciFi Channel to be a big yawn. I tried to contact them once about one of their shows. I got a letter back that said, in effect, “Thank you for contacting SciFi Channel. We get lots of e-mail, so we don’t read any of it.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/2 "2004-06-05T13:54:26Z")
They murdered _Sliders_ &[_MST3K_. Once MST3K went off the air in January, I stopped watching the channel. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/3 "2004-06-05T13:57:48Z")
You could have knocked me over with a feather when they showed _Braveheart_. I mean, 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/4 "2004-06-05T14:08:16Z")
Sliders…didn’t they pick up Sliders after it was cancelled by another channel? MST3K…didn’t they pick that up after it was cancelled by another channel? Just sayin’ is all. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/5 "2004-06-05T14:11:31Z")
I watched _Sliders_ when it was new. After the first show I thought to myself, “Good show. But how are they going to keep it going? It’ll be the same show every week: They slide, they are in danger in some strange society, they slide out at the last minute. It’s going to get dull.” And it did. The only reason I watched was because I thought the girl was cute. I stopped watching after the first season. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/6 "2004-06-05T14:16:31Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Once MST3K went off the air in January, I stopped watching the channel. Same here. That was really the last thing keeping me watching. Although they do show enough MST3K-quality movies for a good round of the Home Game. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/7 "2004-06-05T14:22:33Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Sliders…didn’t they pick up Sliders after it was cancelled by another channel? > MST3K…didn’t they pick that up after it was cancelled by another channel? > > Just sayin’ is all. Yep. And they screwed around with them both. Of course, a lot of the blame for _Sliders’_ demise can be heaped on Jerry O’Connell’s shoulders for hiring his crappy acting brother. Adding Kari Wuhrer just put the final nail in the coffin. They bit off more than they could chew with MST3K: a two-hour show with a rabid following who wouldn’t accept anything that would interfere with their favorite show. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/8 "2004-06-05T14:24:46Z")
That’s funny, I’ve really been enjoying the SciFi Channel’s in-house movies of late – they seem to have captured the spirit of “adventure film with a dash of the unknown” that SF films used to have back in the 50s. I though Eon was really good, enjoyed Dinocroc and a host of other SF Channel movies I’ve watched lately. And as Otto points out, SciFi Channel DIDN’T kill MST3K, they extended its life by a couple of years. Not as long as I’d like, and I think they were dog-stupid to cancel it, but they’ve cancelled shows very much more quickly. MST3K films are not mentally challenging as a general rule, but frankly I consider reaching the level of quality of fifties B-movies to be quite an acheivement, considering the unutterable crap that is churned out elsewhere. And Trippin the Rift is tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/9 "2004-06-05T14:25:54Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > MST3K films are not mentally challenging as a general rule, Make that “SciFi channel films” … :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/10 "2004-06-05T14:35:52Z")
What happened to Dark Shadows? It used to be that visiting my folks in Florida meant (besides all the good things about being with my family), that I could watch Dark Shadows on SciFi. Last november, I couldn’t find Dark Shadows. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/11 "2004-06-05T14:44:29Z")
I’m not a huge fan of the SciFi channel- I agree that they’ve screwed up a lot of shows. However… Stargate SG1 is ten times better than the movie, and is, in my opinion, one of the best shows ever on TV. Damn, I need to pick up the DVD set… ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/12 "2004-06-05T17:17:22Z")
I like Stargate (a lot), but I have been subjected to some very, very bad things on that channel. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/13 "2004-06-05T18:19:57Z")
Tho I know many people hated it, I thought they pretty good with the _Children of Dune_ miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/14 "2004-06-05T18:45:20Z")
I liked the SciFi Channel when they stuck to showing the old stuff that nobody else would touch - forgotten low budget sci-fi movies from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, old shows like “Dark Shadows,” “Amazing Stories,” and the one about the teenage superhero. I also loved their first generation of really great, bad original programming, like “Mysteries from beyond the dominion”, which had all the panache of a late-night public access TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/15 "2004-06-05T18:58:23Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > I liked the SciFi Channel when they stuck to showing the old stuff that nobody else would touch - forgotten low budget sci-fi movies from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, old shows like “Dark Shadows,” “Amazing Stories,” and the one about the teenage superhero. I also loved their first generation of really great, bad original programming, like “Mysteries from beyond the dominion”, which had all the panache of a late-night public access TV show. They used to have this show, about ten years ago, called “Monsters” that I watched a lot. If it wasn’t for their Twilight Zone holiday marathons, I’d never watch. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/16 "2004-06-05T19:41:46Z")
I occasionally watch it for tripping the rift, which is better then most of the other shows out there right now(more amusing then funny, but that’s a couple steps up from _Friends_ or _Everybody loves Raymond_, IMO). Occasionally they show good Sci-fi movies, and some of their series are pretty good. I rather liked Battlestar Galactica 2003 and both Dune mini-series, though I avoid their original movies like the plague. Okay, I watched “Terminal Invasion” because it starred Bruce Campbell, but still admit it was a shitty movie. ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/17 "2004-06-05T19:56:50Z")
I don’t watch much on this channel besides Stargate anymore. It’s so sad and pathetic. Boa vs. Python? Really, now, how can these people sleep at night? ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/18 "2004-06-05T20:07:21Z")
Dr. Franklin Ruehl’s Mysteries from Beyond the Dominion was the greatest show ever. I was pretty young when Sci-Fi started (11 or 12) and that show caught me in a child-like “It’s SO real” and a skeptical teenager “This is bunk!” frame of mind. One episode where they were talking about the Winchester Mystery House they were talking about the mediums Mrs. Winchester would consult and they put a picture up of Nathan Bedford Forest (Confederate war hero and founder of the KKK). I laughed my arse off. Sci-Fi Buzz was an awesome magazine show dedicated to genre stuff from TV to movies to books to comics to art. It’s where I discovered Harlan Ellison when he’d do weekly commentaries. In 99 or 2000 they did some original series’ that were fairly decent for cable. I remember a show about a Weekly World News-style reporter where the world was as crazy and supernatural as the paper makes it out to be. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/19 "2004-06-05T20:18:36Z")
If it weren’t for the Sci-Fi Channel, Dean Cain would have no work! I leave it to you to decide if that would be good or bad. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800/20 "2004-06-05T22:59:11Z")
> [@Gamaliel](#): > > I don’t watch much on this channel besides Stargate anymore. It’s so sad and pathetic. Boa vs. Python? Really, now, how can these people sleep at night? “On top of a pile of money, with many beatiful women” Actually, I’d be surprised if it did so well. I have a fondness for B-movies. The problem is that Sci-fi Original movies aren’t even B quality. There’re usually C grade or lower. They aren’t even entertaining to mock. Sci-fi Original movies are for the most part, the new hollywood squares. If you’re in one, 99% of the time it means your career is over. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-channel/248800.md?page=2)