Syfy Says It’s Moving Away From Stupid Crap
However much affection you might have for Sharknado, or Sharktopus, or even Piranhaconda if that’s your thing (no judging), you have to admit that most of what’s on Syfy (pronounced “siffy”) is stupid crap. A channel that once held the promise of expanding our geeky minds is now just another channel that makes us dumber with ghost huntin’, reality shows, and movies starring Tara Reid.
Well, no more, say Syfy (prononounced “arugula”) execs. They have seen all that money that channels like AMC and HBO are making with shows that don’t treat their viewers like lobotomy patients. And they want some. According to Syfy (pronounced “Mercedes Ruehl”) president Dave Howe via The Hollywood Reporter, the channel is trying to rectify its perception problems with a return to its roots.
“We want to be the best science-fiction channel that we possibly can, and in some respects, that means going back to the more traditional sci-fi/fantasy that fans often say they feel we’ve exited,” Howe tells THR. “We’re going to occupy that space in a way we haven’t for the past few years.”
One of the first efforts in this new direction will Ascension, a limited series which THR describes as “part Battlestar and part Downton Abbey, it follows the 100-year-long space shuttle of colonists fleeing an Earth threatened by the early Cold War.”
And although more Sharknado 2: The Second One is on its way July 31 and more are probably coming, Howe says the schlock will no longer be a priority.
“That’s the way to send a message in a big way that we’re back and we care about sci-fi,” he says. “There is enormous pressure to get that back, because we used to own it. And we’re going to own it again.”
Then how about changing the name, guys?
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]