Syfy and the Abandonment of Science Fiction

For whatever reason Generation Y, the Millenials as some people are calling us has been found guilty of the ones to usher in that genre of television known as reality and it has slowly snuck its way from just the mainstream networks and about twenty people left on an island to fend for themselves to spanning across all realms of television from religious to science fiction.  The Syfy network in particular has seemed to have been heavily hit by this new fad, almost no even resembling the network it once was.

Only started in 1991, Syfy had already undergone one revamping in 2009, changing the eponymous Sci-fi to the new lettering and logo and while no network has escaped the plague that is reality television, out of the lot of them you would think a channel devoted to the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres would be a little light on the lights, camera, dramatics that is associated with reality television. After all, if we wanted to watch couple bickering and the supposed foul play that goes into a work environment we have E!, VH1, and sadly nearly every other channel. However, while it is not surprising that Syfy has embraced reality television, it is surprising to the degree and the focus of their reality television that is.

It would be inconceivable for a network to limit themselves to producing their own series and solely focusing on one particular aspect of a genre- after all there is only so much in one genre that can be available. This is where the horror and fantasy aspects of the channel come in, and it’s now largest program base: paranormal reality shows.  After the success that greeted Ghost Hunters, it would only be understandable that similar television shows would soon follow. After Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed aired, and after NYPD Blue, about another twelve crime shows, and once that got old crime shows with a gimmick- Bones, Castle, Lie to Me, The Mentalist. The same thing happens for reality television, and the same thing happened with Ghost Hunters. After a few short years bearing the title of the most popular paranormal realty show, it soon had spin offs with Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Hunters Academy, and after those more came.

Today the current programs that are seeing new episodes are dominated by reality paranormal shows. There are only six dramas, one of which is just the American version of Being Human. Instead there are fourteen reality programs, ten of which deal with the paranormal, and another two that have nothing to do with science fiction, horror, or fantasy but auctioning and cars. This is the reason most viewers have abandoned Syfy as a network- it’s essentially abandoned science fiction and become overrun with programs that have people doing the same thing: going into allegedly haunted places and then being surprised when their camera equipment falls down or they hear a creepy noise, just to end the night by saying they did not find anything conclusive.

At the time of writing this, within the next two days the only science fiction show being aired is Sanctuary, the rest are Syfy original films and paranormal investigation shows. And sanctuary is not being showing until the wee morning hours when even the night owls have fallen asleep. Gone are the days where you could flip on Syfy and watch Lost, Firefly, or even one of the dozens of Stargates. Instead there will be something about a ghost poking a fifty year old woman every now and then as she works behind the counter or crochets.

Perhaps there would not be such disappointment amongst Syfy fans if the reality television they created had more range than ten different series all about the same thing. Face Off and Monster Man are both original and appropriate reality series for a channel that once carried the titled of Sci-fi because they are exhibiting more than just Flir cameras without anything on them and programs all shot in night vision.  Or at least limiting themselves to the amount of reality television and shift the budget from shooting crappy original movies into worthwhile original series? While 2009, when they decided to revamp a network that at the time was only nineteen years old, was their biggest year in terms of viewership the network as drifted far from its core.

As of now, most viewers are just asking, when will science fiction return to Syfy? And that is a pretty worthwhile question for them to ask.

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