[Guest]

Is Wrestling Killing Science Fiction on Syfy?

... Darren's main complaint will sound similar to lots of fans of previously niche focused cable channels who've turned less niche in search of the better ratings available to more general interest programming; History goes from "The Hitler Channel" to "The Pawning and Picking Channel"; Bravo goes from arts to "Housewives", etc. ...

The author missed when The Learning Channel became The Surgery Channel. My sense is that Syfy imploded with the name change. I cringed in disbelief the first time I surfed past Wrestling and consulted their programming schedule to verify that this wasn't some kind of crossed signal. Wrestling and other dilution of their niche programming cost them this viewer.

 

[Snake45]

One thing I've learned about SyFy is, if you watch a show and enjoy it, DO NOT watch the second season, as they will screw it up royally. And the longer it goes on, the worse it will get.

History is now the Pawnin' and Pickin' and Truckdrivin' and Loggin' and Swampin' and Bigfoot and UFO and Nostradamus channel. Actually, if there's just nothing else on, if you put on History, IME there's about an 80 percent chance they'll be showing something at least passably interesting--unless it's a rerun and you've already seen that episode. :evil:

 

[Guest]

DO NOT watch the second season, as they will screw it up royally.

The assignment of a B team of writers to the second season has become endemic. I think Syfy uses the B minus team for their most obvious screwups.

 

[bestseller92v2.0]

While I do think both History and Discovery are going overboard on the reality-based shows at the expense of more information-based programming, shows like "American Pickers", "Dual Survival", "Top Shot", "Deadliest Catch", "StormChasers" and "Sons of Guns" are some of my favorites and are quality stuff, imo. I also have an interest in cryptozoology and UFOs and like the stuff like "MonsterQuest" and "UFO Hunters". I'm not sure why History cancelled the latter, since its ratings were strong.

 

[Guest]

... shows like "American Pickers", ... "StormChasers" ...

Pickers was excellent both in the variety of stuff they find and the informal study of obsessive compulsive hoarding disorder among the sellers. Storm Chasers was OK. The TIV2 was designed and built by incompetent amateurs. Having wheels fall off and welds break showed me that there was little or no engineering behind the scenes. Look closely at the one of the TIVs as they roll it out. I'm sure I saw California plates on it. Reed Timmer needs to grow up and behave like a more like a scientist instead of the self promoting media whore portrayed in the seasons I watched on DVD. That scene where they couldn't open the hatch of the SUV because the driver hadn't put the vehicle in park was childish as were several scenes of nonstop profanity that was bleeped out on the DVD. I think my favorite on those channels was Engineering Disasters.

 

[Skeptic49]

Mythbusters!

Any show with a hot red-head in an evening gown packing a shotgun has to be good!

Besides who else uses a .50 BMG in a swimming pool test?

Geoff
Who liked the hat removal test too!