(Hulu may also count and scifi.com certainly will, so be sure not to use those to stream before the DVDs come out for you to borrow. Unfortunately my list is a bit short, since I haven't payed much attention to how ratings are done since my Save Farscape days.)


cosmic_celery made a post about this. I went to reply, and it so quickly turned into a rant that I decided to put most of it here instead.

Here is a "news" post about The Sci-Fi Channel changing its name to Syfy. I couldn't care less about the name itself (except that I liked pronouncing it "skiffy"), but if their reasons don't offend you, you need to GTFO the Internet and go back to the mall where you belong. Try not to wander too close to GameStop, it's probably contagious.

Apparently, sci-fi is too geeky a thing to be associated with, so it would be better to use a name that sounds identical but is confusing to read. You know, because cool people are constantly texting their friends...about television networks. And then not reading the texts mentally, or something.

As a geek, I'm offended.

One stereotype they want to get away from is "dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games".

As a gamer, I'm offended. Incidentally, Tim Brooks doesn't seem to know the difference between being antisocial and the much less harmful schizoid, debatably not even a disorder so much as a rare personality type. Antisocial is the one where you lack empathy, commit crimes simply because you can, disregard the safety of others, and bad stuff like that. Schizoid is the one where you sit in a basement minding your own business. As an introvert, I'm offended.

The really funny bit is that in the same article, Dave Howe talks about the awesome videogame they're going to tie in with one of their new shows.

This group of people who they no longer want to be associated with are "as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular," which will explain why, as one typical example, Battlestar Galactica's plot ground to a halt for about two seasons so that we could watch people argue about how much they love each other and wanted babies.

As a woman, I'm offended. This is the big one. I'm really sick of good shows having crappy romantic sub-plots (or even plots, and worst of all entire seasonal arcs) added and attributed to me because I'm a woman and I can't enjoy a decent show until it's been bogged down with that. From every conversation I can ever remember being in or hearing on the subject, men actually do believe this. Some think it's good and egalitarian of them to allow for the boring bits of their favorite shows because that's necessary to bring us in and we shouldn't be left out. The rest just allow themselves a grudge against women for doing this to them with our bad taste and inability to comprehend actual plots.

And finally, there's their use of the phrase "human-friendly" to describe the new brand. As opposed to the old one. And us sub-humans who ever watched it. Seriously, check the link. They actually implied that their previous/current viewers aren't human. As someone who used to like their shows, I'm offended.

So join with me in verbally shooting it down the next time a hip, trendy, 18-to-25-year-old you meet (or text) mentions watching any of their shows. Play up the sexist angle and leave out the rest, as that will get you the quickest results and leave them with the clearest negative association with this new "Syfy" thing.