Utter Insanity

Anyone who knows me knows I love books. Especially Science Fiction and Fantasy. I've also been reading a lot of History lately and am continually disturbed at the parallels between the late Roman Republic and contemporary America.

But that's not what I think is insane. As I said, I'm a huge SciFi fan. I'm totally hooked on Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth books. The Night's Dawn Trilogy and the latest ones 'The Dreaming Void' and 'The Temporal Void' (which I haven't read yet). My point here is that, being a SciFi fan (and a nerd) I really enjoy SciFi TV shows. Okay, some of them. Star Trek and Buck Rogers (for old school fans) and Stargate (SG-1 more than Atlantis although my daughter loves Atlantis). I'm a big Dr. Who fan as well. Of the shows still on the air (I think) I love Eureka. That show kills me sometimes.

So anyway, the point is, I have spent quite a bit of time watching the SciFi channel. And I read on slashdot that they are changing the name to 'SyFy'. What the FUCK? Seriously? Sounds short for syphilis instead of science fiction. I swear I'm sick to death of marketing majors and 'branding'. In the press release for the channel they talk about 'it's all about the brand'. Bullshit it is. It's about SCIENCE FICTION, not about wrestling or hunting ghosts. (Is it me or is Ghost Hunters the stupidest show on TV?)

Since Stargate is off the air I've watched less and less of the channel. Eureka had 8 episodes of Season 3 shown late last year and I've found no news anywhere about when the rest of the season (or Season 4) will be aired. Of course when a channel produces and airs 'Mansquito', high brow entertainment like Eureka is not considered good TV.

If the channel (and I'll never call it 'SyFy') wants to broaden their appeal, then find a name that doesn't suck. If you want to be NBC2, then call it that. That name is insulting to the core audience (geeks) and is too stupid to appeal to anyone else to attract new viewers.

I'd love to launch every marketing exec (and major) into space.