Badmovies.org Forum

Yes, you all know SyFy channel?  (formerly SciFi.)  Well that channel shows a lot of movies and TV shows that are nothing but garbage.  Don't get me wrong, it does show a few good movies and TV shows but those are rare.

But mostly all the movies on SyFy are just plain terrible.  They are all made on a shoestring budget, or have bad actors, bad writers or bad directors.  Everything about them is bad.  They all remind me too much of Monster Movies from the 60s.

I think they should change the name of SyFy.  It should be called BM or Bad Movie channel.  Anyone agree?

I dunno, I don't have cable.

Sci-Fi stopped being good years ago it seems.  Remember when they used to play Irwin Allen shows? Retro TV late at night with Boris Karloff's Thriller, Lights Out and Tales of Tomorrow? And actual science fiction classics? Sadly this trend of once great channels turning to mindless gop seems to be spreading. In Canada, once TLC, A & E  and History were solid channels from which one might actually learn a thing or two. Now they all play mostly irrelevant reality TV and "quasi-documentary" junk.

There were a few years when those were just about all the channels I needed.

SyFy channel kinda lost it for me a couple years ago with the introduction of two shows:
Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
ECW

I like Superheroes and it relatively fits the 'sci~fi' genre, however a reality show seems out there.

I like wrestling. But...on the SCI~FI Channel? The hell?

That seems to be the way it always starts. The channel's format starts to get interpreted very loosely. Reality shows and tabloid shows count as documentaries, anything suspenseful is horror, any kind of crazy genre fiction fits under the science fiction label.

I like SyFy's "Warehouse 13" series and their Saturday Night cheesefest "Original Movies" are a hoot but yeah, i could do without most of the stuff on their schedule. "Ghost Hunters" was OK for a while but it got old really quick.

Anyone seen the promos for their new upcoming series "Collection Intervention?" Professionals come in to help collectors who have too much stuff - giant comic book collections, tons of action figures, etc. Basically it's like a geek version of "Hoarders."

Given my usual reaction when I see one of their original productions, I always refer to them as the "Sigh-Fi" channel.

I still catch some of their original movies once in a while.  Or at least check the schedule to see if it sounds the least bit interesting.  I like their cheesy junk, it's like comfort food.   :smile:

I agree.  I LOVE the SciFi (refuse the new 'name') originals.  They are the modern equivalent, well sorta, to the B-movies we love from the 50's...the ones we now call 'classics' of the genre.

Bad effects, washed-up or unheard-of actors, meager story lines, low-level distribution...what's not to love?

As I've said before, if we want film makers to stop churning out the same-old 'junk,' crap sequels, non-creative remakes, we have to acknowledge the 'art' in those working off the beaten path.  SciFi originals at least keep the 'b art' alive.

Is it "good?"  No.  But, I argue they are true to the 'art' of film making.  They are fun to watch.

Like everything else on TV SyFy is centered around ratings and money. I remember when reruns of classic science fiction shows were quite commonplace on television. But today if the network doesn't own the actual property it's likely they won't show it. If it's on the air all the time they can't get a big chunk of money from DVD sales. The reason SyFy shows wrestling is that Vince McMahon struck a deal with Universal years ago and they own both USA who shows Raw and SyFy who shows Smackdown. It's the same reason they don't show Doctor Who on SyFy anymore. It's owned by the BBC and economically it makes more sense to to market the old series  strictly for DVD release while promoting the new series on BBC America. Cartoon Network owns the old Hanna Barbera cartoons and that's why you never see those outside of the Cartoon Network or Boomerang. In fact you don't see very many reruns of shows over 20 years old much at all anymore. The market for those old shows are DVD. If you wanna see a really old show, especially an obscure one (unless you can find it on YouTube), chances are you'll have to buy it.

I don't watch it much, but I think the name SyFy is stupid.  They should change it back to SciFi.

From what I understand, they changed the spelling because they couldn't trademark the term "Sci-Fi."

Let's not kid ourselves, this channel sucked from the word go.

Back in the day, SciFi had some of the old TV shows which I don't mind looking at now and again (like "Lost In Space"). 
Now... What the SyFy channel should be called?? 
Sh!tFits. 

Similar to the early programming on Space in Canada. You could watch classic sci-fi movies, original Trek, and some other stuff. Then it kind of moved away from that and into original programming and new shows. But it never went into cheesy exploitation the way SyFy did. I miss what the channel started as, but it's still pretty decent. Then again, I do get a kick out of SyFy's cheesy exploitation too.

Ah, yeah.
In the old days, SciFi Buzz was a good way to keep up with whats new in the genre. And Mike jerrick seemed to understand what his show was about.
Now, it's just the cheap stuff sold to the highest bidder.
I can't afford cable, and even I know the phrase 'SyFy Original Movie' means Low Budget Crap only good for riffing.
Which is at least something.

Sy-Fy Channel, eat my galaxy spanning shorts...

     THE $1.99 BIN

I loved Sci-Fi Buzz and Trailer Park.  :thumbup:  I used to like Space's news shows too  (like Hypaspace) but I don't care for "Innerspace" today. I preferred these channels when they seemed be run by geeks for geeks. Now it's like they just what to be popular with the trendy popular crowd.