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I agree that Syfy has an uphill battle because they've hurt their own brand, but one really popular show can change all that. It probably already happened with Battlestar Galactica, which was Syfy's version of Mad Men in terms of interest and critical reception. If they can manage to do that again and get their version of The Walking Dead into the general consciousness, they could rehab their image completely.
Nicki, I think Legends of Tomorrow is by far the weakest show on that lineup. It's spinning its wheels and going nowhere fast. I'm interested in hearing more of your take on CW's treating women of color.I haven't seen The Magicians yet, but it sounds interesting.
Trike, I have no real basis for this, but I assume that a fair amount of the popularity of Battlestar Galactica was riding on the previous incarnation's wake. It seemed to me like an attempt to pull people in, and it worked for a bit, and then SyFy tried to continue with Caprica and dropped the ball.
I do agree that if they could find one show that hits like TWD, it would go a long way for their brand revival. It's just a matter of what. I've heard rumors of Firefly starting back up at some point on SyFy (and that would likely destroy both Dark Matter and The Expanse). But they're just rumors as far as I know.
One of the biggest problems I have with SyFy and a fair amount of other networks, is that when I think a show is great it usually ends up canceled. Like despite lower rankings in viewers, they can't just stick it out, get through the bad, and make something great despite obstacles.
I'm looking forward to SyFy continuing to renew Dark Matter. Despite that it received critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, I enjoyed that first season.
This is an interesting discussion to see. My favorite show of all time is a CW show. I am disgustingly obsessed with Supernatural. But, I have to say I've never really paid attention to which network a show is on. If I see something I like, I watch it. And since getting rid of cable a few years ago, I rely on the internet for everything. (I do however steal my mom's cable password to watch currently running shows on the on demand website.)The only shows I even follow week to week anymore are Supernatural (CW), The Walking Dead (AMC), Z Nation (SyFy) and I started watching Lucifer (Fox) on the recommendation of a friend. Everything else I watch on Netflix.
I'm curious if folks with either choose to watch a show or not watch based on the network it is on.
I'm also wondering if anyone has watched Z Nation. It's definitely much different from The Walking Dead, but there are some concepts that overlap. It's a lot like if The Walking Dead were a sitcom. I appreciate The Walking Dead for its serious nature and drama. At the same time I adore the humor and ridiculousness in Z Nation.
Thomas wrote: "Nicki, I think Legends of Tomorrow is by far the weakest show on that lineup. It's spinning its wheels and going nowhere fast. ..."Seriously. I'm afraid they're going to try to stretch the Vandal Savage thing into more than one season... and, honestly if they do that, I might just check out.
Then again, hubby likes this more than I do, so he might stick around for another season.
The only reason I really watch is for Snart. I love me some Snart.
ETA: I'm also kinda hoping they find a different time frame (view spoiler)
Kristin, The only reason network matters to me is because I've been burned really getting into shows, only for networks to go "well, we have 5 million viewers, but we were hoping for 10" or "well, we were at 10 million viewers, but now we're at 8" and then "we're not doing as well as we hope! time to cancel!". I did try watching Z Nation and I just couldn't get into it. I was put off right at the beginning few episodes and I couldn't continue. I got spoiled on TWD and it's feel of seriousness, so when Z Nation went the opposite direction I was done. To me it was that old SyFy feeling of "we're not going to take things seriously" and I honestly expected it to get cancelled after the pilot season.
colleen, I agree. If Vandal goes into season 2 I'm done. Also (view spoiler)
I enjoy most of the shows that I watch on the CW. I like that Syfy is having more shows now but I still wonder if they will survive the first season. I enjoyed Dark Matter, Z Nation and The Magicians. I like a mix of series and not so series. Though for some of CW's shows I hope they get better at their story telling (Arrow, legends of tomorrow and Supernatural.. and especially The 100? Like what? I am still watching but WHat?*cough*)But yes, the other channels finally realized they needed to try to up their variety the way CW has. Fox currently has Lucifer though the way Sleepy Hollow went I'm not feeling hopeful.
Syfy has The Expanse now. That is enough for me.
@Jori, I can understand that about The 100. I like the show, but they need to tighten it up a bit.I hope that SyFy does well with their re-rebranding. It used to be my "must watch" channel long ago. It's how I learned about some now long-time favorites like Farscape, and I'd love to see new shows become hits and go onto long lives.
It would be interesting to see them do what they used to do also, which is pick up/revive shows that people cared about, but weren't being renewed by bigger stations anymore (Sliders and Stargate come to mind from the past).
I haven't cared about Syfy (shudders as I type those letters) since they did away with all of the Stargate series. (ETA: actually, I did watch an episode or two of Defiance, I'd forgotten that; still, I didn't particularly like that series well enough to watch more than 2 or 3 episodes).I didn't know Sliders got picked up at some point. Ah, it did. Seasons 4 and 5 were on the Sci Fi Channel. I do not think I have seen any of the Sci Fi Channel episodes.
I knew about Stargate moving from Showtime to the SciFi channel, but didn't particularly care, beyond being happy someone was paying to make episodes, since I only watched via DVD releases.
ETA: Oh, right - CW - well, I like and watch iZombie and . . . nothing else on CW (Flash was okay, but really slow in developing; I couldn't get into Green Arrow).
CW is about as good any other channel. Most of the shows are not great. For that reason I only watch the three DC shows. Arrow is quickly losing its luster. The Flash is only getting better. LoT is improving but right now Dominic Purcell's character (Mick Rory/Heat Wave) is the strongest on the show for me. I especially like him in the most recent episode. Demonstrated some real growth for the character while the rest are just slowly plodding along.
iZombie is also DC - at least in that Vertigo is a DC owned comic line.
Yeah but that show is not good and I don't recognize it as a DC title since it is not originally produced by DC.
Fair enough. Especially since I do not particularly care for any of the original DC comic shows on any channel. So I probably should allow myself to separate out the Vertigo original comic.Well, I do occasionally watch Supergirl, tbough more when I need something on to pass the time.
I'm noticing most of the good non-SyFy shows everyone is mentioning are from the last decade, and the quality shows from SyFy are from before that. At first glance, I thought it was because the quality of SyFy shows is decreasing, but now I wonder if the number of shows with a science fiction element is just increasing in general. So now all these other networks are taking on sci-fi shows they wouldn't have ten or twenty years ago. That might lead to these bigger networks having a better pool of actors to choose from, leading to better shows. Jensen Ackles (Dean on Supernatural) I believe was on a soap opera and many other shows before (or during?) Supernatural. I think he's a great actor, which makes the show more entertaining to watch. If anyone wants to make a flow chart of which actors came from which networks and how high those shows are rated can feel free... I only have time to speculate.
Which brings me to Z Nation. It does have some recognizable actors. Talent, maybe not so much. That's just one of the reasons why I embarrassingly describe it as "SyFy's version of The Walking Dead."
In conclusion, I think the genre of sci-fi as a whole is becoming more and more relevant, and therefore it is expanding quickly into other networks. Good for "sci-fi," bad for "SyFy."
I think that's a fair assessment on other networks trying out sci-fi shows because it's becoming more relevant (especially with the popularity in Comicons increasing the past decade).Whether it was to fill SyFy's void, or trying to reach new markets, or a combination, I'm glad because there are shows like Colony on USA that I'm really getting into. I just hope USA doesn't pull an ABC, get to the third season and then cancel out of the blue (referencing the V reimagining).
It's a golden age for SFF TV, no doubt. Everyone is looking for the next Walking Dead or Game of Thrones, so the side benefit is that they are trying things they wouldn't otherwise.If someone were to attempt a Firefly-like show now, it would have a real chance of succeeding. The closest we have is Killjoys, which is solid, but it's low budget and short.
I am obsessed with "The Walking Dead." I like "I, Zombie," "Arrow" and "The Flash," also "Supergirl." I was going to say I don't watch anything on SyFy, but the last episodes of "Bitten" and "Lost Girl" just aired. I watched those Canadian shows. I'm hoping that River Song or Captain Jack will appear in "Legends of Tomorrow," since those actors are/ were in "Arrow."I watch "Jessica Jones" and "Daredevil" on Netflix and "Agents of SHIELD" and "Agent Carter" on ABC, I guess. Why haven't Murdoch & Jones met yet? New York is big, but that big?
I don't get Syfy here. But would like to see Van Holding show. I like Arrow, Flash, Supernatural and The Originals on the CW though.
I know SyFy's trying to make a comeback, but they've been doing B-flick nonsense for so many years now that it's an uphill battle to win people back.
Meanwhile CW's stepped into an "everything" role to fill voids, and IMO is also outdoing many of the network channels in terms of the stability and renewability of their shows.
NBC can't keep an audience on shows that have potential like Heroes and Revolution, so they get cancelled. FOX has been trying to keep up by doing Gotham, and CBS with Supergirl.
It seems like CW, a channel that once wasn't very popular, is now setting the bar, at least in pop culture.
Is it that they just have good writers and therefore people can't help but keep coming back? Or do you think there's something else that's a factor?