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 "Imagine Greater" "A channel where new sci-fi shows are created based on old sci-fi shows, retreaded and reassembled like crusty multi-colored play doh that is drying out. Also includes new movies where giant CGI animals are sent on a rampage after actors with no will to live (or act)." The Sci Fi Channel is a channel owned by NBC/Universal. It airs in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and a dozen or so other countries.Founded in 1992 the network's remit is to air various kinds of Speculative Fiction, from science/fantasy and paranormal to their own produced movies and shows.Since then the network has expanded to show Japanese animation and Professional Wrestling (Which caused a heavy fan backlash due to the non Sci Fi nature of the WWECW show.)Sci Fi's original series tend to be Cult Classics, and the network has a history of salvaging Too Good to Last shows from other networks and renewing them. Unfortunately, they also have a history of canceling their own cult classic shows prematurely.They were the American broadcaster of Doctor Who and had gotten a lot of flack for cutting out 4 or 5 minutes from every episode to jam more commercials in. BBC America, which became current home of the series in May 2009 (after being a repeat broadcaster of the Sci Fi episodes), does not, or does so to a lesser extent. They now get the same flack from anime fans for doing this to the anime series they air. This was particularly bad with Gundam 00, as every single episode's post-credits scene was cut, despite several of them being essential for the story to make any sense at all.The channel was renamed Syfy in 2009 in the US, the UK and France (see Bite The Wax Tadpole below). As said executive Tim Brooks: “The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular." Sci Fi Channel president David Howe added, "It gives us a unique wordnote and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have." Unsurprisingly, the renaming was almost universally ridiculed, especially since "Syfy" is pronounced exactly the same as "Sci Fi", the term the executives think has such negative connotations. Some mockingly suggested that they should've renamed it "Skiffy"...which was what critics already called the channel. Fans continue to state that the real reason they changed it was so they could simply get copyright royalties from a word no one else uses. They've also taken to calling it "Syphilis" (see Bite The Wax Tadpole below).Along with the new name, the Network Decay which has been slowly developing for a decade is becoming more prevalent in The New Tens, with more and more Sci Fi programs being phased out for more reality shows.This network contains examples of:
Sci Fi produced original films vary greatly in quality, from fan favourites like the Firestarter films and adaptations of lesser known comic books like Painkiller Jane to the more C grade disaster movies and Attack of the Killer Whatever movies. The label funds many film developments - directors and producers go to Sci Fi for funding for Speculative Fiction works where they would have trouble gaining network attention. Sci Fi movies are made with a budget of only 1 or 2 million dollars making their development surprisingly profitable. Unsurprisingly, these movies are very divisive.See Sy Fy Channel Original Movie for more.List of Sci Fi Channel Series:
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0 reviews alternative title(s): Sci Fi Channel; Sy Fy
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