Sci-Fi Kills Stargate Atlantis!!! And Why I Am Pissed Off!

by Josh Roth @ 8:36 pm August 21st, 2008

Thanks Sci-Fi, thank you for killing the franchise that got me into sci-fi to begin with. Stargate SG-1 was such a unique and delightful experience that it opened the door for me to classics like old school Doctor Who and more modern classics like Firefly and Farscape. The show was funny, action packed, and stuffed to the brim with sci-fi goodness. Even when it started to slump in season 8, it rebounded with a vengance. Bringing Ben Browder, Beau Bridges, and Claudia Black into the mix was a stroke of genius, it gave the show a much needed new dynamic which worked brilliantly with the remaining members of the SG-1 crew. Stargate Atlantis started off great, got a little old, and kicked up again last season. This year, season five, has had its ups and downs, but overall it’s been quite good. “Daedalus Variations” was a stroke of genius, “The Seed” was a bit stale, and “Ghost in the Machine” was surprisingly good. So what does Sci-Fi Channel do? They cancel the last fringe of the franchise that made them what they are today. And why? That remains to be seen, but it would seem they like to pimp their wrestling matches instead of their original sci-fi programming! Sci-Fi has been going down hill for years, and to me this is one devestating blow.

For the last couple years I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in Sci-Fi’s programming. First they canceled Stargate SG-1, which sent me running wild. Then there were the constant irritating commericals for syndicated wrestling!! And last but certainly not least reality shows. Really Sci-Fi? Reality shows and syndicated wrestling are your solution to slumping ratings on your flagship show? Ghost Hunters and Scare Tactics aren’t that much of an infraction for Sci-Fi. They may not be the greatest programs, but at least they have a connection science fiction, but wrestling has no place on Sc-Fi. Go to USA for that kind of thing, but the Sci-Fi channel should be exclusively science fiction.

Bringing Doctor Who to the channel was a perfect move in the right direction, bring in a successful international sci-fi program and introduce it to an eager audience. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan myself, so Sci-Fi wasn’t my only means of getting it, but it was great to see them reaching out to such a fantastic show and bringing it to the US. Battlestar Galactica is the best science fiction show in the last decade, so that was a genius move, and Eureka is a great light hearted show. But cancelling Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis? The Stargate fanbase is overwhelmingly large, it even lead to two successful direct-to-video spin-off movies for SG-1, and an upcoming 2 hour TV movie for Atlantis. Why piss the fans off? Why not keep the show going and give it a fighting chance? The show’s latest season had decent ratings, not incredible by any stretch of the imagination but still they were decent and consistent.

What would I prefer Sci-Fi do? Well for one I’d bring back Stargate Atlantis and SG-1 as series. Besides that I’d say bring in talent to create new and exciting sci-fi programming. Masters of Science Fiction was a great mini series of individual sci-fi stories, in the vein of the Twilight Zone. It would have been perfectly suited for the Sci-Fi Channel, instead it was on ABC and cancelled immediately. Mystery Science Theater 3000 was picked up by Sci-Fi when it was on the verge of death, a few years later it was cancelled. At the time it was at the peak of hillarity but the ratings weren’t stellar. The MST3K crew is still around and riffing on movies, why not bring them back for something along those lines? Or, better yet, bring back MST3K? The Dresden Files, based on a popular book series, was a terrific series, but it was canceled before it had a chance to really gain an audience. Put a little more faith in your original shows, don’t be so damn quick to cut them down!

Sci-Fi Channel should focus on being a niche network, bringing good sci-fi to the millions of hungry sci-fi fanatics out there, not alienate them. Wasn’t that the promise of cable television? A refuge for niche audiences. There are gardening, shopping, and food channels that cater to those demographics. Why isn’t Sci-Fi doing the same? Science fiction fans are far more dedicated than those other audiences, just take a trip to Comic-Con and find out. Utitilized that! Get them hooked and they’ll come begging for more, case and point: Battlestar Galactica.

The moral of this story: stop acting like a mainstream network and embrase your science fiction roots. I’ll be waiting here when you do.