Comments on: What in God’s name is a syfy?

By: IKnight

IKnight — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:34:58 +0000

Speaking of ‘sf’ vs. ‘sci-fi’ and Asimov, I’m sure he argued that ‘sf’ was a term for science fiction with at least some thought behind it and ‘sci-fi’ was a term for pulpy space opera.

By: OGT

OGT — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:53:32 +0000

I think that “human-friendly” is meant to be a questionably-well-intentioned joke that the typical Sci-Fi Channel viewer is an alien.

I don’t even GET Sci-Fi Channel anymore (I’ve not had anything bigger than basic cable access for a long time, and I doubt I’ll ever get larger cable access in the future), but this is just the silliest thing ever. For one, I recall people saying that “Sci-Fi” as a shortening of “Science Ficton” was terribly silly and stupid and you should use “SF” instead (SF sounding sleeker and cooler), so that’s Name Strike One.

Now it’s “Syfy” which, while I realize is supposed to be pronounced the same, I cannot help but mispronounce (Siffy). Name Strike Two.

And they don’t even use the Asimov font! Like, seriously? How can you be a channel that caters to fans of “Syfy” and not use Asimov, the font of the future (according to the 1980s anyway)? Name Strike Three, out, etc.

By: Pontifus

Pontifus — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:23:27 +0000

Yeah, I don’t really watch Sci-Fi either. I probably would’ve been considerably more irate if I did. It mostly just makes me wonder what’s next; will KyoAni stop producing TV shows and devote their resources to, I don’t know, supermarket commercials?

…Well, no, probably not, but things like this inspire me to go into doomsayer mode.

By: Nazarielle

Nazarielle — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:23:08 +0000

So, they’re changing the name to something that sounds exactly the same. And they’re changing it to something these geeks, the same ones from whom they’re trying to distance themselves, would use as short hand to reference it. Brilliant.

I rarely find myself tuning into Sci-Fi anyway, as I never got into Battlestar Galactica nor Stargate. On occasion, they’ll have an episode here or there of Star Trek: The Next Generation and I might sit and watch that for a bit, but I certainly don’t tune in regularly.

I hope their viewership plummets like a rock.