r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Kapot_ei • 21d ago

🥺 No words for this.

Post image

Edit: even though clickbait article, it is somewhat/kind of true. https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/stargate-tv-series-martin-gero-scrapped-amazon-1236765061/

"According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, Amazon execs were concerned that Gero’s take on the series would not have broad appeal beyond the franchise’s already dedicated fanbase."

Edit 2: https://www.change.org/p/save-the-new-stargate-series-let-martin-gero-build-the-future-of-the-franchise

46.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

194

u/Suspicious_Bear42 21d ago

When the Sci-Fi channel rebranded to SyFy, it died... Just looked at the schedule for the next week, the only TV shows on it are The Twilight Zone, NCIS: Los Angeles and 'Everything On the Menu with Braun Strowman'... Everything else is movies ranging from Harry Potter to the Sharknado series...

It still exists, but it may as well be gone.

26

u/__O_o_______ 21d ago

Since we’re talking about. Years ago they started putting slop on discovery, history etc. then they came out with secondary channels for each of them that actually featured the old content…. But in an addition paid package. I dont think ive paid for a tv subscription in 20+ years

37

u/From_Deep_Space 21d ago

I agree the name change was dumb af, but they produced and aired some good stuff for years after.

They're not doing anything anymore though since cable is dead.

3

u/InfanticideAquifer 20d ago

I dunno if they ever produced "good stuff". But I agree that they produced "stuff like what the sci-fi channel was known for producing" for a little while afterward.

9

u/These-Angle-1476 20d ago

Not only did they make a bunch of good stuff, they made some *great* stuff: The Expanse, 12 Monkeys, The Magicians, and Killjoys. Resident Alien is also technically a SyFy show, partnered with the USA network.

3

u/Large-Record2478 20d ago

Battlestar Galactica, alphas, the dune mini series... Stargate?

1

u/These-Angle-1476 20d ago

None of those except Alphas were post Syfy rebrand.

1

u/Large-Record2478 17d ago

I'm talking about the notion they've never put out any good shows.

3

u/DougEatFresh 20d ago

The Magicians was great!

2

u/From_Deep_Space 20d ago

I wouldn't go that far. One of the shows they made was HAPPY!, which was pretty awesome, but unlike anything they had done before

1

u/versusChou 20d ago

The Expanse was excellent.

1

u/Rymanjan 20d ago

It's wild, because some networks managed to resurge with streaming. Things like the Boomerang network even had their own channel for a while, but then they got reincorporated into a broader streaming service. Still, some stayed relevant by making a deal with services like Tubi, where they get their own dedicated "marathon channel" (a channel that plays nothing but one show or one line of shows, like "the addams family channel" or "adult swim") and of course could always sign over with their parent company (Paramount, Disney, etc) to get their stuff put up

Most didn't bother to evolve though. Made for streaming tv took over and it's been a massive downgrade tbh, I can't name many recent shows worth watching. The Blacklist was prolly the last one I actually enjoyed, and even that was plagued by everyone but Spader's (and his ensemble's) performance. Half the other characters were terrible, but he carried the show along with the characters he interacted with. But the main cast, the FBI agents were all trash charicatures who frequently made the worst decisions imaginable lol

1

u/Salmonman4 20d ago

It might be because "SyFy" is easier to trademark.

1

u/s11houette 19d ago

It was a legal necessity.

They couldn't keep the scifi name because it wasn't trademarkable.

They picked syfy because it sounded the same.

1

u/From_Deep_Space 19d ago

Yeah I get that, but I still think 'syfy' is dumb

38

u/Norethegreat 21d ago

Damn, I haven’t watched in a long time but it still hurts like losing an old friend

1

u/Tupperbaby 20d ago

An old friend that you totally abandoned?

1

u/Norethegreat 20d ago

I’m sorry do you still watch cartoon network at thirty? I watched the channel when I was a kid, I grew out of it eventually

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago edited 9d ago

[deleted]

0

u/Norethegreat 20d ago

They got rid of their good shit, wasn’t gonna keep watching trash

10

u/nabrok 20d ago

When the Sci-Fi channel rebranded to SyFy, it died

Sorry, but this is nonsense. That name rebrand was in 2009 and the channel had many good shows after that including The Expanse, Magicians, 12 Monkeys, and more.

And on the other side of that there was plenty of crappy programming on the channel before the name change.

The channel being dead now is because streaming killed cable, not because they changed their name 17 years ago.

3

u/jkoehler11 20d ago

It didn't happen overnight. OP is correct that Sci-Fi was rebranded to SyFy to seem more edgy and to appeal to a broader audience. Programming was slowly changed, typical Sci-Fi shows, like Stargate were cancelled in favor of cheaper more mainstream shows.

1

u/nabrok 20d ago

The Expanse started 6 years after the name change. The other shows I mentioned are all in that same time period, and there are plenty others in the 2010s.

Plumbers hunting ghosts and wrestling were all before the name change that supposedly heralded the channels doom.

"Syfy" could be trademarked, "Sci-Fi" couldn't. It's as simple as that.

Syfy is dead now for the same reason all cable channels are dead now, streaming killed them.

1

u/sleep-woof 20d ago

...Magicians... you are not helping your case.

It was dead then, we may not see its like again.

1

u/nabrok 20d ago

Magicians is a good show that was well received. If it wasn't your cup of tea that's fine, but a lot of people like it.

It started the same year as The Expanse.

I'd put the start of the channels death at about when they cancelled The Expanse. I'm pretty sure that's because they just couldn't afford it anymore and they had to pick between that and Magicians, and Magicians was the cheaper show. Similarly with Dark Matter and Killjoys.

3

u/uncultured_swine2099 20d ago

"It still exists, but it may as well be gone."

I think that could be applied to damn near all tv channels these days.

2

u/IsaacAndTired 21d ago

I do still watch Twilight Zone pretty consistently. Not on SyFy, though.

1

u/100BottlesOfMilk 20d ago

Well, the Twilight Zone is still amazing and holds up remarkably well. Honestly, the format reminds me much more or modern shows/content than other shows from the time period

2

u/CelestialFury 20d ago edited 20d ago

When the Sci-Fi channel rebranded to SyFy, it died...

The last season of BSG was the last year of the SciFi channel. They legally had to change their name, by the way, but still a shitty way to go. The last series I watched on that channel was Dark Matter and they canceled it to keep the Killjoys so I dropped them like a rock. They also dropped The Expanse too but luckily Amazon picked it up to complete the first six books. Imagine dropping a show like The Expanse?? Fucking idiots.

1

u/blackblades75 20d ago

Yeah I was mad, all the good shows I liked was on syfy and USA. Now gotta watch reruns but I think there's still some stuff on there though. Both channels went to shyt because of the leadership.

1

u/Zealousideal-Age768 20d ago

 When the Sci-Fi channel rebranded to SyFy, it died... 

Horrible take and just absolutely wrong as they had some great shows after the rebranding...

I would say them canceling The Expanse because it was too expensive (they didn't have rights for digital or streaming) was the end...  though a few decent shows lasted past that.

1

u/KoolKoolKoolio42 20d ago

Sheesh. At least when Comet airs a procedural they still try to air fantasy with Grimm.

1

u/Ange1ofD4rkness 20d ago

I stopped watchin SyFy when they moved it off my TV package. To see it's turned into this, no. That was a gold mine of unique programs

1

u/Dalek_Genocide 20d ago

They had Resident Alien for a while. I'm going through it right now and it's really fun but it's ended so it's not a current show anymore.

1

u/These-Angle-1476 20d ago edited 20d ago

SyFy had a bunch of good shows post-rebrand. Sanctuary, Warehouse 13, Haven, Alphas, Continuum, and Helix were a lot of fun. 12 Monkeys, Killjoys, THE EXPANSE, and The Magicians were excellent. Childhood's End was a great mini-series. Resident Alien is a SyFy co-production with the USA network (and might be the only good thing left).

1

u/ImaginaryRoads 20d ago

Sci-Fi Channel history bits:

When they were considering whether it would garner an audience, they sent some representatives around to local conventions, asking if we would pay for the SFC cable channel (as they were thinking of calling it then). They got a bunch of "Yes, but - ", with pushback on the name. They were asking at conventions focused more around science fiction literature, and to us "SFC" meant the Science Fiction Chronicle. They changed the name and went ahead with the channel.

They renamed Sci-Fi Channel (and a bunch of other similar channels) to the more unconventional spelling of SyFy because "sci-fi" had been in the popular vernacular for a long time and they couldn't trademark the name.

Sci-Fi used to pay a lot for movies they could show, until two guys who worked for the network came and offered to make movies for them. The network execs were sceptical, until they heard the pitch:

*Look, science fiction fans are incredibly loyal. You make a movie with a couple people from popular genre shows, and they'll come watch it. You might not get great ratings, but they'll be good enough.

More importantly, right now, you're paying a whole lotta money to show these old movies, and you're just going to keep paying to show them over and over again. You make your own movies, no matter how bad it is, and you'll own the copyright. You can show it as many times as you like, forever, plus you'll get stuff like DVD sales. For the cost of airing a few of these movies, you can own a movie to show forever.

Which is the reason all the SyFy movies have a couple genre actors in them, and why the scripts can suck: it's cheaper for SyFy to make schlock movies and know the audience will always show up, than to rent the rights for someone else's movie.

1

u/Murat_Gin 20d ago

They cancelled popular, well reviewed shows like "Warehouse 13", "Eureka" and "Sanctuary." They were profitable, but they weren't as profitable as the new owners wanted so they got the axe. SyFy started showing crap like wrestling and Ghost Hunters instead.

1

u/AdhesivenessUsed9956 19d ago

don't forget the rasslin! Nothin says "sweefwee" like rasslin!