And now, a guest post from a regular reader, Pierre in D.C.:
Sci-Fi channel. Its name evokes Star Trek reruns, Battlestar Galactica cliffhangers, a forum for sometimes innovative television but also mediocre low-budget series shot in Vancouver. But for some, it also means something else entirely ...
Some years ago, it featured Crossing Over. John Edwards was shown seemingly reading the thoughts of peoples past, and relaying them to an audience of emotionally-wrought decendents of those that have passed on. Of course, he used the technique of cold reading, which involves rapidly guessing a series of seeds ("I'm thinking of the letter W...V...R? R! Was it a brother, sister...mother!" etc.) which relies on the responses from the audience member. Then he recites some comforting words from the descessed which is wildly accepted without question.
It was controversial, because this was shown on Sci-Fi, which supposedly uses science as the basis for its fiction. Science-Fiction. It wasn't allowed to take non-science as the root!!! We were shocked. And then...dismissive. This was not real, this was...fiction!! We (the fans) thought, ok, not a problem, better here than on the National Geographic channel, or worse, PBS.
So now, as I was casually surfing the channels, I landed on channel 62 on Tuesday night at 10pm, I heard an awful scream and crunch. No, it wasn't an alien or swamp monster frightening the iPod off of a geek. It was....worse. It was....much worse.
It was......WRESTLING!
I can't believe it! The WWE show ECW is being shown on the Sci-Fi channel!!
We thin-limbed intellectuals routinely dismiss such testosterone-laden fantasies on other stations. But this is the Sci-Fi channel, where Right conquers Wrong with Wit, not Might (except if fired from a phaser).
Now we must wait for our favourites like Babylon 5, The Prisoner and Land of the Giants, while the cheap antics of Vince McMahon puke on our plasma screens. CGI is replaced by HHH. In the repetive words of host Jim Ross, I can't believe it!
But one must admit, Mysterio is one acrobatic dude!
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The network bigwigs wanted something to boost the ratings, and ECW delivered. Hopefully it will attract viewers to other Sci Fi shows and boost ratings overall. Until then, it's a bitter pill.
If it keeps the station afloat, to bring you all the things you like, don't complain about a couple hours a week of what you don't.
If the station went under, you'd have no b5, prisoner, land of the giants or anything else like that.
You'd be surprised at how many cable networks are considering some variant of wrestling for their schedules.