Dresden Campaign Picks Up Speed…Because Apparently the SciFi Channel Likes to Shoot Itself in the Foot
By stephanie - Friday, July 13th, 2007
The SciFi Channel – run by apparently clueless executives whose last personal interaction with a real sci-fi fan was probably the nerdy kid sitting next to them in chemistry class in high school – seems to be about to shoot itself in the foot once again with a pending cancellation of The Dresden Files.
I say “pending,” because rumors do suggest that the show is toast, and we all know that when given the choice between doing the right thing and the stupid thing, SciFi will pick the stupid thing each and every time.
I’m not a hardcore fan of The Dresden Files, but I would like to see a show like that available on SciFi. It’s got longevity written all over it. It’s just one of those shows that a family can enjoy together, and it’s not so arc-based that it’s confusing in reruns. Plus, we have Harry Potter now burning up the theaters with the latest Potter movie – so why isn’t SciFi promoting their own wizard named Harry? Are the marketing people over there completely clueless or what?
Instead, they’ve renewed Painkiller Jane already (WHY?) and they’ve bent over backwards to obtain live wrestling for SciFi.
My prediction here is that SciFi is positioning itself to move away from its core niche and expand the channel to become more of a “guy’s” channel like SpikeTV. I honestly would not be surprised if they suddenly change the name from SciFi and rebrand the entire network.
I would hate to see that happen, but it’s clear to me that the Powers That Be really don’t understand the sci-fi audience, nor do they understand how to leverage that hardcore sci-fi audience to reach the wider mainstream audience.
Science fiction fans could be SciFi’s greatest ally – if SciFi only acknowledged them and used their considerable passion and energy to help promote their good shows. But who wants to get behind a network that constantly spits in your face and is probably going to pull the plug on the new cool show you just found?
SciFi – get it together. You’ve got to let some of your shows breathe a little. I’m glad you’ve committed to Eureka (it’s one of the better things you’ve done in the past two years), but many of your other programming decisions make me wonder if you guys are on crack or something.
At any rate, if you want to help out The Dresden Files, some guy threw up a campaign website in about a day and you should check it out:
July 13th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Thanks for the mention! We are getting a very nice response to the campaign over at the following sites, and value the help of any of your fans!:
http://www.ifmagazine.com/new.asp?article=4692
http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/07/11/dresden-fans-campaign-to-save-their-show/
http://spoilergeeks.blogspot.com/2007/07/and-next-save-our-show-campaign-goes-to.html
http://television.rockerreport.com/dresden_fans_campaign_save_their_show
http://tvfilter.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!DB9D137CC0F754C9!20912.entry
http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2007/07/11/harry-dresden-magically-disappears/#comment-359795
http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2007/06/19/harry-d-may-need-some-extra-magic/#comment-364890
http://www.scramblenetwork.com/?p=397
http://geekjabber.com/?p=37
http://tv.blogdig.net/archives/articles/July2007/11/Dresden_fans_campaign_to_save_their_show.html
http://www.scifi.com/sfw/letters/show.php?id=16316
http://hallopino.livejournal.com/24750.html
http://www.blogschmog.net/archives/1138
http://www.megcabot.com/diary/?p=503
http://community.livejournal.com/skull_boy_love/100435.html
http://slwhitman.livejournal.com/64762.html
http://community.livejournal.com/send_bob_skulls/1068.html
http://riley-merrick.livejournal.com/53867.html
July 13th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
At this point I just assume, in general, that any halfway intelligent series is going to be canceled and wait for that before watching. When it’s the sci-fi channel involved, I hike that almost up to certainty. I gave up on them when they trashed the friday night lineup with cancellation of the invisible man and that tabloid show.
I’d still watch if my voice actually meant anything, but that’s the upside of neilson ratings. I can’t vote up with my eyes, but I can’t vote down either.
July 13th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Glad people are starting to talk about the Dresden Files. It’s one of my favorite shows, and I can’t believe there’s even a question about renewing it. I know Sci-Fi has an abyssmal record of supporting good shows, but you’d think it’d get it right once in a while. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, right? Since they’re cancelling SG1 and Battlestar, you’d think they’d be looking for some core programming. I’m glad they’re renewing Eureka, but what else are they going to air? Painkiller Jane? Wrestling??
Perhaps getting some buzz out about Dresden Files will influence TPTB to renew. Thanks for helping get the word out.
July 15th, 2007 at 7:04 am
Holy crap. Wrestling? Maybe someone else will step up and be the new sci-fi, if sci-fi is going to be the new spike.