A terminal case of SyFy(ullus) and other T(ransmitted) V(iruses)
I just learned, from the J-list newsletter of all places, that SyFy has surprise cancelled Stargate Universe and announced this via Twitter. Most of the cast and crew found out by fans relaying this to them.
Way to go boys!!! From 3 decent shows to 1 in the space of 2 months, and sacking an entire production crew by 'not-even-particularly-talking to-them-just-shouting-it-at-some-passers-by'. (Oh, and the only good show, it's called Sanctuary, irony, huh.)
I've just ranted and raged for about 40 minutes at how this is retarded and heavily rooted in selfishness (profit, advertisers) and fear-of-making-an-effort (the solutions have been on the shelf or in place for over a decade), but I'll save you the essay. In short; our TV networks still operate on a system (in terms of organisation) little advanced since John Logie Baird invented the thing! and until we those few who hold the power supplant schedule-based 'send-signal-once' broadcasting with true watch-on-demand then we are all collectively doomed to a desert which will choke any beauty or enjoyment out of videovisual arts, information, debate, and entertainment.
This isn't just about Universe, it's about so many shows; Stargate Atlantis, Caprica, the original Neon Genesis Evangelion, Elfen Lied, Torchwood, Firefly, about news programming, Panorama, Horizon, Dispatches (before they fixed it) and even goddamn joyous OreImo! And on the negative side, it's also very much about fucking template "reality" shows and YetAnotherPoliceChaseVideoShow! It's also more than just about shows, it's about the society we live in, because TV is still a massively important conduit of information from which we learn and populate our world view and base our opinions and actions upon. And this isn't just me throwing around conjecture. In the GCSE-equivalent Sociology of Communities course I did a few years back we had a whole module about how popular TV, namely Eastenders and Corrie, mould the UK and have formed key part of vicious circles of social degradation.
Two boxes sit to the left of my TV. One I command and it obediantly follows, providing me a wealth of video media as I please (even if in some cases it takes a long while before it can fetch it). The other has utter disregard for my interests or desires, randomly throwing whatever it feels like at me and expecting me to be not grateful for this mediocre unrespecting genericised service, but then requires payment and 1/5th of my time to be sold to other people.
Can you guess which one I cherish and which I consider barely worth even the value of it's cheap plastic casing.
Now, ....where's the Change Management button?
Edit: GateWorld has an opinion piece covering some of SyFy ineptitudes, many of which set SGU to fail to meet their demands.
Way to go boys!!! From 3 decent shows to 1 in the space of 2 months, and sacking an entire production crew by 'not-even-particularly-talking to-them-just-shouting-it-at-some-passers-by'. (Oh, and the only good show, it's called Sanctuary, irony, huh.)
I've just ranted and raged for about 40 minutes at how this is retarded and heavily rooted in selfishness (profit, advertisers) and fear-of-making-an-effort (the solutions have been on the shelf or in place for over a decade), but I'll save you the essay. In short; our TV networks still operate on a system (in terms of organisation) little advanced since John Logie Baird invented the thing! and until we those few who hold the power supplant schedule-based 'send-signal-once' broadcasting with true watch-on-demand then we are all collectively doomed to a desert which will choke any beauty or enjoyment out of videovisual arts, information, debate, and entertainment.
This isn't just about Universe, it's about so many shows; Stargate Atlantis, Caprica, the original Neon Genesis Evangelion, Elfen Lied, Torchwood, Firefly, about news programming, Panorama, Horizon, Dispatches (before they fixed it) and even goddamn joyous OreImo! And on the negative side, it's also very much about fucking template "reality" shows and YetAnotherPoliceChaseVideoShow! It's also more than just about shows, it's about the society we live in, because TV is still a massively important conduit of information from which we learn and populate our world view and base our opinions and actions upon. And this isn't just me throwing around conjecture. In the GCSE-equivalent Sociology of Communities course I did a few years back we had a whole module about how popular TV, namely Eastenders and Corrie, mould the UK and have formed key part of vicious circles of social degradation.
Two boxes sit to the left of my TV. One I command and it obediantly follows, providing me a wealth of video media as I please (even if in some cases it takes a long while before it can fetch it). The other has utter disregard for my interests or desires, randomly throwing whatever it feels like at me and expecting me to be not grateful for this mediocre unrespecting genericised service, but then requires payment and 1/5th of my time to be sold to other people.
Can you guess which one I cherish and which I consider barely worth even the value of it's cheap plastic casing.
Now, ....where's the Change Management button?
Edit: GateWorld has an opinion piece covering some of SyFy ineptitudes, many of which set SGU to fail to meet their demands.