Syfy/Headscratchers

Read or Die being aired really bugs me, for some reason. It's a great OVA, but... I don't understand what's so science-fictiony about it! Not to mention that it had to happen right in between one of the most pivotal moments of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann...
- A. They probably placed it there specifically BECAUSE it was a pivotal moment, so as to let it gestate. Shows do that all the time. B. Read or Dies climax takes place on a giant floating mechanical island, with rockets set to destroy the world. How is that NOT sci-fi?
- Sci-Fi's draconian anime censoring really bugs me, while we're at it.
  - Draconian? I've not seen any censored gore, and boobs and pubes get censored on every American basic cable station (well, maybe not the History channel or Nat. Geo.)
  - Draconian no, weird yes. They once showed an actual penetrative sex scene, just strategically blurred out.
- Makes a bit more sense than a Street Fighter movie. Though I can see the logic behind a brief hiatus between stories arcs, which may be partially so the dub can catch up (they are doing two episodes a week after all).
- At least they've brought anime back. Back in the late '90s, they used to show some every Saturday morning, but sometimes with only "half an OVA" (first three episodes of Lodoss War; only Gall Force: Eternal Story, but none of the sequels; etc.).
- I agree. There are Sci Fi animes, you know. I think Ghost in the Shell fits fine.
As much as I love Pirates of the Caribbean, I was surprised when they showed it on the Sci-fi Channel when it's not really sci-fi, it's more supernatural (did I just answer my own question?). But what really gets me is how they can show POTC when they can't show us TV shows like Heroes, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and/or Doctor Who... (Yes, I am a total geek, why do you ask?)
- They can show POTC and not the other ons because they have the rights to show it, but not the rights to the others. That's just how it works. In a perfect world, they'd also get the production rights to Firefly and uncancel the series.
I may have been on frogs at the time, but I have foggy recollections of them airing Law & Order a few times. Criminal Intent, I think. Clearly, this does not follow. Confirm/deny/justify?
- They did. These days, Sci-Fi Channel appears to be very proud of their Network Decay.
Braveheart. Seriously, who picked that one for them?
- Well, if you know anything about the true history, it may as well be science-fiction.
  - William Wallace impregnates an eight-year old girl from across the English Channel some seven years after his death in the 1300s? Sounds like Science fiction to me!
  - Maybe they figured it was close enough to the flashbacks in Highlander that nobody would notice.
- This Troper remembers them showing Apollo 13 at one point. Apollo 13. A science fiction movie. Yes.
  - While it might not be fiction, Apollo 13 is about space travel and, well, scientists. Close enough, I say.
What the frak happened with Doctor Who!?
- Not playing the Season 4.5 specials, or if they did, playing them in absurd time slots with no advertisements whatsoever? Seconded.
- Erm, I'm not positive on this, but it could be because BBC America (finally) got the broadcast rights for Doctor Who before the specials aired, so Syfy wasn't the "premiere" network anymore. Basically, they knew most people would catch them on BBC America, so they didn't bother playing/promoting them.
  - BBC America? Noooooooooooo! Ah well, at least it's an excuse to get the DVDs.
I miss those quirky little time filler thingies. There was one about a guy playing fetch with a sea monster that was diving in and out of puddles. Why would you get rid of something that awesome?
- They phased out most of the network ID clips in favor of network ID clips taken from a single music video they made sometime in early 2009 (the one with the house full of crazy sci-fi/fantasy rooms). If they spend a bunch of money on the video, and more money to edit celebrity cameos into some of the clips later, they may as well use it as much as possible. They still occasionally use the old network ID clips, but it's pretty rare.
  - Same troper here. They're making new ones again, some the "Imagine Greater" ones (such as the purple blobs melding logo) and a couple of "Imagine Greener" ones (like the sunflower/daisy wind turbines).
I love that Sci-Fi airs Enterprise and The Next Generation. What I'm not so crazy about is how they only seem to rotate between the same 12 episodes. Why the stinginess?
It's not that Being Human (UK) being Americanized bugs me (well, it does but I've learned to suppress that irritation), it's that, in every single advert, they're hyping it as "an original series." How do they justify that? Completely blowing off the original creators just because the show isn't as well known in the US?
- I heard that last night and got a good chuckle out of it. Not sure how that works. If you look up the North American one, you'll see that it was first a British show, so I don't see how they can fool that many people. I could be wrong, but I believe in the early days, The Office did the same thing.
  - It's a technicality sort of thing. Anything that airs on the channel for the first time is a "Sci-Fi Original", no matter what it may have been based on. All of the bad movies people complain about as "Sci-Fi Originals" weren't necessarily funded by the Channel, the channel just purchased the rights to it. Put in another way - if Doctor Who aired first on the channel, then they could call it a "Sci-Fi Original Series"
You can watch full episodes of Syfy's shows on their website, and that's really cool. There are ads that play every 15 minutes, but that's understandable since they just want to make sure they get get money for their shows. What I don't get why these 6 or so ads are always the same ad repeated 6 times. What company thinks that this would make people want their product more?
- This is unfortunately common, a symptom of how internet media is still in its infancy. They were only able to sell one ad's worth of ad space (or only needed to sell one).