She talks to wolves...

So, the Sci-Fi channel has decided to change it's name to SyFy. Besides the fact that this makes no sense and is not explained in the article I read (I mean, beyond them claiming that it's a unique identifier that "gives [them] the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that [they] want it to have"), their pet TV historian makes some pretty strong claims perfectly designed to alienate Sci-Fi channel's original demographic.

Nevertheless, there was always a sneaking suspicion that the name was holding the network back.

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.

“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”

Wow. Just wow. You know, this is the kind of shit that gives SF a bad name: assholes who don't bother to achieve more than an incredibly shallow understanding of the genre, but instead apply all the worst stereotypes to it in an effort to appear mainstream-savvy and "cool."

And a name meant to capture the attention of the SF/F demographic is what's been holding the network back? How about them not supporting good sci-fi shows, but instead cancelling them left and right? How about those lame-ass Science Fiction Originals which are only good for a good laugh and MST3King? How about them choosing instead to put wrestling on a science fiction network? How about them apparently barely supporting the science fiction genre? Etc.

In terms of television, the new brand better reflects that the channel has programs that are not about the typical sci-fi themes of space, aliens and the future.

Like I said: a completely shallow understanding of the science fiction genre. You know, Lost is science fiction. Let's expand: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is science fiction. Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Science fiction. What about Andromeda Strain or Jurassic Park or basically anything else written by Michael Crichton? Or a good number of Twilight Zone episodes?

“When we tested this new name, the thing that we got back from our 18-to-34 techno-savvy crowd, which is quite a lot of our audience, is actually this is how you’d text it,” Mr. Howe said. “It made us feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip, which was kind of bang-on what we wanted to achieve communication-wise.”

What kind of morons did their consultants consult? When I text about the Sci-Fi channel -- and I have-- I text SF. Two letters. Much easier than SyFy. Cripes.

I am too livid to continue. Read the article, and then read the awesome snarky comments on the article for stress relief.

SyFy. WTF? Srsly.

P.S. "'What we love about this is we hopefully get the best of both worlds,' Mr. Howe said. 'We’ll get the heritage and the track record of success, and we’ll build off of that to build a broader, more open and accessible and relatable and human-friendly brand.'"

... WTFFFFFFFF?! ... ... ...


Credit to glvalentine for the link.