Science Fiction or SciFi

(SciFi, Sci Fi, Sci-Fi…)

Yesterday I stated that I have google news reader searches set up for the phrases ‘science fiction’ and ‘sci fi’, and I noted a distinct difference in the links each of those aggregations supplies.

Today being a typical day, I figured I might catalog the links to clearly demonstrate that there is a divide and therefore further bolster my contention that we should encourage the use of the phrase ‘sci fi’ to stand for all non-science fiction content that the clueless THINK is science fiction.

To put it more succinctly – let’s let them take over the definition of ‘sci fi’ in order to strengthen and preserve the definition of ‘science fiction’.

Here’s today’s links for the search term “science fiction”

CNET.com’s RealDeal podcast interviews the people from Galacticast – who use the word scifi a lot

 

Wired news – Neal Stephenson

 

Newswire – pr about a ufo film

 

Canada.com – review of the Ellison biopic Dreams With Sharp Teeth

 

Denverpost.com reviews It Came From Outer Space (1953 ‘B’ movie)

 

Flick filosopher reviews Babylon AD

 

Booksonmars reviews the anthology Tales of Mars from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

 

Teleread covers bookglutton’s sf first lines application for facebook (50′s SF artwork merged with quotes)

 

Sfawards watch on the Nebula site

 

Feast on books talks about libraries and book-saving in Vinge’s Rainbow’s End

 

Julian Ayrs covers Judith Merril

11 links, 7 of which deal with literary SF in one fashion or another – directly or second hand.  An eigth link covers classic SF film and a ninth covers a web application who’s source material is classic SF.

Here are the links for “Sci Fi”

Canadianpress – faux curse words in BSG

 

Newteevee – hulu will be getting some shows before they air

 

Cinemablend - BSG not airing until april 2009

 

Showmescifi - BSG coming in January 2009

 

Monsterscifishow – vote for a scifigeek for president

 

AMC/scifiscanner – vote for your favorite scifi alien – Klingons or ET?

 

Scifi sugar pie’s weblog – shows I love on the scifi channel (includes Ghostbusters and Scare Tactics)

 

Wetalktv – Charlie jade – through a mirror darkly episode airs tonite

 

9 links – not a one dealing with literary SF, most referencing the ‘fare’ offered by Skiffy Tube.  With the exception of AMC, not a single reference to historical SF.

Now ask yourself these questions:  which set of links more accurately reflects your own interests in science fiction?  Which set of links contains items you are more likely to click on?  Which has subjects you ‘care’ about?

 I could care less about any of the programming details concerning BSG; it’s nice that Hulu will now be getting to air lots of shows before they are broadcast, but few if any of those shows are going to be anything other than Sci Fi, so it’s hardly worth the energy to click on; I might vote in AMC’s poll – I’ve done so before – and I visit there regularly for Scalzi.  Why they use SciFi – other than the obvious ‘appeal to a wider audience’ is beyond me, but I’ll forgive them because AMC is more the ‘Sci Fi Channel’ than Skiffy Tube will ever be.  Vote for a self-described scifigeek for president? If it was him or McCain/Palin, I’d seriously consider voting Republican.  SciFi Sugar Pies’ picks?  Please.  Maybe she ought to get on the ticket with the geek…

 

I obviously clicked on every link listed above for this little survey, but generally I will probably click on 60 to 80 percent of the links in the ‘Science Fiction’ keyword search list and NOTHING in the ‘Sci Fi’ keyword seach list.

 

The above should also serve to illustrate to folks like Alistair Reynolds  (and Bill the SciFiGuy) that not ALL of the press has accepted the convention of using the abbreviation as a stand-in for the genre: Wired News, News Wire and the Denver Post (all of whom regularly provide coverage of things SFnal, all of whom have a fairly decent presence on the web) use Science Fiction as their convention.  Yay for stylebooks!

 

Furthermore, only two widespread sites (if Canadapress is widespread – I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now) use SciFi.  In fact, a strong case could be made that, at least here in the states, it seems as if the majority of the stylebooks eschew the use of the abbreviation.

 

Since I am in the habit of saving everything, I can provide a fair number of historical daily feeds from Google to back up my statement that the above is fairly typical. 

 

I think it provides a pretty clear picture of the fact that Sci Fi no longer means Science Fiction.  If you want to encompass everything even remotely related, use Science Fiction.  Conversely, if you want to refer specifically to literary SF, or things that are derived from literary SF, use Science Fiction.

 

If you want to refer specifically to (mostly bad) television shows and movies, or non-sensical reality shows, or things that will appeal to teenagers (until they acquire some experience and discriminatory powers), or people who believe that anything they are unfamiliar with or can’t explain belongs in the realm of the supernatural, or clueless references to the genre that come from ignorance – then by all means use Sci Fi, because that is what is currently defined by the phrase.

 

If you want to refer to the Sci Fi Channel, use Skiffy Tube.

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Skiffy Tube Update: SFC is NOT Pure

Here it is.  My long anticipated and much delayed analysis of the contents of SkiffyTube™ (don’t forget the IP notification).

 

I’ll eventually be moving this to Monday so you can all start out the week knowing EXACTLY how much science fiction content there will be on the SciFi Channel.

 

Let me put that differently: I’ll eventually be moving this to Monday so you can all start out your week knowing EXACTLY how much skiffy content there will be on SkiffyTube™.

 

(I seem to remember a class in journalism or some such that mentioned you’re supposed to list the largest factor first when it comes to lists, polls, percentages and such – unless of course your subject is how little there is of something, in which case you lead with the smallest item.  Which is of course why I am in a quandary over how to introduce this.  Do I start with ‘the most content on Skiffytube™ is NOT science fiction’, or do I start with ‘the least represented genre on Skiffytube™ is science fiction’…?)

 

I took the up-coming, mid-August week (10^th – 16^th) (end of the summer season if there were such a thing anymore) as my exemplar.

 

Let me define some terns.  Small finch-like birds that…ooops, wrong blog.  It’s easy to lose your subject (and concentration, not to mention target audience) when discussing the SkiffyTube™ channel.

 

To continue. 

 

My terms are generous.  If I think it is SF, then it goes down as SF.  If I think it is marginally SF, it goes down as marginal SF.  If it is anything else, it goes down as non-SF content.  (The sub-categories of which are legion.)

 

Where something has been described elsewhere as SF and I disagree with that identification, it goes down as non-SF – with an explanation.  Please note, no explanations are required below.

 

Let’s get the easy stuff out of the way.

 

The total programming time available over the course of a week is some 168 hours.

 

Of that time the SciFi Channel Skiffy Tube(TM) devotes

 

20 hours to paid programming

48 hours to movies

2.5 hours to suspense anthology shows

.5 hours to educational programming

9 hours to the X-Files

2 hours to anime

11 hours to reality programming

       1 hour of wrestling, 2 hours for Ripley’s (the best of the lot) 3 hours for Scare Tactics, 1 for Scariest places and the rest to my favorite oxymoron – the paranormal reality ghost hunting franchises

9 hours to dark fantasy

8 hours to paranormal fantasy

1 hour to spiritual fantasy

57 hours to SF & Marginal SF programming

 

The movies break down as:

 

4 hours of SF movies

2 hours of  Marginal SF movies

42 hours of rubbersuit monster movies

 

The 57 hours of SF programming breaks down as:

 

9 hours of  The Outer Limits

4 hours of Star Trek

17 hours of Star Gate franchises

8 hours of Jake 2.0

1 hour of Charlie Jade

4 hours of Eureka

4 hours of Jeremiah

8 hours of Jericho

1 hour of Doctor Who

1 hour of Battlestar Galactica

 

If we aggregate the anime, the movies and the shows, (that are at least marginally SF) we end up with

 

65 hours of Science Fictional programming.

 

Why is X-Files not SF?  Here’s the X-planation:  the show is a police procedural that deals with a variety of subjects – paranormal, myth, urban legend, ufology, conspiracy, etc.  Some of the trappings are sometimes SF, but the show itself is not.

 

Ripley’s Believe It or Not is an early precursor of the reality show.

 

Tales From the Dark Side is a Night Gallery/Twilight Zone anthology show also-ran, with often low-quality production – not one of the best of the lot.  Again, sometimes SF plots/themes, but more often than not, suspense, paranormal & etc.

 

You can probably figure out that I don’t think that someone gaining ‘extra-powers’ necessarily falls into the SF definition, nor do tales of someone who talks to spiritual beings – that’s something for CBN, but then they’ve probably got enough of that going on ‘for real’ over there not to need a ‘fictional’ account of the same thing.

 

I’m being generous with some of the shows I classed as SF – Jericho chief among them.  Sorry.  I saw parts of one episode once and it sucks.  The logic of the scenes I watched was so poor that I can only give them marginal credit because it’s a post-apocalyptic tale.

 

Charlie Jade – never saw it.  The Wiki description – cop trapped in a parallel world – almost sounds like Piper’s Paratime concept.  I’ll give it a nod cause Wiki says it is SF.  (Thin ice, I know, but…)

 

Jeremiah – more post-apocalyptic stuff.  Like a stretching out of the Miri episode of Star Trek, TOS:  all the grups are dead.  “Bonk Bonk on the head, bonk bonk!”  Meh.

 

(Producers like post-apocalyptic tales:  hardly any budget needed for costumes, CGI or sets.  Just find a junkyard, lay out some smoke pots and – viola!  The Earth After Whatever…)

 

I’ll be nice and admit that Star Trek: TNG, the Star Gate spinoffs, Outer Limits and etc ARE SF. 

 

So, for the week of August 10^th, 2008

 

Skiffy Tube™’s SFPR 38.69% (Science Fiction Purity Rating)

 

Hey, at least AMC gets it right a heck of a lot more than that:  when they label something SciFi, I’ll bet they’re on the mark at least 75% of the time.  (So now AMC can tell SFC they’re TWICE as pure!)

 

For those of you who like the math done for you:

 

20 hours of paid programming                            11.9%

48 hours of movies                                             28.5%

2.5 hours of suspense anthology shows                 1.4%

.5 hours educational programming                           .02%

9 hours of the X-files                                            5.3%

2 hours of anime                                                   1.1%

11 hours of reality programming                            6.5%

9 hours of dark fantasy                                         5.3%

8 hours of paranormal fantasy                               4.7%

1 hour of spiritual fantasy                                        .05%

57 hours of SF & Marginal SF programming       33.9%

 

 

8% of the movies are SF

4% of the movies are marginal SF

 

And, just to put a fine point on things -

 

111 hours devoted to non-SF programming

  57 hours devoted to SF programming

 

or

 

ONLY 57 hours devoted to SF programming

and 111 hours devoted to other shit stuff.

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AMC to the Rescue?

According to various blog reports the folks at AMCseem to have recognized that SkiffyTube(R) is no longer targeting the key ‘geeky young guy’ demographic.

Charlie Collier, AMC’s general manager, either thinks like I do or he reads the blog.  He wants to “mine” classic shows and movies for possible remakes, hoping to appeal to the fans who are in their 40s and 50s.

About frakkin time!

Someone in cablevisionland finally woke up to the fact that: 40 & 50 year olds (generally) have money, most of ‘em grew up on TVand a whole shitload (official measurement according to the US Dept. of Weights and Measures) get off on some kind of science fiction.

That’s right. Science Fiction.  NOT Nazi Werewolves versus the Giant Alligator from Planet Redneck.

They’ve also not missed the obvious fact that SkiffyTube(R) – aka the SciFi Channel – has abandoned that demographic in favor of Inbred Nazi Werewolves from the Redneck Planet.  (Although to be fair, inbreeding for werewolves might actually be a good thing.)

AMC is producing a remake of Patrick McGoohan’s cult classic The Prisoner.  From the buzz I’m hearing, they’re going to do it proper justice. Although the proof will be in the pudding, I’m rooting for ‘em. 

Collier seems to be looking for other classics that AMC can give the same treatment to.  I have a strong suggestion to offer.

Before you go and remake a classic, find out if your core audience prefers a remake, the original, or maybe even both.  Give some strong and serious thought towards EMBRACING a comparison between the old and the new.  Have your cake and eat it too.

As one (vocal) member of the fifty year olds who grew up on SF on television and in the theater, I know I cast a jaundiced eye towards any redo I’m offered. I know I watch in horror and pain when some smartypants director or script writer thinks they’re capable of improving on the original and fucks the entire thing up by failing to have understood not just the original message/plot/characters, but the zeitgeist of the era that produced it as well.

Its admittedly pretty hard to get the feel for a 50s era film if you’ve never been instructed to hide under a school desk in the event of nuclear attack.  Its impossible to know what it was like to watch a space flick before man had landed on the moon.

Which is one of the major reasons that I think that so many re-makes have failed to hit the mark, at least in my estimation.  To provide a recent example – I’d MUCH rather sit down and watch Heston’s Omega Man than Smith’s I Am Legend.

What I WILL happily do is watch both back to back, with Vincent Price’s Last Man on Earth thrown in for good measure.  I’ll spend the entire 6+ hours explaining to my friends exactly how and why LMOE is the closest to Matheson’s story, OM is a good update and strikes the right balance and IAL sucks on so many levels that the real tragedy is that its the only one of the three that shares Matheson’s title.

As far as the broadcaster is concerned, it doesn’t really matter why I’m watching now, does it? I’m watching. Nielsen can tell I’m watching and they can tell the advertiser’s that I’m watching. That’s all that really counts.

Now, when it comes to The Prisoner, I really have my doubts as to whether anyone can improve on the original.  McGoohan was made for the role – or rather, he made the role for himself. No other actor can say that.

The vaguely displayed technology of the original was pretty far-out for the time. Nowadays its standard government operating procedure for ordinary citizens, let alone retired secret agents.

The zeitgeist of the time was one of ultra-paranoia (pretty darned close to now) coupled with a sense that the old order was about to be overthrown and replaced with – what? Flowerpower? Anarchism? Communism?  No one knew.  The latter is going to be very hard to capture and translate for a different era.

But I’ll tell you what, AMC.  If you broadcast the original show before of after your remake – I promise I’ll watch both. I’ll even watch the redo with an open mind and anticipatory heart.

On the other hand, if all you offer up is the new version, I might remember to schedule watching the first episode .  After that its all up to how badly I think you’ve screwed with the original.  But if you give me both, I’ll have a reason to stick around.

AMC has a good chance here to eclipse SkiffyTube(R) and make the SICs over there regret ever having coined their new mantra, because all you’ll be hearing around their offices will be people saying “What If we had stuck with science fiction? What If we had realized our audience was already more than just geeky young guys? What If we hadn’t been such idiots?”

AMC has a hot, successful head of programming in Collier, a wide open field, some good connections to the existing SF community (Scalzi’s blog for one) and they’ve demonstrated with this move that they’re paying attention to what’s going on.

Just remember AMC – let us have our cake and eat it too!

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Bad SciFi Returns The Favor

Heckler and Kochk’s blog has now mentioned me twice, so its time to return the favor.

These blokes like bad scifi – and that’s good.  (Although its bad that they can’t see all of the shows on TCSFC.  Boo. Hiss.)

I commented on their comments that referenced my comments on John Scalzi’s comments on his AMC entry about Classic SF.  You know, the one where John says that classic does not necessarily mean good.

I’ve never pretended that there’s a direct correlation between good and classic, and neither do Heckler and Kochk.

The bad news for folks who enjoy bad scifi is that there’s not all that much bad scifi out there.  Not after you pull out all of the horror movies, monster movies, fantasy movies, westerns masquerading as SF, thrillers masquerading as SF, porn masquerading as SF and mysteries masquerading as SF. What remains, however, is quality bad SF.  Personally, I’d rather have quality over quantity. 

When I’m in a masochistic mood, I want it to hurt real good.

Oh and btw, H&K.  I’ve added you to my blogroll and I’m waiting…

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John Scalzi Talks Old (Bad) SF Flicks

John Scalzi recently landed a blog on AMC.  This past week’s column was on the lack of good SF film and paranthetically why bad SF films attain such high regard – at least in Hollywood.

My comment on the column is the third one down.  I’ll have more riffing on this subject later today.

The column is also going to be linked to on FARK

The biggest point I’m going to make is that I was very careful to note that the content on TCSF did not equal good just because it was linked.

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