Going After Sci-Fi With Torches...

This is my third Stargate post of the day. That fact might make me slightly more geeky than I had thought.

I ventured onto the internet this afternoon to see what was being said about my fav geeky show and its new little sibling... and I was reminded of why I stay away from message boards, online communities, etc... because:

MAN, ARE PEOPLE ANGRY!!!

There's a group of people that are convinced that since Stargate: Universe is going to be geared at a bit of a younger audience that, somehow, the producers/network/whoever else they can peg have said that they're too old for Stargate. They do raise some good points... like the fact that people with more $$ are usually the people who buy the DVDs and they're usually older... but basically, they're nuts. Nowhere did anyone say that they were too old to like Stargate. It's insane.

There's a group of people who are convinced that Atlantis was canceled to make room for the new series. Now... this argument might have a bit more weight... but, then again, even if that was the case, who cares?

There's the general criers... who are starting 'save our Atlantis' campaigns while crying their little eyes out and swamping some Sci-Fi executive's email with spam.

Mostly though, I was surprised at the hatred towards Stargate: Universe. I mean, no one even knows all that much about it yet! It doesn't even have a cast!

This is what sets sci-fi fans apart from regular fans and it's the reason that network execs, producers and writers need to be very careful. If a CSI viewer doesn't like changes being made, I doubt they'll ban CSI and go nutso over the changes. They'll probably tune in over the next couple weeks, and after reacting like rational adults and giving the changes a chance, they'll either decide to stop watching or they'll decide to continue watching with little fanfair. This is not true when it comes to sci fi.

I've always found the sci-fi community to be very interesting. I keep trying to understand what makes them tick... what makes them attend conventions dressed like klingons, write nasty letters to sci-fi execs, bash changes to shows, start 'save our...' campaigns (such as Save Daniel Jackson and Save Carson Beckett), etc. I once almost emailed one of these campaigns years ago to explain why their plan would never work (legal issues surrounding the show) when I realized that they don't care. They don't care that it won't work. They don't care that it's legally impossible. They just want to do something.

There are drawbacks to sci-fi fans. The emails. The peanuts. But then again... they are so dedicated that it's amazing. I bet that the 'normal' shows on TV would love to have such a huge fan base that will buy whatever you put out, watch every single episodes, attend conventions, etc.

So... although sci-fi fans are nuts... in this age of changing TV, maybe execs should be looking at what makes them tick and try to at least somewhat replicate it in mainstream TV. To be honest, I'm not sure it can be done... since the average House viewer is just a tad more sane than the dude who has his apartment made up to look like the bridge of the Enterprise (TNG edition, of course)... but it would be worth a try, don't you think?