Comments on: Thoughts and Impressions – SyFy Rebranding and Warehouse 13

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:36:03 +0000

Any reality TV show where they "see" "ghosts" is about the dumbest thing ever. The whole alure of a ghost is to experience it, at least that's what I've learned from Ghostbusters, Poltergeist, etc. I've seen more convincing acting on Real World than the "Ghost Hunters" pull off. The show is as close as it gets these days to snake oil salesmen…Sadly, I don't see them dropping ECW because (as I was notified while flipping through channels the other night) ECW was the most watched show on SyFy this week for like the 40th straight week.

By: We Fly Spitfires

We Fly Spitfires — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:15:34 +0000

The sci-fi channel in the UK (no idea if it's getting rebranded to SyFy) isn't great. They only seem to show re-runs of older shows. Sky One is the main cable channel here for US TV shows and they tend to get everything before everyone else.

By: Beej

Beej — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:04:05 +0000

GH does fit well on the channel; I'm just biased against it because I would much rather have a scripted series exploring those same things than a "reality" show. I can't get into the GH series, but it does indeed fit the "paranormal" theme that SyFy is going for. I just don't like the show.

Yeah, the relationship did develop quickly, but I'm okay with that given that the show was never meant (as fas as I'm aware anyway) to be BSG or LOST deep regarding characterization. I'm sure they'll have their ups and downs which retread ground gained in the pilot as the series wears on.

2-4 episodes is generally my "I'm staying" threshold, so I think you're right. Tricia Helfer being there will help, as will added exposition as to exactly what is going on. They've done a good job of setting it up, now if they can follow through with the mythos, I'll be completely sold.

By: pasmith

pasmith — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:53:35 +0000

I'm going to forgive you for suggesting they dump Ghost Hunters. We love that show (the original more than GHI) and I think it fits pretty well on the channel. Agree with you re: ECW though. I have no idea how wrestling fits into the sci-fi theme, no matter how broadly you interpret it.

On to Warehouse 13 — We really enjoyed it, but we went in with very, very low expectations. I've enjoyed the dude that play Artie (Saul Rubinek, or something?) ever since seeing him as a rare item collector in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He definitely seems to be typecast as the eccentric expert at something.

For a pilot, I thought the chemistry between the leads was pretty good, but their relationship seemed to develop *very* quickly from her having zero respect for him, to her accepting him and his hunches. But maybe that's a good thing. By the end of X-Files Scully just seemed kind of dumb in the way she refused to acknowledge weird things were happening.

The back and forth between funny stuff and pretty dark stuff kept me off balance and I appreciated that. "You open it. I don't need another ferret or whatever…" cracked me up, and at the same time one death scene was fairly horrific (IMO at least).

Having Tricia Helfer guest star in episode two will hopefully bring back geeks on the fence, and maybe 2 eps will be enough to get them to stay. We're staying.

Oh, and according to IMDB, this is the first tv acting gig for the actor who plays Pete. He had a bit of a David Boreanaz vibe, I thought. Hopefully that's natural, because if he's faking it, it could get awkward.