Is it just me, or has Syfy been on a roll lately?
Let’s recap some of the more recent triumphs: They have rolled out an array of critically-acclaimed, originally scripted dramas, from Caprica (come back soon!) to Haven to Stargate Universe. They’ve announced an ambitious new slate of reality programming – reality TV shows that I might actually watch, about all things paranormal. Even a cooking show – focusing on the science of molecular gastronomy. Take that Gordon Ramsay.
In addition to ALL of this, they have maintained the consistent high quality of their bona fide hits. We’re talking Eureka. And Warehouse 13. And there’s talk of even more Battlestar Galactica spinoffs to boot.
And we haven’t even touched on the Saturday night monster mashups. Hello Dinoshark! (They’re actually going to have a big screening of one of these monster deals at Comic-Con, and mark my words: It’ll be one of the busiest nighttime events at the fest.) They’ve rediscovered their love of B-movies.
So I don’t know what kind of caffeine they’re giving their employees, but just a couple hours ago they took the mania a step further, rolling out a whole new relaunch of their web site. Goodbye Sci Fi Wire, hello Blastr.com. The goal is to move beyond being simply a news site – to become a daily “curated smorgasboard” of features, popular science, and guest bloggers.
Think of it as a more balanced approach to both sci and fi. We’re talking guest writers like Jewel Staite from Firefly and Stargate: Atlantis and perma-blogger Phil Plait, the renowned astronomer and Discovery Magazine writer.
For those who want to know more about what’s going on behind closed doors at the network, they’re going to have a series of in-depth popular-trend features, like “remake tracker,” which keeps track of all the sci-fi remakes out there that are in the midst of production. Even Syfy exec Craig Engler will be giving the dish on what’s going on with various Syfy series, where production stands, and will answer fan’s questions.
We’re hoping to talk to Syfy more about this – as well as plenty of other juicy news – next week at Comic-Con, but for now, we just wanted to tell you about the latest way the network is letting its geek flag fly, giving us yet another outlet to waste countless hours – debating BSG trivia, brainstorming B-movie monsters, and generally reliving the glory of all things Star Wars to Star Trek.
It’s kind of pathetic how much I love their stuff.