SyFi Channel Screws Its Core Audience Again With More Crappy “Original” Shows!

My friend Bruce sent me a press release from the SyFi Channel (possibly the worst name… too many people to count have pointed out to me that they might as well have named it “The SyFilis” Channel” Get it? a play on syphilis) and I laughed at it and thought it was a joke press release because it was so ridiculous.

It was real.

I looked around and found it posted at TV By The Numbers and no matter how you can’t believe it, believe it.

Now, I don’t put anything past the network that for years and years has been pissing on its fanbase by killing good shows and replacing them with absolute crap. The list of fantastic dead shows is like a graveyard but that is another post… a very long post about the crimes against their fanbase.  Today we talk about future crimes— and you won’t believe them.

I can’t even bring myself to comment on such a crappy looking group of shows that includes a rip off of the Bruce Campbell film “My Name Is Bruce” starring Kevin Sorbo (Who, by the way, is a really funny and nice dude in person but this show description says “shitty rip-off”).

Except for SHERWOOD. If for no other reason then Amanda Tapping is attached in some way to the show it will be good.

Oh, and why are the majority of these “half hour single camera” shows?  Half hour?  Oh, I’m sorry— that’s so they can fit in more episodes of GHOST HUNTERS.

Here’s the press release, have at it with the comments:

SYFY’S ROBUST SCRIPTED DEVELOPMENT SLATE FEATURES PROJECTS FROM KEVIN SORBO, LEE MAJORS, SANCTUARY CREATIVE TEAM AND UNIVERSAL CABLE PRODUCTIONS

Los Angeles, California – July 30, 2010 – Building upon solid ratings and critical acclaim for returning hits Warehouse 13 and Eureka, and newcomer Haven, Syfy today announced a rich development slate of seven scripted projects featuring television icons Lee Majors and Kevin Sorbo; the Sanctuary creative team of Damian Kindler, Martin Wood and Amanda Tapping; a swashbuckling space opera and an alien version of The Office from Universal Cable Productions plus a single camera 1/2-hour about fighting zombies and a dramedy featuring supernatural villains.

In making the announcement, Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Programming, Syfy, and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions, said: “One of our key agendas is to continue the extraordinary growth and momentum of our popular dramas. Through partnerships with these formidable talents, in front of and behind the camera, we hope to expand our powerful brand by offering our viewers an imaginative next generation of programming.”

BALL & CHAIN

After months of emotional tumult, Edgar and Mallory call their relationship quits. As they say their final goodbyes, the ex-lovers are nearly hit by a meteorite that, it turns out, imbues them with extraordinary powers. Unfortunately, the powers only work when they are in close proximity to each other. Though the last thing they want to do is stay together, they’ll need to try if they hope to overcome the newly arrived other-worldly forces that threaten to destroy them and anyone else who gets in the way.

Executive Producers: Bob Cooper and J.J. Jamieson for Landscape Entertainment

Executive Producer/Writer: Andrew Miller

Studios: A Universal Cable Productions/Fremantle Media co-production

ME AND LEE

In this 1/2-hour single-camera series, a down-on-his-luck 20-something undergoes back surgery, only to find that the procedure did not go well. Enter Lee Majors, who claims he has the perfect solution. He entices the young man into his ultra high-tech lab and makes him bionic. Now intrinsically bound together, Majors tries helping his new partner get his life back on track.

Executive Producers/Writers: Matthew Salzberg and Jenji Kohan

Executive Producer: Steven Pearl

Studio: Lionsgate

ORION

National Treasure meets Firefly in this swashbuckling space opera about an adventurous female relic hunter and her team as they hunt down — and sometimes steal — valuable and powerful objects to sell on the black market, all while staying one step ahead of the bounty hunters hot on their heels.

Co-Executive Producers/Writers: Dirk Blackman & Howard McCain

Co-Executive Producers: George Krstic & Ryuhei Kitamura

Supervising Producer: F.J. Desanto

Studio: Universal Cable Productions

SHERWOOD

In this “Robin Hood” story for the 23rd century, a young man of privilege teams up with a misfit spaceship crew to right the wrongs of his family.

Writer: Damian Kindler

Executive Producers: Damian Kindler, Martin Wood, and Amanda Tapping for

My Plastic Badgers Productions

LEGENDARY

A 1/2-hour single-camera series in which Kevin Sorbo plays an exaggerated version of himself… a former syndicated television series star. When a fan approaches Sorbo to enlist his skills in combating the underworld mythological creatures that threaten to destroy Los Angeles, an unlikely partnership is formed. Together, they use their intimate knowledge of the myths of Hercules to defeat a myriad of beasts.

Executive Producer: David Eick

Supervising Producers/Writers: Adam Karp & Royal McGraw

Producer: Kevin Sorbo

Studio: Universal Cable Productions

HUMAN RELATIONS

The Office meets Men in Black in this project featuring an office Temp who slowly discovers that his off-kilter and odd-ball bosses at the strange hi-tech “ad agency” where he works are really aliens working on a plan to destroy the Earth.

Co-Executive Producer/Writer: Scott Prendergast

Executive Producers: Michael Rotenberg and Tom Lassally for 3 Arts

Executive Producers: John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky for Ternion

Studio: Universal Cable Productions

ZEROS

In this 1/2-hour single-camera satire, when the zombie population of Marshall City overcomes the 30-foot barrier separating the infected people from the rest of the city, the Zombie Extermination and Removal Operations company (the Zeros) are called in to keep the peace. When they can get out of their own way long enough to focus on a case, they are pretty effective with very unorthodox methods.

Executive Producers: David Kenin and Steve Brenner

Co-Executive Producers: Chris Provost & Dave Hales

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 96 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.