Boycott or

Flaming Bags of Dog Poo?

In the wake of the carnage of SyFy cancelling its two 2014 top-rated shows, many dedicated viewers are asking themselves “Should I boycott SyFy?”  They think “why should I dedicate ANY time or effort in a network that treats its shows so poorly.” It's a fair question.  I think the answer is NO, because boycotts hurt workers, not executives.

Make absolutely no mistake about it. I’m really angry (think Marvin the Martian level anger) about SyFy canceling Dominion – shocked really.  Short of having the show go way off of the rails, a decently performing sophomore show should be renewed. And, there was NOTHING wrong with Dominion’s production this year. It was undeniably superior to Season 1 in pretty much every way.  Worse, as it had virtually no reason to anticipate cancellation, Season 2 was a blast, but left us in suspense for a Season 3 that will never come (at least on SyFY).

I was happy that Dominion, Defiance and Znation were all renewed last year. And, despite its low ratings (that I frankly found somewhat unfathomable, considering the quality of that show), 12 Monkeys was renewed this spring. Then came the summer line-up. With Defiance, Dark Matter and Killjoys all starting one month earlier than Dominion, we had time to hear the happy renewal news for the two Canadian co-productions (Dark Matter and Killjoys).  So, now I was in the position of being a firm fan of Dominion, Znation, 12 Monkeys, Killjoys and Dark Matter. Then, the killing blow arrived for Dominion.

I recently wrote an open letter to SyFy in which I identified the scheduling flaws which contribute to overall ratings decline, but specifically impacted Dominion.  In it, I described that, as a viewer, I would find it very hard to commit to new shows on SyFy with the level of uncertainty in the support for its current shows. That position has solidified.  I won’t emotionally invest myself in a new SyFy show without some assurance that it will continue AND be fully supported by SyFy executives.  For example, the network should increase its convention support and cross-publicity on sister NBC Universal network channels, as well as some channels outside the parent company.

Here is why boycotts are a problem in this industry.  When SyFy cancelled Dominion, I set about sending condolence and "thank you" tweets to groups of people that I knew were connected to its production.  Included were: directors, writers, actors, photographers, musicians, editors, and armorers.  But that is the merest tip of the iceberg.  There are special effects, costumers, make-up artists, set constructionists, dressers, craft/support services, prop masters, security, accountants, and ALL of the local services which support the production.  If everyone decides RIGHT NOW to not watch the existing shows they already support and encourage a lot of other people to boycott the network, ratings will fall. ONE or more executives may or may not lose their jobs. But that’s nothing compared to the hundreds of people who did NOTHING WRONG who would be devastated by further show cancellations that would result from the reduced ratings.  

Having said this, I might still wait to watch SyFy’s newest unaired shows. But, I won’t abandon the ones I already watch. I’m still thinking of effective ways to make uncaring, incompetent executives pay for the poor decisions they’ve made.  If I come up with a brilliant plan <snort>, I’ll share.