The best show on SyFy is.......... BLOOD DRIVE!!!

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I'm binge watching Blood Drive now and this show is so much better than it has any right to be. Everything about it is ridiculous while it mishmashes so many different "genres" that it just shouldn't work, every episode is pretty much a different exploitation genre. The closest thing I can compare it to is the movie Doomsday that was about 3 different genres.

Anyways, the gist is in the distant future of 1999 (yes, 1999) the United States opened up in the Midwest due to earthquakes caused by fracking. Gas is super expensive and cars now run on BLOOD in which you can stuff a person in your engine to get sliced and diced into fuel. And, of course, there's a race across the country that a character needs to win for the money to help her sister. So far the most hilarious thing has been a sexbot becoming "human" because she "orgasmed" due to a kernel boot error.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Wait, was that Thad Castle?

So that's what happened to him when the genie refused my wish of a Booster Gold movie.

Anyway... looks pretty neat. Probably the first thing I've seen in a while that made me wish I had cable. Hopefully it drops on Prime/Netflix at some point.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

That looks and sounds deliciously schlocky. May give it a spin.

 

[Hawki]

Joke's on you, it's been cancelled after one season.

 

[Laughing Man]

Not seen the last episode so far but I am still blown away by the fact that this guy

Spoiler

is being played by the same person that played this guy

Spoiler

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I kinda love this show, the only one I was actively following other than Twin Peaks. It appeals to my sense of humour and I like the way it looks. I have a major thing for depictions of sleazy, backwater americana, gore and not quite post-apocalyptic dystopias. It hits a lot of the right notes for me.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I know nothing about this show, but I just have to ask... with as much schlock as Sy-Fy has pumped out, how high is the phrase "best show" raising the bar?

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Joke's on you, it's been cancelled after one season.

The last episode wrapped up things pretty well even though it ends with a lead-in for more, but pretty much all the characters arcs were finished. It doesn't seem like a show that can really go on for seasons due to its structure. If anything, it would sorta have to be like an American Horror Story where each season is standalone.

I know nothing about this show, but I just have to ask... with as much schlock as Sy-Fy has pumped out, how high is the phrase "best show" raising the bar?

That's pretty accurate. Although, Blood Drive is pure schlock and great schlock and it revels in it. It seems like SyFy is trying to right the ship as their latest shows like Expanse, Killjoys, etc. are definitely trying to be legit good. It hasn't been since BSG (only the 1st 2 seasons) that I've really enjoyed a SyFy show.

 

[FalloutJack]

Any REAL good show will find itself off of that channel, in future.

 

[Robert B. Marks]

My wife and I watched the first two or three episodes, and, frankly, it didn't grab us past that. One of the problems we had was that the two main characters were easily the least interesting ones in the entire show - on the other hand, we could have watched the lunatic in the top hat for hours (that guy could make waiting in line for a hamburger insanely entertaining).

But, it really felt like something that could be maintained, Death Race 2000-like, over the course of a 90-120 minute movie quite well, but began to get old and worn out the longer it went. Your mileage may (and probably will) vary.

 

[DefunctTheory]

One of the problems we had was that the two main characters were easily the least interesting ones in the entire show - on the other hand, we could have watched the lunatic in the top hat for hours (that guy could make waiting in line for a hamburger insanely entertaining).

So kind of like Mad Max?

 

[crypticracer]

Joke's on you, it's been cancelled after one season.

Of course it was. This post was literally the first time i have heard about the show, and I'm a huge genre fan.

So much entertainment get's dropped by a company when it is said companies fault it failed. That seems... wrong. Maybe the show is super awful, maybe it could have been advertised out the ass, and still failed because it sucked, but in the end it seems like it failed for reasons that aren't it's own, and that's bull. The reason most of media in all mediums is dreck is because so much of what remains is based on chance and lowest common denominator attention grabs.

There isn't even any reason to try and make a quality product when quality has no baring on whether a show succeeds.

Seriously, why do networks even try? Even the big three, try and bring out creative new shows, but they have to know that for what they require to keep those around, they may as well just make five more CSIs. I mean, it's boggling to me. Do they care about having quality content or viewers? Obviously they need some degree of viewers, but if Law and Order brings them in, then why cant you also continue to make a quality show like Hannibal, even if it doesn't? Why can't both be and option?

 

[crypticracer]

Here I am posting again after just posting, but I think it's relevant. (It might not be, feel free to correct me.)

How do networks expect you to buy into a show if they don't show a commitment to supporting it? Why should I check out the new syfy show and perhaps fall in love with it, when I know that for the most part only the cheap generic crap will stick around. (This sometimes works out when I enjoy the cheap generic crap.) It is self defeating. A show needs viewers to stick around, but I only want to be a viewer if It will stick around.

Maybe, and here's a thought, the networks should only make shows they can be proud of, whether they are successful or not. Maybe, don't get into the tv business if you don't actually want to make good tv. If all you care about are profits, then go rob someones house or something. There is a point where a product is such a failure that it is actually hurting the network, and at that point, then yeah, you may not have the actual option to keep it around, but otherwise, show some support.

At least Syfy let's show finish out their seasons.

Anyway apologies for the spiel, it was just nice to rant for once, without it being directed against anyone in particular. Now I am going to go and binge this show, because it is Friday and I have a whole weekend.

 

[DefunctTheory]

How do networks expect you to buy into a show if they don't show a commitment to supporting it?

Well, what else are you going to watch?

Unrelated, I think more networks should start following Amazon's example and start doing 'pilot season,' where they show a bunch of pilots to the viewership and ask them which ones they'd like to see. Networks already order pilots, why not put them on the air (Or on the internet) and let people decide what should be put on air, rather than executives? It seems to work well for Amazon - Pretty much every series that's passed through the pilot program and gets a full series has been re-upped for additional seasons, and they're all extremely well regarded (The Tick is a recent favorite of mine).

 

[Laughing Man]

Joke's on you, it's been cancelled after one season.

Wasn't expecting it to last more than a season or two anyway, the premise i.e people getting fed in to blood fuelled cars so that they can take part in a race with the loser of each stage getting killed actually got sided lined in to being a back story after the fourth or fifth episode, most of the other competitors were gone after the sixth or seventh episode.

The race was being used as a drive to have them introduce a new form of shlock in a new location each and every week, they stopped showing people getting fed in in to cars after the third or fourth so really their was only so many episodes they could keep doing this for. They pretty much rounded out one of the main characters story arcs half way through the season and as far as I can see have left the other mains arc open up until the last episode (still haven't seen it yet so don't know if they will round it out.)

The two most interesting characters are not the two main characters which means that a lot of the interest, at least for me, is being generated by Julian Slink and Aki

Slink looks like he has a back story that could be interesting, and again as someone else said this guy could make waiting in a bank queue interesting, however his backstory may get wrapped in the last episode, but his role works because he is a secondary, if he was a main character I believe he would get quite tiresome quite quickly

Aki's arc looks to have been pretty much rounded out by the second last episode but again she could pull some sort of reset, since she's a robot, that sets things back to zero

I just hope that the last episode doesn't leave any really big questions hanging or worse suddenly introduce some new element out of no where that suddenly changes everything and we will never get a resolution too.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Why doesn't the Syfy channel have Star Trek TV series in their programming?

 

[Hawki]

Why doesn't the Syfy channel have Star Trek TV series in their programming?

If I had to guess, it's to do with rights issues.

Star Trek rights are iffy right now. From what I understand, Paramount has the rights to make films, but only set in the Kelvinverse. CBS has the rights to the TV series. Maybe they could air them on SyFy, but Discovery would be a draw for CBS All Access, and unlike the majority of sci-fi, Star Trek isn't a niche IP.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Why doesn't the Syfy channel have Star Trek TV series in their programming?

1. Another broadcast company owns them
2. That broadcast company airs the originals on public television (One of the weird 'Oldies' channels that they own)
3. They cost an absolute fortune

 

[Robert B. Marks]

One of the problems we had was that the two main characters were easily the least interesting ones in the entire show - on the other hand, we could have watched the lunatic in the top hat for hours (that guy could make waiting in line for a hamburger insanely entertaining).

So kind of like Mad Max?

Somewhat, although Max is a broken person who is at least SOME level of interesting.

But, yeah, I would say the main difference is that a Mad Max movie only asks you to stick around for two hours - it doesn't try to make a TV series out of it.

 

[Zontar]

We lost Dark Matter for this?

And here I thought Syfy was coming back from a half decade of disaster.