This site provides links to legally available streaming videos of SF shows. Not all of them are great, or even good in my opinion, but that's not the point. The point is that they are at least minimally true representations of the genre, something that I believe should be revered and preserved. At the very least, each of these shows contributed in some small way to getting us where we are today.

I've linked the site to my blog - The Crotchety Old Fan.

SFReader.com has established a forum for the site. I welcome any and all contributions, suggestions and participation.

The video and audio links are via www.Hulu.com, www.InternetArchive.org, CBS.com and www.LikeTelevision.com. Newly added is www.ClassicCinemaOnline.com.Text links are via www.Gutenberg.org (the Project Gutenberg Project).

The original screed starts here:

THE SCREED
or
Why Redefining Science Fiction as 'What If?' is the most idiotic, moronic, lame-brained, ill-considered, ignorant, wrong-headed, 'congratulations, you've just won a Darwin Award, why are you still alive?', stupidest idea ever conceived of by man
or
How To Destroy Your Audience by Insulting Them To Their Faces

When you want something done right, do it yourself. Right?

I've been very disappointed by the so-called SciFi Channel since its inception. Like many others, I believed that I'd be able to tune in and regularly catch repeats of classic shows, great classic movies, some SF oriented 'made-for' content (coverage of conventions, literature, authors, etc) and maybe some original movies or series, carefully chosen to insure the preservation of the genre and treat it in a positive, perhaps even marginally experimental, way.

You can probably guess that's not what I got.

Until recently I was able to ignore the abortion that called itself 'The SciFi Channel'. At least they were using the less respectable 'Skiffy' abbreviation to identify themselves (no insult intended at all towards Mr. Ackerman who coined the phrase: maybe they ought to put him in charge...). But no longer. A few short weeks ago the Suits-In-Charge (SIC) decided that their channel needed to reach an audience wider than the 'geeky young guys' that science fiction appeals to (their definition of the market, not mine) and so they've unilaterally decided to expand the definition. Now, according to these self-proclaimed scions of the genre, the defintion of SF has been reduced to the all encompassing "What If?"                                       

And somehow, 'What If?' includes professional wrestling and paranormal reality shows. (Paranormal reality!? Shoot me now, please!) (What if idiots from another galaxy traveled through a wormhole and seized control of all of our television programming?)

Not that I haven't given SFC a shot. I've dutifully tuned in for almost every new series and have at least started to watch their 'made-for-television' in-house fare. To tell the truth, sometimes the stories themselves haven't been all that bad, but SFC seems to be plagued by the curse of the B-Actors. (I'd rather they went the original Doctor Who route - good actors, minimal budget for effects. See, science fiction fans are used to making pictures inside their heads. They don't need to be shown everything. A hint, a mere suggestion, is often more than enough.)

Oh yes, I know Battlestar Galactica has been a huge success, a phenomena. One that's now starting to confuse and disappoint even its biggest fans. Why? I think its easy to explain: once you replace 'good guys and bad guys' with tens of characters, all of whom have conflicted emotions, there can never be any really satisfactory resolution. Instead of telling a story, you end up mired in detailed characterizations. Too much detail for a late-arriving viewer to be able to pick up on mid-stream. Too much interpersonal BS for anyone to care about any of it over the long haul. Great concept, reduced to little more than office gossip around the water cooler.

But enough of my personal biases. Suffice it to say that I've not been happy with the fare that's offered on SFC. I believe that there's room for yet another cable channel, one devoted to Classic Science Fiction. One that adheres closely to the traditional definitions of science fiction (and ok, fantasy as well), not some bloated, meaningless catch-all.

Of course, I don't have the wherewithall to actually produce a cable channel, so I'm doing the next best thing. Numerous outlets have begun to provide streaming videos or downloads of videos and we're fortunate that many of the properties that are available just so happen to be Classic Science Fiction. Unfortunately, they're not all gathered in one easily accessible location - until now. So, welcome to the CLASSIC SCIENCE FICTION Channel, and enjoy!