The Science Channel recently concluded the re-running of Stephen Hawking’s Sci Fi Masters and this week it will finish the its home grown Prophets of Science Fiction.  This has made me realize that over the last year or so, I’ve watched Science Channel a lot more than I’ve watched Syfy. And this makes me curious as to why? Is Science Channel a better TV network for science fiction than SyFy right now?

 Syfy shows a lot more science fiction overall (repeats of Twilight Zone and Battlestar Galactica) and does a lot more original programming. But a lot of their original movies and TV shows are pretty poorly done (and many would strain to be called science fiction). So, I find myself disappointed by SyFy a lot. I know that with a basic cable budget, we’re not going to get top notch special effects, but it seems like they have trouble with character based shows (and I had high hopes for Caprica and Stargate Universe). But this seems like a bigger, overall issue of science fiction not surviving on TV at all. The only SyFy show I’ve really enjoyed lately has been Alphas (although I have heard good things about Eureka).

The Science Channel hasn’t gotten into original fiction as they mainly focus on fiction repeats and science (and science fiction) documentaries. But they’ve moved more towards science fiction recently (starting with the Firefly reruns) and I’m curious what they’re ultimate goal is.

Overall, SyFy is still the place to go for Science Fiction, but depending on what the Science Channel has planned, I could see this changing.