[July 04, 2009] Watch while we call the networks names Tweet Jul 04, 2009 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Warehouse 13, a new show that launches Tuesday, should appeal to fans of Eureka, a summer fixture on the Sci-Fi Channel. Both shows are lighthearted comedy-dramas involving law-enforcement officials reluctantly taking an assignment at remote outposts where weird things happen. In Eureka's case, it's a town full of inventors whose inventions always seem to go haywire; in Warehouse 13, it's a South Dakota storage facility that houses every weird artifact and supernatural souvenir ever collected by the U.S. government. There are differences between the shows, but perhaps the biggest one is that while Eureka began on Sci-Fi, Warehouse begins on Syfy, the same network but with a new, and somewhat questionable, identity, beginning Tuesday. When Television Week first reported the name change, in March, network President Dave Howe said "Syfy" somehow sounds less geeky than "Sci-Fi." But when Sci-Fi Wire, which runs on the channel's Web site, reported the name change a little later (Howe told bloggers that SFC and Beyond were among other names considered), the comments weren't kind. ("I still say it looks like it is short for syphilis," one blogger said.) On the air, however, Syfy programming won't look that much different from Sci-Fi: Eureka will be back this Friday, and shows with such familiar-sounding titles as SGU: Stargate Universe and Caprica will join such mainstays as Ghost Hunters. To paraphrase (and butcher) Shakespeare, does that which we call a network, by any other name, smell just the same? Here are some other recent examples of "rebranding" --and a few suggestions for name changes at other networks. The CW: Not so much rebranding as a new network created from the ashes of the defunct UPN and WB networks, this still counts -- it could have kept one of the original names, after all. "CW" comes from it being a joint venture of CBS and Warner Bros. --"C" and "W," get it? Shows such as Gossip Girl have helped it establish an identity, although doubters wondered if people would think the letters stood for "country-western" or "conventional wisdom." AMC: For some networks, rebranding is simply a question of going for the acronym and ditching what it originally stood for. AMC dropped "American Movie Classics," which became harder to defend when it started airing stuff like Catwoman. Without "Movie" in the name, the network still airs a lot of movies -- but its best fare comes in the form of the original TV series Mad Men and Breaking Bad, two of the best shows of the decade. Spike: Not so much rebranding as morphing; this started life as The Nashville Network, but began steering away from country-music programming and Hee-Haw repeats to shows aimed at young men. At first, it was just TNN, but after it got past an injunction from Spike Lee, it was able to call itself Spike, which either sounds macho or reminds you of a cartoon bulldog. TruTV: The former Court TV had drifted from courtroom shows (practically their own network anyway during daytime hours on channels such as KTXA/Channel 21 and KDFI/Channel 27) in favor of more reality-oriented series such as Black Gold (about oil-field workers) and Operation Repo. There's still enough crime programming to keep the Court TV spirit alive, but the emphasis these days is on Tru -- er, true stories. Network rebranding we'd like to see: A&E: There's still plenty of entertainment on A&E, but when's the last time you encountered "arts" there? With shows such as Intervention, Obsession and the drama The Cleaner, about a guy helping people with substance-abuse problems, as well a number of reality shows about celebrities and people with odd jobs, we suggest a change to YGIR -- for "You've Got Issues. Really." MTV and VH1: Originally "Music Television" and "Video Hits 1," both networks have steered so far from music videos (although more of it exists than most people will admit) that we think video fans should start their own channel: BB80, for Bring Back the '80s. TLC: Now known for such shows as Jon & Kate Plus 8, Table for 12, 18 Kids and Counting, What Not to Wear and Overhaulin', the former Learning Channel should consider a change to M&M: Multiples and Makeovers. OK, so it also has American Chopper and Street Customs. M&M&M&M: Multiples, Makeovers, Motorcycles and Machines. Robert Philpot, 817-390-7872 To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]