Syfy cancels Alphas so it can shove ghosts into more popular reality show templates

Alphas was a bit off-brand for Syfy, in that it was mostly a superhero procedural, but it carried dark hints of the sort of strain these people went through because of their powers. As such, it was a darker show than the ones Syfy likes to greenlight, and it always fit uneasily alongside Warehouse 13, Eureka, and Haven, all of which take poppier approaches to sci-fi subject matter. It was, in some ways, a bit of a throwback for the channel to its salad days when it attempted to put largely serious (at least for television) science fiction on the air. The height of that period was probably the first few seasons of Battlestar Galactica, when it seemed as if the channel might actually become a home for more serious, darker sci-fi. Instead, Eureka became a bigger hit and was easier to clone, the Sci-Fi Channel became Syfy, and here we are.

Of course, all of this is neither here nor there, because the channel’s real successes have come from taking a reality show premise, then sticking ghosts in it somewhere. If last night’s debut for Ghost Mine was successful, assume you’ll very soon be seeing Haunted Castaways, The Ghost Race, and Ghosts That Can Sing. Alphas, meanwhile, is available on streaming services, and the second season will join the first there at some point, one assumes.