It’s hard to believe that Sharknado and Battlestar Galactica, influential science fiction series and arguably one of the greatest TV shows of the 2000s, were created for and aired by the same channel. Of course, when Battlestar Galactica was airing the channel was named Sci-Fi Channel. In July 2009, barely four months after the landmark series ended, the channel rebranded in an attempt to widen its audience and renamed itself SyFy.

Infamously so. It’s been five years, and I still cringe at that spelling.

Since its rebranding, the channel slipped away from its roots as a channel for science fiction, fantasy, and horror and managed to build itself a reputation of creating B-movies where the true source of horror lies in the miserly low production values. My favorites, and I use the word bitterly, are Sharktopus and Sharknado. Though the channel aired these kinds of movies since 2001, their presence has become glaringly noticeable in the absence of quality programming.

But there is hope yet. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter (THR) in March, network president Dave Howe said he is attempting to return to the network’s roots: “We want to be the best science-fiction channel that we possibly can, and in some respects, that means going back to the more traditional sci-fi/fantasy that fans often say they feel we’ve exited. We’re going to occupy that space in a way we haven’t for the past few years.” THR relayed that Bill McGoldrick, executive vice president of original content, has two goals: “greenlight a space opera a la Battlestar [Galactica] and usher the network back into the golden age of high-profile, big-budget miniseries now duplicated by so many of its competitors.

The renewal of Defiance, which premiered last year and has been described as standing at the corner of Firefly and Battlestar, and the debut of Helix, by Battlestar’s co-creator Ron Moore, were seen as steps toward this. Shortly after Howe’s statement to THR, the channel also green-lit the miniseries Ascension, described as Battlestar meets Downton Abbey, and the series is set to debut November 24 this year.

But Syfy is still making valiant efforts in regaining its lost reputation. Recently in network news, SyFy released its first official teaser trailer for 12 Monkeys, a television series based on the 1995 sci-fi film. Childhood’s End, based on the novel by famed sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, was green-lit as a miniseries earlier this month; it is described by Howe as the network’s most ambitious project in years. Both are set to premiere next year. Though these, like many other series currently in production for the network, are adaptations of already popular science fiction works, maybe drawing on classics is the best way for the network to return to its glory days of programming. However, though most of its efforts seem to currently be in adaptation, the network has been interested in original content, as evidenced by its green-lighting of space adventure miniseries Killjoys and its recent airing of High Moon. As the latest in original content from the channel, High Moon may be an indicator of what we can expect. Though the reviews have been mixed, it has been praised for attempting to bring fun and heart back into science fiction, and that is something SyFy may do well to pursue in the future.

Though one can argue that this isn’t necessarily an increase in the amount of science fiction programming on the channel, it is a clear attempt to provide quality science fiction programming as it has done in the past. With its aggressive taking on of scripted drama, I remain optimistic, even in the face of Sharknado 3 rumors.