Sci-Fi re-aired the bizarre, and at this point much maligned, propaganda piece Countdown to Doomsday with a new twist. First, Sunday viewers were shown an all day conspiracy-thon, then the surprisingly entertaining Spooked was shown. Then … BAM! The Earth’s going to be destroyed.

The properly prepped audience, who’ve already been shown the “reality” of warp tunnels over the everglades, UFO cover-ups, Jesus conspiracies and the like were thought to be more likely to accept the astonishing claims put forward by the program.

Claims like robots are going to take over the Earth.
Once put into its proper context, Countdown to Doomsday doesn’t come off as an alarmist pseudo-scientific fantasy made for apocalypse fetishist eager to find a reason to hide in a basement with loaded with shotguns and canned food. Of course, its proper context is following several hours of throughly debunked conspiracy theories and a knock off of The Blair Witch Project.

Maybe Sci-Fi hopes that after seeing other documentaries it was involved with for comparison, Countdown to Doomsday will seem like an episode Special Report with Brit Hume written by The Amazing Randi. On the other hand, maybe Sci-Fi’s giving a wink and a nod to all the fans who know that Doomsday, like the rest of these documentaries, was complete crap.