Mention the decision to broadcast of pro wrestling on the SciFi Channel and the wailing and gnashing of teeth become deafening.

But there is nothing but silence for more importantly what, even this year in its annum of commemoration, cant be seen on the cable outlet: a glimpse of any permutation of the Star Trek franchise.

First, lets dispense with the silliness surrounding the move to put wrestling matches on the SciFi Channel: The Republic will survive and science fiction will endure. It is simply not the tragedy many have made it out to be.

Lets be clear: Im not a wrestling fan. I dont intend to tune in, even for a minute. I cant even tell you, off hand, which night wrestling comes on the SciFi Channel.

Putting wrestling on a scifi lineup certainly counts among the bonehead decisions in the annals of television programming. But, then, TV executives as a lot seem genetically predisposed to make bonehead decisions.

Ill go so far as to predict that within a handful of months the move likely will prove so unsuccessful, the suits will change course and pull wrestling off the SciFi Channel.

However, whether wrestling disappears within weeks or remains on the schedule for a decade is of less concern for me.

The SciFi Channels basic commitment to science fiction remains essentially strong. Based on public statements by its management, the outlet seems dedicated to not only maintaining its original science fiction programming, but expanding it.

Particularly, it will soon premiere a new series, Eureka and later air a highly anticipated prequel to its hit Battlestar Galactica.

Wrestling or no, thats a more-welcome situation than just a few years ago when management killed nearly all of its original series, including the beloved Farscape, leaving Stargate SG-1 to stand alone.

The SciFi Channel will never have as many original series as ABC, CBS, NBC or the other major broadcast networks.

Even if somehow SciFi Channel had the resources to offer the same amount of original series as its big-network rivals, all that would create would be a situation like you see on the major networks, with series premiering one after another only to be yanked off the air in short order if they failed to produce needed ratings.

No, its better to roll out original programming slowly, in a way that the cable network can nurture each new series and let it build an audience.

In that way, the folks who run the SciFi Channel are making exactly the right choice.

Still, as Star Trek nears its 40th anniversary, its hard not to wonder why you cant find it -- any of it -- on the SciFi Channel. After all, if any franchise is nearly synonymous with science fiction, it would be Star Trek.

It would be, to borrow a phrase, logical for the SciFi Channel to tout itself as the home to at least some Star Trek.

Instead, all of the various Trek series have been separated like so many orphaned children who are split up to live with farflung family members, so that you really have to go searching to find them all.

Of course, there are probably very sound business reasons why each Trek incarnation wound up where it did, instead of the SciFi Channel. That doesnt mean its still not just a little disappointing.

Several years ago, of course, the network won a victory in at least securing rights as the home to the classic series, and for a time, the SciFi Channel offered an uncut version of the original episodes that was nothing short of reverent and classy.

Then, for some reason, it let those rights slip away.

Today you can find classic Trek on G4, a little videogame-focused cable outlet. Although its Star Trek 2.0 format, with all of its added on-air text content makes you feel more like youre watching CNN with all of its news tickers than a scifi series, at least G4 seems to know the value of what it has.

The irony, of course, is that Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was an early adviser to the SciFi Channel prior to its original launch in 1992.

He even said, "The SciFi Channel will be bigger than Star Trek."

If only that were true, the SciFi Channel would have been able to find enough space to fit Star Trek inside itself.

A former entertainment journalist, Scott Nance is a member of the USS Chesapeake, an independent science-fiction and Star Trek club in the Washington, DC, area. He is a columnist for Airlock Alpha, and can be reached at scottnance@airlockalpha.com.