20 years ago, Syfy was called The Sci Fi Channel. It was a breakthrough in cable programing; an entire channel devoted to nothing but science fiction, classic horror and fantasy.

The premiere was much anticipated and right away scifi fans such as myself, fell in love.

Back then, the schedule was filled with old reruns of Lost in Space, the original Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek and Mystery Science Theater 3000. Then, in the later half of the 90′s, they started to see success with new episodes of canceled shows such as Farscape and Stargate SG-1.

Stargate eventually became a tentpole for the network, spinning off into two more series including the wildly successful Stargate Atlantis. Then came Battlestar Galactica – the reimagination and suddenly people started taking the Sci Fi Channel seriously.

Not long after, Ghost Hunters premiered, sending the network off in a new, very profitable direction – reality. Since then, they’ve created more than two dozen reality shows, mostly dealing with the paranormal.

They also continued to deliver a slate of original scripted programs such as Warehouse 13, Haven, and Alphas.

Because they’ve diversified, they changed their name from Sci-Fi Channel to Syfy, signifying a more creative bent toward all things fantastic.

On Monday, December 10th, Syfy will hop in their time machine to review the events of the past 20 years in an anniversary retrospective. Guests include Kevin Sorbo from Andromeda, the cast of Being Human, from Battlestar Galactica Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackoff, Tricia Helfer and Ron Moore, writer Jane Espensen, Josh Gates, Amanda Tapping and many, many more.

After you wax nostalgic over Syfy’s sci-fi past, you may not be thrilled by what’s coming up — more ghost hunting shows!

Ghost Mine premieres on January 16. The series follows a group of miners and paranormal investigators as they attempt to find gold in a haunted mine that was abandoned 80 years ago.

In February, teams of amateur ghost hunters will be Stranded for our pleasure. The teams will left in one of the world’s most haunted locations with hand-held cameras to document their own descent into madness. Picture Amazing Race meets Destination Truth.

Later, in the Spring of 2013, we’ll see the premiere of Notorious Hauntings. Basically, it’s Ghost Hunters International meets Law & Order as the investigators visit locations tainted by vicious crimes.

If you’re not a paranormal fan, cheer up. Defiance premieres in April and before that you can watch human-sized robots duke it out on Robot Combat League which premieres on February 26.

Happy Anniversary, Syfy!