I really need to get into marketing. Some genius (no, seriously, he or she is a genius) got a fat paycheck for the Sci Fi Channel’s rebranding effort. Starting today, Sci Fi will be known as . . . . wait for it. . . . Syfy.

No, seriously — Syfy. Which, I believe, is a Romulan term for “sci fi.”

It’s going with a more-or-less phonetic spelling (in French is it now pronounced “See-Fee”?) because the network is trying to broaden its audience, and the term “sci fi” has such geeky connotations. I would have thought geeks and nerds have pretty good buying power as a demographic (smart, good jobs), but maybe the network will get more advertising money if it can lure jocks and a female viewer or two.

And really, why pigeonhole the onetime network  of “Battlestar Galactica” as a one-note space pony when now it shows everything from “Eureka” to “Stargate SG-1″? Not to mention “Sanctuary,” “Stargate Atlantis,” “Doctor Who,” “Primeval,” “Firefly,” “Invasion,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Tru Calling,” “X-Files,” “Twilight Zone,” “Warehouse 13″ and the upcoming “Stargate Universe” and “Caprica.”

Oh, wait, there’s also “Ghost Hunters,” which doesn’t feature space aliens, but still involves science, technology and make-believe beings.

Big S, little y, no space, little F, little y. It’s moronic and ungrammatical, but compared to how the rest of our society is dumbing down, it’s relatively inoffensive. And it is pretty much genius because here I am talking about it, giving them free publicity.

However, every time I see the new name, all I think of is the old Syufy movie theater chain that was all over the Bay Area in the ’90s. They were the theaters where I saw, among other big-screen gems, “Terminator 2,” “Total Recall,” “Star Trek IV” and “Starship Troopers.” Yep, total disconnect from sci fi. Nice try, rebranding guy — my brain is impervious to you!

On a semi-related note, tonight Sci Fi/SyFy/Syufy premieres “Warehouse 13,” (9 p.m.) which looks like a cross between “The X-Files” and “Bones,” with a dash of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” I’ll check it out and report back.