Sci-Fi TV Summer Schedule
Now that Syfy has clarified its schedule for the next few months we have the summer schedule nailed down. Check out this article for a rundown of what's coming up when, what to expect, and who's on board for the latest season.
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New Projects: Visible Emotions and Evil Aliens (and a Hulk)
Okay, I've mixed up my notes. Either Conan O'Brien is developing a show about aliens, or he is an alien. One or the other.
© Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Over at USA, there's a show in development with a bit of a paranormal edge called Fallen (definitely not to be confused with this). The story idea involves a tough cop who, following an accident, develops the rare ability of synesthesia and begins "seeing emotions." His partner (of course) does not understand his sudden "touchy-feely" approach to solving crimes. Based on the 2006 novel The Fallen by T. Jefferson Parker. The adaptation is being undertaken by Ed Decter and John Strauss, who've worked together on many film and TV projects including There's Something About Mary and In Plain Sight.
Meanwhile, TBS is working on a project from executive producer Conan O'Brien called Zone Lord. It involves three roommates who wake up one morning to discover an "evil but very hip alien" has moved into their building along with his diminutive navigator.
And in keeping with the trend of saturating us with all possible adaptations of Marvel and DC comic book heroes, ABC's Paul Lee said during the leadup to the upfronts that he would like to "see some Marvel projects come to television." In particular, a Guillermo del Toro-adapted take on the Hulk is in development at ABC (which is now a sister company to Marvel, both being owned by Disney) but the project could not be readied in time for next season.
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This Week: May 21-28
© Columbia Pictures; Tor Books; Universal Pictures
This Week: TV
The series finale of Awake, recap/previews for Teen Wolf and True Blood, plus a bit more. Read on...
This Week: Movies
The men in black are back, leading Will Smith to wonder, why two K? Plus: zombies attack a zombie film. The genre is literally eating itself.Read on...
This Week: Home Video
Studio Ghibli explores a secret world, a high school freshman discovers that having a babysitter is the least weird thing about his life, Greg Evigan runs from a metal tornado, and Jon Voigt goes beyond the quality of the movie he's in. Read on...
New Trailers and Clips
The latest video for Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman, Men in Black III, and more. Read on...
This Week: New Hardcovers
A ancient menace threatens the peace of Darujhistan, Repairman Jack confronts the end of the world, chaos and vulnerability after a volcanic disaster test a young Imager, a death on Mercury presages danger to the worlds of the solar system, and a secret magician uncovers a dark cult that threatens his city, plus compendiums of Silver Surfer, Green Lantern, and the Amory Wars. Read on...
This Week: New Paperbacks
New releases from Mercedes Lackey, David L. Golemon, David Drake, and more. Read on...
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This Week: TV (May 21-28)
Jason Isaacs in the series finale of Awake.
© NBC
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This Week: TV | Movies | Video | Trailers | Hardcovers | Paperbacks
TELEVISION—New episodes this week from:
● Awake (series finale),
● Eureka,
● Game of Thrones,
● Lost Girl,
● Teen Wolf (recap/preview),
● True Blood (recap/preview).
Synopses below the jump. For details see the listings (regular or alphabetical). For sci-fi/fantasy movies on TV this week go to movie listings.
Read More...This Week: May 14-21
© Universal Pictures; Marvel; Columbia Pictures
This Week: TV | Movies | Video | Trailers | Books | Overview
This Week: TV
Grimm and Supernatural season finales, plus other good stuff. Read on...
This Week: Movies
Will the critics sink Universal's Battleship? Plus, a government techno-brainwashing conspiracy. Those are always fun. (I'm convinced that's the only way to explain Twilight.) Read on...
This Week: Home Video
A bunch of regular teens encounter the weirdness of having superpowers; plus Sebastian Cabot introduces spooky things. Read on...
New Trailers and Clips
New video from an encounter with Dracula, time travel hired guns, a strange child's link to nature, a helpful angel, a boy discovering his spider powers, and more Read on...
This Week: New Hardcovers
An ancient holy war, an apprehended WWII spy, Moby-Dick with huge desert moles, and a boy finding out there's another world of strangers right here in Earth; plus anthologies collecting future teen evil-fighters the Legion of Super-Heroes, Batman, and the Avengers, and an in-depth analysis of recent trends in the fantastic. Read on...
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Renewed: Once Upon a Time, Touch
David Mazouz as Jake in Touch, which will have a second season.
© Isabella Vosmikova/FOX
That's especially reassuring given the arrival of more fairy tale creatures next season. Even if "battle of the Beasts" doesn't materialize (the ABC pilot has not been announced as having been picked up, but The CW one has), it was heartening that both pilots were sourced and realized very, very differently.
The renewal of Once, slotting nicely into the current fairy tale surge, makes sense in terms of both quality and marketing. But what to make of Fox renewing Touch, Tim Kring and Kiefer Sutherland's new essay into surreality?
Its ratings have not been ideal--less than the canceled Terra Nova, but more than the renewed-one-last-time Fringe. In this case, Touch had other factors to mitigate the middling ratings: it's produced at corporate sibling 20th Century Fox, and Sutherland has a tight relationship with Fox and its execs thanks to the colossal success of 24.
Almost incidentally, alongside the corporate arguments for renewal, is the gift of a serious show with heft and an unusually leveragable concept. Touch has at its heart a series of fertile and innovative premises that hold immense promise for future development. Like Awake, it's complicated and trusts its audience to find it rewarding to follow its threads; also, like Awake, it's anchored by a talented, hard-working veteran actor who takes the show on his own shoulders.
Unlike Awake, though, it will have a chance to continue exploring its universe. Perhaps Jake knows why some good and complex shows fail, and others succeed.
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Canceled: Awake, Secret Circle, Gifted Man
It's all over for The Secret Circle.
© Jack Rowand/The CW
It's a bloodbath of infant series this year. Awake, A Gifted Man, and The Secret Circle, like The Fades a few weeks ago, Terra Nova in March and The Nine Lives of Chloe King at the beginning of the fall season, will all join the ranks of good sci-fi/fantasy shows that were killed after a single season, before they'd had a chance to come into their own.
In fact, the only new genre shows for 2011-2012 to survive on the five broadcast networks were the two entries/progenitors of the current fairy tale fad, Once Upon a Time and Grimm, and a late entry, Kiefer Sutherland's Touch.
Were these latest three cancellations expected? Two of the shows have been on the pundits' "death watch" lists for some time--in the case of A Gifted Man, for months; Awake's lackluster conventional ratings have prompted more recent concern. The Secret Circle was more of a surprise: even after The CW renewed Supernatural and Vampire Diaries without any mention of The Secret Circle, many writers though the show was in a gray area and could go either way.
The worst part is, all three shows built up to a powerful climax toward their season finales that signaled new and stronger sophomore seasons--which now will never be. A great deal of creative energy--both in front of the cameras (Jason Isaacs, Patrick Wilson, and a number of others I could name did outstanding jobs evoking complex and interesting characters) and behind--has now been, not wasted, but tamped down, prevented from blossoming into something better. And all of them will have to start over from scratch with new concepts and the headaches of new production, and new pressure to conjure profits or else.
On the other hand, everything creative has risks. Secret Circle star Chris Zylka left this trenchant tweet this morning: "In art, you must be able to walk away. If you cant walk away from something that didn't work, how can you walk away from something that is."
And Awake creator Kyle Killen, who already had a highly favored ratings disaster under his belt, was able to laugh about it on his own Twitter feed. "guys its cool," he tweeted. "awake lasted 600% longer than lone star. at that rate next 1 be on until end of time."
I'll say it outright: it has its flaws, but I'm a big fan of Awake; losing this show in particular is another sad moment in a tumultuous season. Hats off and thanks to Kyle Killen, Jason Isaacs, and everyone else who worked hard to make Awake a reality.
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This Week: TV (May 14-21)
Rachel Miner as Meg in the season finale of Supernatural.
© Jack Rowand/The CW
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| ● Listings By Date | |
| ● Listings by Show Name | |
| ● Movies on TV |
This Week: TV | Movies | Video | Trailers | Books | Overview
TELEVISION—New episodes this week from:
● Awake,
● Eureka,
● Game of Thrones,
● Grimm (season finale),
● Lost Girl,
● Supernatural (season finale),
● Touch.
Guest stars this week include Kevin Weisman continuing on Awake; Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio on Grimm.
Synopses below the jump. For details see the listings (regular or alphabetical). For sci-fi/fantasy movies on TV this week go to movie listings.
CW Renews Supernatural and Vampire Diaries
Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester and Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester in Supernatural.
© Michael Courtney/The CW
There was some indication that season 7 of Supernatural was intended to be its last, this two years after Eric Kripke's five year plan. But it's been pulling very good numbers, and on Friday at that.
But its third and newest genre show, The Secret Circle, is still in limbo. And the question of Secret Circle's future is quite open--while the show has a good fan base and rides Vampire Diaries's coattails without copying its formula, its future could go either way. But at least it has a fighting chance.
That means next year The CW will have four sci-fi/fantasy series, with Arrow and its version of Beauty and the Beast--five if Secret Circle gets a second season.
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This Week: May 7-14
© Warner Bros.; BBC
This Week: TV | Movies | Video | Trailers | Books | Overview
This Week: TV
Two season finales this week (Once and Vampire Diaries), plus penultimate episodes (Supernatural, Fringe) and much more. Read on...
This Week: Movies
A vampire tries to adapt himself to how different his family and the world are, and a woman deal with her husband and three years of her life suddenly having never existed. Read on...
This Week: Home Video
The latest installment in the other, other vampire franchise and an exercise in adapting a zombified version of "tag" to the silver screen--plus the last season of Chuck, three new classic Who adventures, some Fantasy Island, and a Twilight Zone compilation. Read on...
New Trailers and Clips
The latest trailers for upcoming summer hits The Dark Knight Rises, Battleship, and Prometheus--plus more fighting against alien predators and immortality-seeking Nazis, a dystopian future, and a brave princess. Read on...
This Week: New Hardcovers
An all-star story collection focusing on the weird, a brace of Walter Mosley tales, yet another Doctor Who reference work bridging the classic and new series, and Turok--Son of Stone. Read on...
| Tags: The Dark Knight Rises, Dark Shadows, Doctor Who: The Happiness Patrol Follow me on Twitter | Follow me on Facebook |