Midseason 2009: Returning Shows

(Jan. 12) At the end of the season 2.5 finale in March 2008, the school year culminated with a lavish prom, but in an unexpected cliffhanger Kyle's girlfriend, Amanda, was kidnapped. A new series of ten episodes begins in January as Kyle tries to figure out how to track down Amanda. At the same time he's facing a difficult transition from boyhood innocence to the harsh responsibilities of being a man and a hero, as the secret organization Latnok finally decides to draw Kyle into its plans. Kyle must be concerned not only for himself and Latnok's plans for him, but his fellow clone Jessi and his foster family, the Tragers, who are once again caught in the middle. Kyle XY will again air Monday nights on ABC Family.

(Jan. 16) The final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica will resolve the epic tale that began five years ago with a stunning miniseries that reimagined not just Glen Larson's 1979 space opera, but television sci-fi itself. Since then every character and the entire human and Cylon races have endured a dark and twisted journey, and no one ended up where they expected or where they wanted to be. Season 4 has long been billed as the last season, and after a half-year gap the last ten episodes return to Sci Fi in January, as the tenuously allied humans and Cylons attempt to determine whether the devastated planet they've found in really Earth, what happened to it if it is, and who the twelfth and final Cylon turns out to be. Expect dark times.

(March 17) The 13-episode second season of Reaper has been pinned to the very end of the 2008-09 season, which at least means that the show will have a chance to get some attention during May sweeps. After the storm of annoyance that greeted Reaper's intrusion into the Thursday schedule last spring, temporarily displacing Supernatural, The CW is placing Reaper back on Tuesday nights, in the slot following 90210 currently occupied by Privileged (which will finish up right before Reaper takes over). So far the storyline for Reaper season 2 has not been announced, but Eriko Tamura is joining the cast as Sock's stepsister/love-interest. Still open-ended is the nature of the Devil's relationship with Sam, which is bound to be a season 2 subtext.

(Spring 2009) In a controversial move, the BBC ordered only five episodes of Torchwood for its third season and scheduled it as a miniseries to run on consecutive nights -- airing, for the first time, on its flagship channel, BBC One. (How it will air on BBC America is not known.) The Doctor Who spin-off will star John Barrowman (Jack), Eve Myles (Gwen), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto), Kai Owen (Rhys), and Tom Price (PC Andy). The plot of the miniseries, titled "Children of Earth," is naturally under wraps, but the BBC have said Torchwood will do "battle for the future of the human race against the fiercest force they have encountered." Creator Russell T. Davies will write two of the five; all are directed by Who veteran Euros Lyn.