Sci-Fi Storm

Fox’s entertainment president Kevin Reilly spoke at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour, and he mentioned Terra Nova and Fringe specifically. No decisions have been made on either for renewal, but should come soon, but it is looking pretty bleak for Fringe.

First, on Terra Nova – Reilly admits they made money. “We made money on it, the studio made money on it, and it seems to have resonated with the family audience.” So why haven’t they renewed it already? “If we had more holes in our network, we’d be thrilled to lock that right in.” So it appears there isn’t much room and they might be looking at a bigger margin with something else. But also he said the show was hunting for an identity, trying to be too many things at once, and they are working on it.

Of Fringe, the news was far from hopeful. Although he shares the fan’s passion for the show, Reilly said, “We lose a lot of money on the show. At that rating on [Friday] night it’s almost impossible for us to make money.” Of course that won’t resonate with fans at all, who originally criticized the move to the Friday slot as an attempt to kill the show. “We are not in the business of losing money, so we’re trying to figure out if there a number at which we can continue with the series. We haven’t even sat down with the producers yet.” Another bad sign there…

Deadline is reporting that Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica ) is in negotiations to star as Dahl, a Nordic mercenary tracking Riddick (Vin Diesel), in the upcoming Chronicles of Riddick sequel.

Vin Diesel and David Twohy have been trying for over 3 years to get a third movie made and things were moving forward recently, but production had to be halted for a couple months recently to deal with budget issues (sounds really familiar lately…)

NBC released a few details on pilots and pick-ups late Friday, and of the five pilots they mentioned, four of them have a science fiction/fantasy elements (some may have been announced earlier but are re-affirmed):

The Munsters: A re-invention of the classic TV series, from executive producers Brian Fuller (Heroes), Bryan Singer (House M.D., X-Men: First Class), and John Wirth (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles). We first caught wind of this in November. Universal Television is producing.

Isabel: Based Le Monde du Charlotte, a French Canadian series, is a comedy about a pretty typical middle-class family, with middle-class issues – except their young girl turns out to be magical as well. Marcia Gay Harden (Damages) has recently joined the cast, likely as the mother, while Isabel will be played by relatively-new Sophia Schloss (Grimm). Howard Busgang and Tom Nursall (Single White Spenny) are the writers and exec producers, with Todd Holland (Malcolm in the Middle) directing/exec producing, and Karey Burke (Free Agents), Aaron Kaplan (Terra Nova) and original series producer Jocelyn Deschenes all joining as executive producers. Universal Television, Kapital Entertainment and Sphere Media are producing.

Beautiful People: An ensemble “what if” drama set “10 minutes in the future” (shades of Max Headroom?) “where families of mechanical human beings exist to service the human population — until some of the mechanicals begin to “awaken.”” Sounds a little like a Cylon backstory? Anyways, they describe it as “low tech, high drama” which might keep the special effects budget down. James Murray (Primeval, Chaos) will play an attorney fighting for android rights, while Patrick Heusinger (Black Swan) plays an android who suddenly finds emotions. Michael McDonald (Cougar Town) is the writer/executive producer; Robert M. Sertner (Revenge) will exec produce and Stephen Hopkins (Californication) will direct. Universal Television and ABC Studios is producing.

Save Me: A religious-tinged single-camera comedy about a woman who believes she has begun channeling God after suffering an accident, comes from Sony Television and Original Films. John Scot Shepherd (Life or Something Like It) is writing/exec producing, with Scott Winant (Breaking Bad) directing/exec producing, plus executive producers Neal Moritz and Vivian Cannon (The Big C).

The Thunder Child is pleased to announce our latest article from James H. Burns,

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