Sci-Fi Storm

After the success of “re-imagination” shows like Merlin and Atlantis, it seems Syfy is seeing some benefit in the re-telling of the old stories.

Syfy, Reunion Pictures and Great Point Media today announced a new mythological drama series Olympus, which will take viewers into the action-packed world of humans, Gods and monsters.

The 13-part series of one hour episodes will premiere on Syfy in 2015.

The team behind Olympus includes writer Nick Willing (Tinman, Alice, Neverland) and legendary executive producer Robert Halmi Sr. (Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, The Odyssey, Gulliver’s Travels).

Olympus will tell the story of how a few brave men and women banished the Gods to the realm of the unconscious – a place they called the Underworld or the Kingdom of Hades. The series will follow the protagonist on his journey as he gradually transforms from a fresh-faced and raw young man through the dramatic experiences of betrayal, love, disappointment, empowerment and exile, until he emerges a ruthless leader of men, and a match for the Gods themselves.

The series is being produced by Reunion Pictures and Olympus TV (London) Limited in association with Great Point Media, and will begin production this summer in Vancouver and London, with the first episode written and directed by Willing. Executive Producers are Robert Halmi Sr. for The Halmi Company, Robert Halmi Jr. and Jim Reeve for Great Point Media and Matthew O’Connor and Lisa Richardson for Reunion Pictures. The series is being marketed and distributed by Content Media Group outside the US, Germany and Canada.

“Olympus is a fantastic blend of action, intense thrills, creatures and great story telling. It will feature characters from mythology in a way never before imagined,” said Chris Regina, Senior Vice President, Programming, Syfy. “It’s an excellent complement to our roster of programming and we can’t wait to share the adventures of Hero with the Syfy audience.”

“I’m thrilled that the team of Willing, O’Connor and Halmi are together on another exciting Syfy project. With the success of Tinman, Neverland and Alice, we are confident that this will be another epic adventure for television,” stated Halmi Sr.

In the season finale of Lost Girl, Bo puts her faith in Dyson to protect the world from ruins. Check out “Dark Horse” tomorrow night at 10/9c on Syfy!
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Syfy’s President Dave How announced today that it is giving is giving a series greenlight to 12 Monkeys, a drama based on the 1995 Universal Pictures film directed by Terry Gilliam. Syfy is ordering 12 episodes in addition to the pilot which was filmed last year. The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions and Atlas Entertainment, producer of the original theatrical. The show is expected to debut next January. (For those following the Syfy pilot slate, another recent pilot, High Moon, is not moving forward.)

Said Dave Howe, “12 Monkeys is a captivating time travel adventure and high stakes race against the clock. We are thrilled to add it to our slate of engaging and thought-provoking new scripted projects including the recently announced event series Ascension and the second season renewal of Helix from Ron Moore.”

12 Monkeys, starring Aaron Stanford (Nikita, X-Men: The Last Stand, X2), Amanda Schull (Suits, Pretty Little Liars), Noah Bean (Nikita, Damages) and Kirk Acevedo (Fringe), follows the journey of a time traveler (Stanford) from the post-apocalyptic future who appears in present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will eventually decimate the human race.

Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven (American Hustle, Man of Steel, The Dark Knight Trilogy) and Richard Suckle (American Hustle, The International), will Executive Produce. Roven produced the original film. Jake Kurily will serve as Atlas’s executive on the series. Terry Matalas & Travis Fickett (Nikita), writers of the pilot, will serve as Co-Executive Producers with Natalie Chaidez (In Plain Sight, V, Heroes) as Executive Producer/Showrunner. Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) directed and served as Executive Producer on the pilot.

After being on a conference call earlier today to talk about the upcoming final episodes of Warehouse 13, I’m finding myself saddened again today thinking about the upcoming finale of Being Human. Check out our final sneak peek for “There Goes The Neighborhood, Part 3”, along with “Inside Being Human” and another clip. Then turn in and be sad with us on Monday at 9/8c for the finale…
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Syfy has greenlit the 12-episode summer series, The Wil Wheaton Project (working title), a weekly topical comedy show hosted by actor, blogger and champion of geek culture Wil Wheaton. The 30-minute show will offer a fast-paced, lighthearted exploration and celebration of all things within the realm of science fiction and genre entertainment. The series premieres Tuesday, May 27 at 10PM ET/PT on Syfy. The announcement was made today by Dave Howe, President, Syfy.

Each week, Wil provides his insider point-of-view, sense of humor and genre expertise as he dissects the week’s most popular and trending topics across science fiction film, television and pop culture, video games, viral videos and news. Wil is on his feet for the rapid-fire half hour, delivering witty commentary on the things he knows and loves in this golden age of sci-pop culture. The result is a fun appreciation and celebration of fandom and all things science fiction.

“Wil Wheaton’s rock star status within the genre fan base, along with his insatiable passion for all things pop culture make him the ideal arbiter of what’s hot and what’s not in the genre space,” said Dave Howe. “Wil’s legion of fans will relish his wry sense of humor and sharp wit, coupled with his unique commentary on the most popular genre entertainment out there.”

“The Wil Wheaton Project has been incredibly fun to develop, and I can’t wait for my fellow geeks to see it,” said Wheaton.

Wil Wheaton began acting in commercials at the age of seven, and by the age of ten had appeared in numerous television and film roles. In 1986, his critically acclaimed role in Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me put him in the public spotlight. In 1987, Wil was cast as Wesley Crusher in the hit television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Recently, Wil has held recurring roles on Syfy’s Eureka, TNT’s Leverage and CBS’s The Big Bang Theory. He played Axis of Anarchy leader Fawkes in Felicia Day’s webseries, The Guild, and currently hosts Falling Skies: Second Watch for TNT. Off-camera, he is the creator producer, and host of the wildly successful webseries Tabletop, which is currently in its second season. Tabletop was awarded the 2013 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming and the gold ENnie for Best Podcast at the 2013 Gen Con EN World RPG Awards. Wil was also awarded Best Host (taped) and the webseries was honored as the Best Hosted Series (Pre-Recorded) at the 2013 IAWTV Awards.

Wil is also an author, blogger, podcaster, voice actor and widely-followed original Twitter user. Wil personally maintains a popular social media presence, and his frequently-cited Twitter account is followed by over 2.3 million people from all over the world. He has published a number of acclaimed books, among them: Just A Geek, Dancing Barefoot and The Happiest Days of Our Lives. His latest book is Memories of the Future Volume 1, a humorous and nostalgic episode guide of the first half of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. All of his books grew out of his award-winning weblog, which he personally created and maintains at WIL WHEATON dot NET. Wil is also widely recognized as one of the original celebrity bloggers, and is a respected voice in the blogging community.

All-new summer episodes of Heroes of Cosplay also debut that night, airing at 9:00PM ET/PT on Syfy.

The Wil Wheaton Project is a production of Pilgrim Studios. Craig Piligian and Mike Nichols (Ghost Hunters) are executive producers.

The Doctor Who community has been saddened by the loss of two notable people…on Thursday directory Derek Martinus passed away at the age of 82 after battling Alzheimer’s. Martinus presided over a number of episodes spanning from 1965 to 1970 and with three different Doctors, including major serials like Galaxy 4, The Tenth Planet, The Evil of the Daleks, and The Ice Warriors, with his final serial being Spearhead From Space, notable for being Jon Pertwee’s debut and the first episode broadcast it color.

Then on Sunday actress Kate O’Mara, who played fellow Time Lord The Rani in a couple of serials in the 1980s, passed away at the age of 74 after a short illness. O’Mara appeared as the evil Time Lord opposite Colin Baker in “The Mark of the Rani”, then again in Sylvester McCoy’s debut episode “Time and the Rani”. She was also perhaps better known to U.S. audiences as Cassandra Morrell, sister to Alexis Carrington on Dynasty. Overall her TV career spanned almost 50 years.

Love and loyalty clash when Syfy’s popular time traveling police drama Continuum returns for Season 3 on Friday, April 4 at 10PM (ET/PT).

At the end of Season 2, Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen) made the Earth-shattering decision to hijack Kiera’s (Rachel Nichols) chance to get home, in order to save Emily, the girl he loves, from certain death.

This act of desperation condemned Kiera to incarceration by the Freelancers, who are ‘collecting’ time travelers to protect history. Now, Kiera must face the consequences of Alec’s betrayal and somehow escape the Freelancers.

Continuum co-stars Victor Webster (Castle, Melrose Place) as detective Carlos Fonnegra and Erik Knudsen (Jericho, Scream 4), who plays teen tech genius Alec Sadler.

This June, Syfy furthers its commitment to premium scripted programming by dedicating an all-new night to original dramas. Beginning June 19, Syfy will kick off its new Thursday night block with the one-two punch of the season two premiere of Defiance at 8/7c, followed by the series premiere of Syfy’s newest scripted series, Dominion, at 9/8c.

As the story of Defiance resumes, the lives of the townspeople are in drastic turmoil. The Earth Republic has assumed control of the town, with far-reaching consequences including a new mayor. Nolan (Grant Bowler) traverses the badlands to find a lost Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas), Amanda (Julie Benz) has an unexpected new role in the town as she searches for Kenya and the Tarr family desperately tries to keep control of their criminal empire in the midst of dramatic changes. Joining the cast this season are James Murray as new mayor Niles Pottinger, Anna Hopkins as Earth Republic soldier Jessica “Berlin” Rai and William Atherton as Earth Republic official Viceroy Mercado.

Immediately following the return of Defiance, Syfy will air the 90-minute series premiere of Dominion at 9PM ET/PT.

Based on characters from the hit theatrical film Legion (2010), Dominion is an epic supernatural action drama set 25 years after the events of the movie and picking up in the aftermath of a catastrophic war between an army of angels and mankind that has transformed the world. The series follows the perilous journey of a rebellious young soldier, set against a backdrop of the ultimate celestial battle as it touches down on earth.

Dominion stars Christopher Egan (Kings), Tom Wisdom (300), Roxanne McKee (Game of Thrones), Alan Dale (Lost), Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Luke Allen-Gale (The Borgias).

Perhaps without much surprise, Once Upon A Time In Wonderland will not be renewed by ABC, with the series finale to air next Thursday. The spin-off from the far more successful Once Upon A Time failed to gather an audience, in part likely due to ABC’s scheduling strategy to run it along side it’s sibling when it was originally envisioned as a one-off winter break program. Personally I found it to be too reliant on obvious virtual sets (again possibly due to production pressures), and the characters just didn’t get interesting. Apparently others agreed, as it debuted with a measly 1.7 rating and went down from there.

We’re up to the penultimate episode of Being Human! In Mondays’s episode, the gang learns what really happened to Ramona. Check out the sneak peek below, plus the latest “Inside Being Human”, and then tune in Monday at 9/8c on Syfy for “House Hunting”!
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