Sci-Fi Storm

The Television Critics Association’s winter press tour is going on, and NBCUniversal made a bunch of presentations today. Some news from the relevant presentations from yesterday and today…

Syfy’s Defiance will premiere on Monday, April 15th, at 9/8c with a two-hour premiere, and run for a total of 12 episodes (the premiere being two hours long presumably can be split to account for 13 hours/episodes.)

NBC may not be done with The Munsters – despite the network having officially stuck a stake in their Mockingbird Lane reboot, Bob Greenblatt, the head of NBC, said, “I won’t say we won’t do another version of The Munsters again.” Apparently despite the pilot (retooled as a Halloween special) doing OK ratings-wise, the network just wasn’t impressed with the prospect of the show as a series, and Greenblatt admits that the mistake was likely trying to make it more of a dramedy than sitcom. “It’s hard to calibrate how much weirdness vs. supernatural vs. family story. I just think we didn’t get the mix right.”

And as for NBC’s Revolution, which did well before heading in to a four-month-long hiatus, which have critics thinking the show could lose its audience. But producers J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke aren’t afraid, and actually welcomed the break – which isn’t as unusual for shows on its cable sibling, Syfy, but it quite unusual for broadcast network fare.

The two cited Lost as precedence for having such a break, but Lost didn’t endure a “mega-break” until between Seasons 3 and 4 – and then it was between “seasons” (Lost switched to a shorter Winter-through-Spring run from Season 4 on.)

Anyways, they are using the break to “really analyze it, and make adjustments,” according to Kripke.

Syfy will begin showing the Canadian series Continuum on Monday, January 14th, at 8/7c. The series, which aired this past Spring/Summer on Canadian channel Showcase, follows Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols, Criminal Minds, Alias), a cop from 2077 who finds herself back in the present day tracking down terrorists who escaped execution by traveling into the past.

Sounds a bit like the short lived PTEN show Time Trax, doesn’t it? That’s what I thought when I first heard of it, and kind of what I was expecting when I watched the first two episodes.

It’s not Time Trax. That’s good.
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Author Peter David, well known for his works in comics and the Star Trek universe, suffered a stroke several days ago and is in the process of recovering.

Peter David has been prolific in the comics and SF genres, writing for several comic titles including an incredible 12 year run on The Incredible Hulk. He’s written episodes for several TV series including Babylon 5 and Crusade, and co created the kids show Space Cases with Babylon 5 and Lost In Space star Bill Mumy – which in the first season starred a young girl with rainbow colored hair, played by Jewel Staite, more familiar to fans as Kaylee in Firefly and Dr. Keller in Stargate Atlantis. He also did a number of Star Trek comics and novels.

Forget all the twists Merlin has had? Well, here is something to help yo remember before tonight’s premiere of the final season premiere (Syfy, 10/9c) with the video below!
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This Saturday, Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs its 100th episode as it returns from holiday break, with “Missing in Action” – check the preview below, when a man learns he isn’t exactly unique…then check out the interview with George Lucas, where he says goodbye to Star Wars as he transitions control of Lucasfilm to Kathleen Kennedy…
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Merlin returns to Syfy this Friday at 10/9c for its fifth and final season! Here is a sneak peek at the first episode, “Arthur’s Bane, Part 1”, along with star Angle Colby (Gwen) answering some Facebook questions, and an extra promo clip…
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The third season of Being Human is just over two weeks away (it debuts on Monday, January 14th, at 9/8c), and we’ve got some more interviews with the cast and writer/producer Anna Fricke…and our thoughts on the first couple episodes of the new season! First, the interviews…then if you don’t mind potentially minor spoilers (I will try not to give any real spoilers – probably stuff you’d guess), read on to the end.
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Executive Producer Bryan Fuller tweeted yesterday evening:

I tweet with a heavy heart. NBC not moving forward with #MockingbirdLane. From producers and cast, thank you all for enthusiasm and support.

So this seems to be the end of Mockingbird Lane‘s long journey. It didn’t look good when NBC decided to turn the pilot into a Halloween special, but it still had a chance like a backdoor pilot, depending on audience reaction. Apparently the reaction wasn’t good enough for the network, with moderate ratings and some attempts to rework the concept.

The British Royal Mail will issue a special Doctor Who stamp set which will feature all 11 Doctors, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the show. And contrary to some speculation, the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, IS represented (a BBC article only showed 10 of the 11 stamps, sans Colin.) The stamps will be available in Spring 2013.

There will also be a set of 4 second class stamps featuring four “foes” – the Daleks, the Ood, the Weeping Angels and the Cybermen, on a sheet with a first class TARDIS stamp.

Gerry Anderson, the British television writer/producer who loved to imagine the near future, died today at the age of 83, after suffering from multiple dementia for the past couple years. His death was announced by his son on his blog.

Anderson is perhaps best known for both his Supermarionation projects such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, as well as his live action series UFO and perhaps his most well known series in the U.S., Space: 1999.

Fanderson, the Gerry Anderson fan group, has a nice obituary.

I remember seeing Thunderbirds as a kid…my mother was familiar with it and some of his previous efforts, having come from Ireland by way of England, and she always insisted one of the “rag tag” fleet ships in Battlestar Galactica came from Thunderbirds – I never quite saw that.

But Space: 1999 was one of the first SF series to garner my attention. The details of the base and the Eagles really drew me. It seemed that there was at least some attempt at realism in certain areas – the Eagles appeared relatively functional if not depicted in realistic flight – provided a level of detail that I love.
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