Sci-Fi Storm

Actor Richard Anderson, best known as the head of a secret government organization who oversaw The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, passed away yesterday at the age of 91 at his home in Beverly Hills.

Anderson rose to prominence when he was cast in the 1957 film Paths To Glory by Stanley Kubrick, a year after a smaller role but in the genre classic Forbidden Planet as Chief Engineer Quinn. A character actor who often presented as an authority figure, he played a number of military roles. But it was in 1973 in a series of TV movies and later a series on ABC about an astronaut rebuild with bionic parts after a crash where he became ingrained in our memories. That series then had a spinoff in The Bionic Woman, in which Anderson reprised his role on both series simultaneously. When The Bionic Woman shifted networks to NBC, he was the first actor to play the same role simultaneously on two different networks.

When both series ended in 1978, he was reappear in the role in a series of TV movies through 1994, after which he was largely retired.

While we were celebrating the renewal of Killjoys for two more runs, we just learned that Dark Matter has been canceled by Syfy. The news was confirmed by co-creator Joseph Mallozzi on his blog.

“It is with great sadness that I confirm the news. Syfy has cancelled Dark Matter after three seasons,” he said.

“To say that I’m incredibly disappointed would be an understatement.

“I’ll save my comments and field your questions in a future blog entry. For today, I just want to extend a heartfelt thanks to my amazing crew, my wonderful cast, and to all of you, our incredible fans.

“You all deserved better.”

Dark Matter starred Melissa O’Neil, Anthony Lemke, Alex Mallari Jr., Zoie Palmer, Jodelle Ferland and Roger Cross and followed the crew of the Raza, who woke up on board with no memory of who they are, and in the middle of a tense galaxy run by corporations. It was based on the graphic novel series from Dark Horse.

Killjoys is coming to an end…but not for a couple more seasons!

SYFY and Space announced today the pickup of Seasons 4 and 5 of the sci-fi adventure series Killjoys ahead of its action-packed Season 3 finale airing tonight at 8/7c. The two-season, 20-episode pickup will act as the final chapters for the fan-favorite space drama. From Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios, and Universal Cable Productions (UCP), Killjoys follows a trio of interplanetary bounty hunters – rebel leader Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), tech-savvy John Jaqobis (Aaron Ashmore), and tactical D’avin Jaqobis (Luke MacFarlane) – on the brink of a multiplanetary war. Creator Michelle Lovretta serves as executive producer along with Karen Troubetzkoy and Temple Street’s David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg. Season 4 is set to air in 2018.

“Helmed by Lovretta and driven by the superb storytelling, we are excited to bring Killjoys back for two final seasons,” said Bill McGoldrick, Executive Vice President Scripted Development for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “Tonight’s game-changing season finale sets the tone for the final chapters of our bounty hunter’s space adventures and we cannot wait for our talented cast and crew to bring to life what is sure to be an epic journey that will leave our passionate fans on the edge of their seats.”

“A final two-season order is a huge vote of confidence for a show that keeps getting better and better,” said Fortier and Schneeberg, co-presidents of Boat Rocker Studios and executive producers of Killjoys. “We are so proud of the support Killjoys has received from critics and fans alike, and are thrilled to plan a deserving ending for Dutch and the Jaqobis brothers; it has been an incredible intergalactic journey and we could not have wished for better partners to share the ride.”

“This renewal is the kind of privilege every creator hopes for – a chance to plan the end of your story with the luxury of 20-episodes to do it,” said creator and executive producer Lovretta. “I’m immensely grateful that both of our network partners – along with Temple Street and UCP – have given our team, cast and fans this incredible opportunity.”

Throughout Season 3 of Killjoys, war has loomed over the J Star System. As the underdog trio struggled to assemble an army, the dangerous force of Aneela and her Hullen crew drew near. In tonight’s finale, the Killjoy militia are finally ready to go to war against her, using Delle Seyah as bait, but as the battle begins, Aneela finds a way to change the entire game.

Killjoys was created by Michelle Lovretta who serves as executive producer. David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg and Karen Troubetzkoy also serve as executive producers. The series is from Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios and Universal Cable Productions for Space and SYFY. Universal Cable Productions distributes the series worldwide, excluding Canada.

SYFY announced their upcoming fall and winter schedule, including the premiere of their new original series starring Christopher Meloni, HAPPY! on November 29 at 10/9c. The series, based on New York Times best-selling author Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel of the same name, also features Patton Oswalt as the voice of the imaginary blue winged horse named “Happy.” HAPPY! is produced by Universal Cable Productions.

SCRIPTED ORIGINALS (in order of air date)

CHANNEL ZERO: NO-END HOUSE – Second Installment Premieres Wednesday, September 20 at 10/9c

Inspired by Brian Russell’s “creepypasta” tale, CHANNEL ZERO: NO-END HOUSE tells the story of a young woman named Margot Sleator, played by Amy Forsyth (“The Path”), and her best friend Jules (Aisha Dee “The Bold Type”), who visit the No-End House, a bizarre house of horrors that consists of a series of increasingly disturbing rooms. When Margot returns home, she realizes everything has changed. The second six-hour installment will be directed by Steven Piet (“Uncle John”). Franchise creator Nick Antosca (“Hannibal,” “Teen Wolf”) will return as executive producer and showrunner; Max Landis (“Chronicle,” “American Ultra”) will also executive produce.

HAPPY! – Series Premiere Wednesday, November 29 at 10/9c

Universal Cable Productions’ HAPPY! is based on New York Times best-selling author Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel of the same name. The series follows Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni, “Law & Order: SVU”) – an intoxicated, corrupt ex-cop turned hit man – who is adrift in a world of casual murder, soulless sex and betrayal. After a hit gone wrong, his inebriated life is forever changed by a tiny, relentlessly positive, imaginary blue winged horse named “Happy” (Patton Oswalt). Executive producers Morrison (“Batman,” “The Invisibles”) and Brian Taylor (“Crank,” “Gamer”) co-wrote the pilot teleplay. Neal Moritz, Pavun Shetty and Toby Jaffe of Original Film (“The Fast and the Furious” franchise), Meloni and showrunner Patrick Macmanus will also executive produce. Taylor directed the pilot.

CO-PRODUCTIONS/ ACQUISITIONS (in order of air date)

CON MAN – Television Debut of Web Series Airs Saturday, September 9 at 10/9c

The short form web series, which debuted on Vimeo and Comic-Con HQ, will have its television debut with a Season 1 marathon on Saturday, September 9th beginning at 10/9c showing all 13 episodes back-to-back. The critically acclaimed, geektastic series, which recently received two Emmy® nominations for Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, follows the journey of Wray Nerely (Alan Tudyk), a washed-up, former sci-fi celebrity who revisits his glory days on the convention circuit. The series is executive produced by Tudyk, PJ Haarsma and Nathan Fillion, who also co-stars. The star-studded first season also features Seth Green, Felicia Day, Sean Astin, James Gunn, Tricia Helfer and many more.

Z NATION – Season 4 Premieres Friday, September 29 at 9/8c

Z NATION follows a team of everyday heroes, led by Lieutenant Warren (Kellita Smith), during their epic struggle to save humanity. Season 4 begins with a mind-bending jump in time. Murphy and Warren find themselves alive in Zona, the zombie free playground for billionaires. Meanwhile, the rest of our heroes are fighting alongside the last of the humans against the mutated Zombie Virus and the unkillable “MAD-Z’s.” Warren’s mysterious dream of a black rainbow and flesh-eating black rain propels the season forward and puts our heroes in the middle of an even worse Zompocalypse. Here they will have to battle Jugalo Zombies and find the Zombified President of the United States – or at least his thumb. Produced by The Asylum, Z NATION stars Kellita Smith, Keith Allan, DJ Qualls, Anastasia Baranova, Russell Hodgkinson, Nat Zang, Joseph Gatt, Emilio Rivera and Matt Cedeño.

VAN HELSING – Season 2 Premieres Thursday, October 5 at 9/8c

VAN HELSING stars Kelly Overton (“True Blood”) as Vanessa Van Helsing, a descendent of the Van Helsing lineage who must lead mankind against a world controlled by vampires in the post-Rising apocalypse. In Season 2, Vanessa and the other survivors discover old alliances have crumbled, and new connections expose long-buried secrets about The Rising, the Van Helsing heritage and the survival of humankind itself.

GHOST WARS – Series Premiere Thursday, October 5 at 10/9c

Created by Simon Barry, the horror series GHOST WARS is set in a remote Alaskan town that has been overrun by paranormal forces. Local outcast Roman Mercer (Avan Jogia, “Tut,” “Victorious”) must overcome the town’s prejudices and his own personal demons to harness his repressed psychic powers in order to save everyone from the mass haunting threatening to destroy them all. GHOST WARS is produced by Nomadic Pictures. Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev (“Fargo,” “Van Helsing,” “Hell On Wheels”), Simon Barry (“Continuum”), Dennis Heaton (“Motive”) and David Von Ancken (“Code Black”) serve as executive producers. The series also stars Vincent D’Onofrio (“The Judge,” “Daredevil”), Kim Coates (“Sons of Anarchy”), Kandyse McClure (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, “Hemlock Grove”), Kristin Lehman (“Motive”) and Meatloaf (“Fight Club”).

SUPERSTITION – Series Premiere Friday, October 6 at 10/9c

The series centers on the Hastings family, owners of the only funeral home in the mysterious town of La Rochelle, Georgia. The family also acts as the keepers of the town’s dark secrets and history. Known for its haunted houses, elevated graveyards, odd townsfolk and rich history of unusual phenomena, the town is also a “landing patch” for the world’s darkest manifestations of fear, guided into the world by an ancient, mysterious malefactor. XLrator Media’s Barry Gordon and MVPTV’s Mario Van Peebles (“Roots,” “Bloodline,” “Hand of God,” “Empire,” “Lost”) will produce, and Van Peebles will also write, direct and star in some of the episodes. Joel Anderson Thompson (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, “Boomtown,” “House M.D.”) has been tapped as showrunner, and Laurence Andries (“Alias,” “Six Feet Under,” “Supernatural,” “The Pacific”) will executive produce.

ALTERNATIVE (in order of air date)

GAME FACE – Airing Tuesdays at 9/8c

SYFY’s all-new FACE OFF spinoff series, GAME FACE premiered on Tuesday, August 22 and will air Tuesdays at 9/8c. The seven-episode series is based on SYFY’s award-winning FACE OFF with an electrifying new twist. GAME FACE will feature former FACE OFF all-stars as they go head-to-head each week, with multiple make-up reveals and eliminations throughout each exciting episode. Every week, four artists will race against the clock to complete three challenges, with eliminations after every round, but only one artist will walk away with the $10,000 prize. McKenzie Westmore, a member of a multi-generational family dynasty whose name is synonymous with the make-up effects field, will host alongside the renowned judges, multiple Academy Award winner Ve Neill (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Hunger Games”) and Academy Award® winner Rick Baker (“Star Wars,” “The Exorcist”). GAME FACE will also feature a panel of rotating guest judges which includes Emmy Award winner Eryn Krueger Mekash (“The People V. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story,” “American Horror Story”), industry veteran Glenn Hetrick (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Spider-Man 3”) and creature designer Neville Page (“Avatar,” “Prometheus”). GAME FACE is a production of Mission Control Media with Dwight D. Smith, Michael Agbabian and Ian Mallahan serving as executive producers.

“Somewhere Dirk is waiting for us to find him, and he’ll know how to fix this…”

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency returns October 14th at 9/8c on BBC America!

Netflix released a teaser entitled “Demolition” for the next Marvel series to release on the streaming platform, Marvel’s The Punisher. Netflix is still coy on when exactly it will be released, only mentioning “2017” with the rest obscured…

Never give up, never surrender!

The Galaxy Quest series based on the 1999 movie has been in development for a while at Paramount, with Amazon signing on for distribution, but plans took a hit when Alan Rickman, who played Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus in the movie, passed away in January of 2016.

Now it seems things are picking up again, with the series still set for Amazon, with The League star and occasional writer Paul Scheer working on a script based on a new take for the series. No word on whether this version will feature any of the original cast. Mark Johnson is still attached as a producer.

NBC has been trying to bring back the classic sitcom The Munsters, and it looks like they are taking a swing at it again. Deadline reports that the network is on board for the development of the series led by Jill Kargman and Seth Meyers, from a concept from Odd Mom Out‘s Kargman. Kargman will write the script and executive produce with Meyers Mike Shoemaker for Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions and Universal TV.

NBC wanted to reboot the show, which follows the life of a monster family trying to fit into normal society, back in 2012, but opted to try a one-hour format to allow for more of a drama setting. That appeared to be a mistake, with only the pilot being produced and ultimately being shown as a Halloween special with moderate ratings. It did however feature Eddie Izzard as Grandpa, which I thought was an intriguing choice. After it aired, NBC head Bob Greenblat said, “I won’t say we won’t do another version of The Munsters again,” and apparently he meant it…but this time, it’s a sitcom.

An interesting twist is the family will be relocated from a fictional suburb of Los Angeles to “hipster Brooklyn”. No word if the address of 1313 Mockingbird Lane will remain…

A few quick tidbits…

The first TV series as part of he multimedia mega-production based on Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series has officially named its showrunner as former The Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara. We also understand that Idris Elba, who plays The Gunslinger in the feature film that opened today, will also be involved at some level.

The series takes place many years previous to the film and tells the origin story of Roland Deschain – a.k.a. the Gunslinger. It takes mostly from the fourth book, [asin=1501161830]Wizard and Glass[/asin], with flashbacks to the first book, [asin=1501161806]The Gunslinger[/asin].

We had a passing…actor Robert Hardy, best known as the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in several Harry Potter films and Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small, passed away yesterday at the age of 91. His career spanned 70 years, including playing Winston Churchill in 6 separate productions due to the accuracy of his portrayal. I remember seeing him in his first film role, 1958’s Torpedo Run.

Lastly, Mr. Robot‘s return for Season 3 has been announced for October 11th at 10/9c on USA Network, and also that Bobby Cannavale (Ant-Man) will join the cast. See the trailer below…

The Flash’s longtime ally Elongated Man – a.k.a. Ralph Dibny – will be joining the team on the CW’s The Flash this season as a recurring character, played by Hartley Sawyer (Glory Daze, Miss 2059).

Elongated Man has the ability to stretch his body to extremes. In the comics he gained this ability by refining a drink that was popular among the contortionists he admired. Presumably in the show it will be related in some way to the accident at Star Labs – in fact, he was named in the first season as one of the people presumed dead from the accident.