Sci-Fi Storm

Think Syfy’s been doing the wrong thing with their programming choices? Apparently not. Syfy announced today that their viewership for the first quarter of 2011 was up 12 percent overall and 16 percent in Adults 18-34, boosted by freshman series Face Off (which averaged 1.53 million viewers) and Being Human (1.8 million), both of which were renewed for a second season.

Also cited were WWE Friday Night SmackDown, with a whopping 3.2 million viewers, and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, which set a new series high with the season 2 premiere last Wednesday with 1.19 million viewers, up a whopping 31 percent over the series debut in July 2010.

In the next sneak peek clip of the all-new episode of Merlin, Arthur and Merlin are riding horses through the forest as Merlin is questioning his motives and incessantly asks where they are headed. Arthur jokes that if he tells him he has to kill him, but Merlin suspects he’ll end up dead anyways, so Arthur might as well get it over with now. Arthur’s nagging about Merlin being pessimistic gets them stuck with others and potentially set up to be dealt to slave traders. Instead, Merlin is called on to fight a champion in the arena. Fearfully, he hopes it’s not so, but you will have to watch the clip and tune in on Friday at 10/9c on Syfy to find out!

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So the twitterverse is abuzz about the title of Episode 4 of the upcoming Doctor Who series, which is being taken as a spoiler. I’m not entirely sure myself as there could be many twists. Don’t read the below title if you don’t want any chance of being spoiled.
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Pilot season is getting crazy, and thanks to Twitter we get to learn all about the programs we aren’t likely to ever see. But Longmire, a mystery series based on the [asin=0143036424]novel series[/asin] by Chris Johnson about a sheriff in a county in Wyoming, seemed to be a sought-after script. Now through Twitter I’ve learned that both Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) and Lou Diamond Phillips (Stargate Universe) have landed roles opposite Robert Taylor (The Matrix).

Watch it right here! This is the first of three “prequels”, video shorts that will lead in to three full episodes through the series. This is the prequel for the first episode, “The Impossible Astronaut”. I left it at full resolution, which gives the site theme a bit of a fit, so you may want to embiggen your browser…

Update: Alas, the BBC no longer serves it to U.S. clients. BBC America does have it though on their site.

News broke late last night (being on the east coast has its drawbacks), but despite it’s move into the so-called “Death Slot”, Fox has renewed Fringe for a fourth season, even with ratings slipping somewhat in recent weeks, mostly due to college basketball and daylight savings time…

TOR.com has an interesting article called Looking Back With Kitsch: 7 Science Fiction TV Shows We Barely Remember, about some relatively short lived series that perhaps we’re better off not knowing. I remember all but one (a rare British SF show I am not familiar with), and I don’t think they were necessarily as bad as they say:
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Just hearing now that Comedy Central has renewed the resurrected Futurama for an additional 26 episodes to air in 2012 and 2013. The remaining 13 episodes from the first order are due to air this summer.

Futurama originally aired on Fox from 1999-2003, when it was canceled. 6 years later Comedy Central brought it back, with great success – Season 6 so far has average 2.5 million viewers.

The Cartoon Network announced at its upfront presentations today that they have renewed Star Wars: The Clone Wars for a fourth season, along with forming a new partnership with DC Comics and Warner Brothers to create a programming block to be titled DC Nation. In addition Jeffrey Katzenberg, Co-founder and CEO of DreamWorks Animation, appeared to announce that CN and DreamWorks will develop a half-hour cartoon based on the hugely successful How To Train Your Dragon feature.

DC Nation will begin in 2012 as a multi-platform franchise, and the exclusive home for DC properties. Although no specific programming is mentioned, it will include an on-air and online programming block populated with event programming, interstitials, exclusive behind-the-scenes of theatrical production and an insider look into the world of all things DC. “DC Nation on Cartoon Network will be the first-ever dedicated broadcast destination to showcase the depth and breadth of the DC Universe,” said Diane Nelson, President of DC Entertainment. “We and our partners at WBTV are thrilled that fans will be able to immerse themselves in DC’s phenomenal stories, experience a wide spectrum of amazing characters and stay up-to-date on the latest happenings of the world’s greatest superheroes and their creators, both on-air and online.”

“DreamWorks Animation recognizes the importance of building brands around great franchises, so you can imagine how thrilled we are to be joining forces with Cartoon Network to bring our newest franchise – How to Train Your Dragon – to television audiences around the world,” said Katzenberg. Dragon has grossed over $500 million worldwide so far.

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Per TV|Line, the premiere date for Torchwood: Miracle Day in the U.S. has been set for July 8th on Starz. No word if the BBC will match it yet, or will still use the originally rumored July 1st date.

Torchwood: Miracle Day is jointly produced by Starz and the BBC, with the Torchwood team dividing time between Britain and the U.S. Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and Gwen (Eve Myles) return, and this time are being joined by Mekhi Phfifer (ER) and Alexa Havins (All My Children), and the cast also includes Bill Pullman (Independence Day) and Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under).