Sci-Fi Storm

One of the CW’s Arrowverse shows will come to an end…and it’s the first and flagship show, Arrow. The show will have an 8th and final season of 10 episodes. Star Stephen Amell broke the news today on Twitter

Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life… but you can’t be a vigilante forever.

Arrow will return for a final run of 10 episodes this Fall.

There’s so much to say… for now I just want to say thank you.

— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) March 6, 2019

Arrow executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Beth Schwartz released a joint statement: “This was a difficult decision to come to, but like every hard decision we’ve made for the past seven years, it was with the best interests of Arrow in mind. We’re heartened by the fact that Arrow has birthed an entire universe of shows that will continue on for many years to come. We’re excited about crafting a conclusion that honors the show, its characters and its legacy and are grateful to all the writers, producers, actors, and — more importantly — the incredible crew that has sustained us and the show for over seven years.”

Arrow spawned a franchise for DC Comics on the CW, with three more successful shows – The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl, and a fifth series, Batwoman, is set to join next season.

The mission will continue for the CBS All Access flagship show as CBS has renewed Star Trek: Discovery for a third season. In addition, The Originals producer Michelle Paradise will join Alex Kurzman as co-showrunner after having joined the show as co-executive producer this season.

With Discovery and the upcoming Jean-Luc Picard series starring Patrick Stewart, CBS All Access appears all-in for Star Trek, so it will be interesting to see what they do next. It appears that they are poised to bring back Star Trek in multiple channels, much the way Disney has been working on Star Wars, with live action and animated shows all in development.

No, no, no. Just no. I feel like it’s April Fools Day, or my childhood is being punked. According to Deadline, Blue Ribbon Content (the digital studio of Warner Bros Television Group) is producing a “revival” movie of the late 60’s Sid and Marty Krofft/Hanna-Barbera live-action/animated kids variety show The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, or at least more specifically focusing on the anthropomorphic animal hosts and musicians of the show, Bingo, Fleegle, Drooper and Snorky, collectively known as “The Banana Splits”. The movie will get a direct-to-video release via Warner Bros Home Entertainment, followed by showings on Syfy.

But what disturbs me is that this isn’t a kids program – it’s a horror story.

Here is the synopsis: “In the upcoming horror thriller, a boy named Harley and his family (brother Austin, mother Beth, and father Mitch) attend a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn — and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape?”

I can’t understand why this would be called a revival. This isn’t a new series at all, but rather someone’s nightmare flashback turned into a script. Now as much of a fan I am of the old Krofft shows and would love to see them somehow represented again, I also admit I don’t think there is any way any of these shows would fly in today’s TV landscape. Translating these shows into other genres has been tried and failed miserably – remember Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost? But I absolutely CANNOT get on board with this. I can’t image the damage this will do to me. How can we stop it?

Actor Carmen Argenziano, probably best known for his role in The Godfather, Part II but better known in these circles as General Jacob Carter, Sam’s father in Stargate SG-1, who became a host for the Tok’ra Selmak to save Jacob’s life.

Argenziano had many acting credits in film and TV dating back to 1969, and was easy to spot in many guest roles, many on procedural dramas but with an occasional comedy, such as an appearance on Cheers as an angry husband who comes to the bar with a gun looking for the man who slept with his wife.

He is survived by his wife and three children.

Just wanted to point out, as a HUGE fan of the original Lost In Space, that a brand new DVD set featuring a widescreen remastering of all three seasons, plus extras including a remastered version of “Lost In Space Forever”, is being released this Tuesday, February 5th!

[sfs=1684]Pre-order now on Amazon[/sfs] and get it on the day of release! I’ve already ordered mine!

Just before tomorrow’s Season 4 premiere, Syfy has insured there is enough magic in the world for a fifth season of The Magicians!

“The Magicians raised the bar at Syfy and has gained momentum season after season, attracting a new audience to the channel. We are proud of this series as it continues to break the boundaries of storytelling,” according to
Bill McGoldrick, President of Scripted Content for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.

The series, based on the novels by Lev Grossman, follow the students of Brakebills University as they learn to harness magic – and defend magic against those who would destroy it.

Executive producer Henry Alonso Myers (Ugly Betty) joins as a co-showrunner alongside John McNamara and Sera Gamble who have shepherded the series since the first season.

A couple of recent Syfy items – first, Season 2 of Happy! will debut Wednesday, March 27th. A trailer has been release which you can see below. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, it follows former cop and now hit-man Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni) and and an imaginary blue unicorn only he can see (Patton Oswalt) as they hunt down child kidnappers.

In less, well, happy news, the anthology series Channel Zero was not renewed for a fifth season. The series devoted each short season to a different “creepypasta” – short horror stories told online. The final series, “The Dream Door”, aired this past October.

We are very saddened to learn of the passing of actor W. Morgan Sheppard, father of fellow actor Mark Sheppard, yesterday per an instagram post by his son.

View this post on Instagram

We went to spend some time with my father today. Though he couldn’t speak, we held hands, he laughed and was so happy to see us. We left and came home. A good day. He was rushed to hospital and passed at 6:30pm, my mother by his side. I am so grateful that he didn’t have to suffer any longer. Thank you for all your kind thoughts, love and prayers.

A post shared by Mark Sheppard (@realmarksheppard) on Jan 6, 2019 at 8:16pm PST

Sheppard appeared in many genre shows…I first saw him that I recall in Shogun, but what I most remembered him from originally was in the role of Blank Reg, the mohawked pirate radio operator in Max Headroom. He also played the memorable and eponymous “Soul Hunter” on Babylon 5, and even played the older version of his son’s character of Cantor Everett Delaware III in the Doctor Who episode “The Impossible Astronaut”. More recently he appeared in an episode of The Librarians. His jovial face and white beard also earned him the the title role in Farewell Mr. Kringle, and he voiced “The Big Guy” in the Prep & Landing specials.

Color me unsurprised, but The CW has ordered up a pilot for a Batwoman series starring Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black)  after the character appeared in the most recent Arrowverse crossover event. David Nutter, who directed the pilot episode of sibling show The Flash, will direct with a script from Caroline Dries (Smallville, The Vampire Diaries).

This would make the first openly gay lead series character in a live-action superhero series. Batwoman/Kate Kane (Rose) appeared in the three part “Elseworlds” crossover event spread across Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl, helping Gotham as a highly-trained street fighter but must face her own demons before she’s willing to take on the mantle of hero.

Dries, Nutter, Berlanti Productions’ Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and former DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns will executive produce.