Sci-Fi Storm

We now have the last (known) member of Robinson family. Mina Sundwall (Maggie’s Plan, Freeheld) is set to play Penny Robinson in the upcoming Lost In Space remake for Netflix.

Just recently announced was Ignacio Serricchio as Don West. Both are joining Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Max Jenkins (Will Robinson), Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson) and Parker Posey (Dr. Smith).

The remake is set to take off sometime in 2018, and will take cues from the original, but it remains to be seen if they try to adhere to the seriousness of the early episodes, or the pure camp of most of the series – or somewhere in between.

Ahead of its second season premiere, Syfy is taking a deep dive into the world of The Expanse, the series that’s been called “the best science fiction show in a decade” by NPR. An original half-hour special titled The Expanse: Expanded and an immersive 360-degree set tour — both hosted by Adam Savage, editor in chief of Tested.com and former co-host of MythBusters – is now online at Syfy.com, and the video is also show below. The special will also air on Syfy on Wednesday, December 28 @ 11/10c.

The Expanse: Expanded features exclusive interviews with the series’ cast, crew and creators, who share behind-the-scenes secrets and never-before-seen content from the acclaimed first season – lifting the curtain and revealing what it takes to build the mesmerizing worlds of Earth, Mars and the Asteroid Belt. Joining them are scientists, astronauts, journalists and loyal viewers, who explain why The Expanse is one of the most realistic and compelling visions of the future seen on television today. Additionally, when The Expanse: Expanded makes its broadcast debut on January 28, it will feature an exclusive sneak peek from the series’ highly anticipated second season.

“I’m a superfan of The Expanse, so I was very excited to spend time on set to see how the show is made and to talk to the people responsible for creating its immersive world: the costumes, the props, the sets, the special effects,” says Savage. “The series’ attention to detail is just extraordinary. I can’t wait to share with viewers everything I learned.”

Additionally, a full 360-degree tour of the set — led by Savage and producer and “The Expanse” book series co-author Daniel Abraham — will allow fans to virtually experience the rich world of the series. Debuting in tandem with the special today on Syfy.com, the tour includes the spectacular multi-level Rocinante ship and its accompanying stages.

The Expanse unfolds across a colonized galaxy 200 years in the future, when two strangers — hardened detective Joe Miller (Thomas Jane) and rogue captain James Holden (Steven Strait) — become unwittingly swept up in a vast conspiracy. Based on the New York Times bestselling book series collectively known as “The Expanse,” written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (under the pen name James S. A. Corey), The Expanse also stars Shohreh Aghdashloo, Dominique Tipper, Cas Anvar, Wes Chatham and Frankie Adams.

Season 2 of The Expanse is set to premiere Wednesday, February 1 on Syfy. Season 1 is available now via on demand and on Syfy.com, and on Amazon Prime (starting December 21).

Could the great mystery be over? Both Entertainment Weekly and Deadline report that The Walking Dead’s Sonequa Martin-Green has been cast as the lead role on Star Trek: Discovery, so far only referred to as “Number One”, referring both to the character in the original series’ pilot “The Cage”, and the general reference to the first officer. But she may also have a name now – Lieutenant Commander Rainsford. CBS Television Studios has not commented.

Martin-Green has for the last several years played Sasha on The Walking Dead, and reportedly will continue in that role as well.

Now it appears that the production can finally move forward, hopefully making its May broadcast debut on CBS before moving to the CBS All Access streaming service for the remainder of its run in the U.S.

The Netflix remake of Lost In Space announced today that they have found their Major Don West in Ignacio Serricchio, who played Miguel in Zoe Ever After and had a recurring role in Bones. He will star opposite previously announced Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Max Jenkins (Will Robinson), Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson) and Parker Posey (Dr. Smith).

Also today we know who will be playing Klingons in Star Trek: Discovery. Chris Obi will play the leader of the Klingons T’Kuvma, who is trying to unite the Klingon houses (and we know what a hard job he has…); Shazad Latif will play Commander Kol, a protégé of T’Kuvma; and Mary Chieffo will play L’Rell, the Battle Deck Commander of a Klingon ship. We are still waiting to find out who will play the lead role of “Number One”.

With brain-swapping aliens poised to attack, the Doctor and Nardole link up with an investigative reporter and a mysterious figure known only as The Ghost. Can the Doctor save Manhattan? And what will be revealed when we see behind the mask?

Starring Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Matt Lucas (Nardole), Justin Chatwin (Grant), Charity Wakefield (Lucy), Tomiwa Edun (Mr Brock), Aleksandar Jovanovic (Dr Sim) and Logan Huffman.

Syfy has given a 13-episode direct-to-series order to Superstition, a supernatural genre series produced by XLrator Media and Mario Van Peebles’ newly launched TV production company MVPTV, which is set to begin production in early 2017 and air on Syfy later in the year.

XLrator Media’s Barry Gordon and MVPTV’s Mario Van Peebles will produce, and Van Peebles (Roots, Bloodline, Hand of God, Empire, Lost) 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. The dynamic writing team of Brusta Brown and John Mitchell Todd (Defiance, Mech-X4) have also boarded the series. XLrator Media holds international distribution and sales rights.

The series centers around the Mosley family, owners of the only funeral home in a fictitious town on the outskirts of New Orleans and 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 named The Dredge.

“Superstition is an intelligent, boundary-pushing genre series rich in supernatural lore and myths, featuring an eccentric family who have an unusual connection to an otherworldly plane, and the dark force that unleashes the demons, creatures and monsters that haunt our nightmares. There is a voracious global audience always seeking the next well-crafted genre series as evidenced by the success of American Horror Story, Stranger Things, Supernatural, True Blood, Six Feet Under and others. Superstition is being produced and created by people who love and appreciate genre content. XLrator is proud to partner with Syfy and Mario Van Peebles on our first network television series,” said XLrator Media CEO Barry Gordon.

“The incredible things we used to do in independent film, we can now do in television. This is truly a golden era for exciting, provocative television.” said Mario Van Peebles.

“A town where all superstitions, myths and legends are true offers a rich cultural, atmospheric and macabre playground for Mario Van Peebles, Barry Gordon, Joel Anderson Thompson and Laurence Andries to explore. We are excited to work with this terrific team and look forward to bringing this unique story to Syfy,” said Chris Regina, Senior Vice President, Syfy Programming.

Andries is repped by UTA, and Thompson, Brown and Todd are repped by The Cartel.

It seems Doctor Who isn’t the only SF program in a festive mood this holiday season…Netflix has announced that a two-hour Christmas Special of Sense8 will debut globally on the streaming service Friday, December 23rd at 12:01am Pacific Time.

In addition, the second season will debut on Friday, May 5th, at 12:01am PT. Season 2 will pick up where Season 1 left off, with the Sensates on the run from the Whispers while learning how to come together mentally and physically to live with and protect each other.

Tonight is the premiere of Syfy’s Incorporated (10/9c), an ambitious drama from creators David and Alex Pastor (Carriers) and produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and starring Sean Teale, Julia Ormand, Dennis Haysbert, Allison Miller and Eddie Ramos.

The setting is cut from the same cloth as it seems all futuristic shows and movies these days – a near-future dystopian world. In this case global warming has caused the oceans to rise significantly, with both coasts of the US now under water, and governments were unprepared. Corporations now control the world as they now control the food. And the remaining land is divided into “Green Zones” and “Red Zones”.

Green Zones are where the corporations are, and the people who work for them. Lush, clean, green, almost utopian but in a 1984-ish way. Corporate employees live in the Green Zone, and regularly line up in long security lines to get into work. They do their work and they leave, while trying to edge up the corporate ladder. Everyone else lives in the Red Zone – the slums – where they scratch out an existence while just out of sight of those in the Green Zone – well hidden by walls and holograms, so the Green Zone inhabitants can be blissfully unaware of what lurks outside.

Ben Larson (Teale) came from the Red Zone, but he has managed to work his way up at Spiga Corporation. He’s married the Laura, the daughter of Spiga’s head of US operations (Elziabeth Krauss, played by Julia Ormond) who has grown up with privilege, and they are looking to have a child naturally, which is very unusual when you can pick the genetic makeup of a child like choosing the options of a car. He has another purpose though – he’s looking for his former girl from the Red Zone who may be part of the corporate machine now. In the meantime head of Spiga security and former military officer Julian Morse (Dennis Haysbert) is trying to track down a mole at Spiga.

Nothing so far seems very original, and has been done a number of times before. But they do have a decent framework that should allow the characters, story and intrigue to develop. The potential is all there. Visually it is there. It will take some time to develop, but hopefully they get there quickly enough. Stick it out and see if this escapes the dystopian hole.

Let me see if I can sum this up, as it seems a lot has happened very rapidly…MGM and Amazon struck a deal to develop a series based on the 1984 film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and signed on Kevin Smith, the creator of Clerks and all the other Jay and Silent Bob movies and the guy I’d most like to just hang out and have a beer with, as the showrunner. But original writer Earl Mac Rauch and director Walter D. Richter claim they have the rights to a TV series. So MGM preemptively filed a lawsuit to have a court to seek declaration of the rights.

Telling fans in a Facebook video (shown below) that the lawsuit was “news to me,” Smith announced that he has dropped out of the project.

“I’m no longer involved. I don’t wish anybody harm; I wish all parties well. I hope these dudes come to an agreement, and if they do and they still want me involved down the road, I’ll be here. But why would they?”

He also said that no money has been spent so far on the show or anything like that, so no one is being displaced at this point.

Hopefully this can be settled soon, and really hopefully, amicably, although it seems the latter is a long shot.

Hit Syfy series Z Nation has been renewed for a fourth season! Planned for 13 episodes to air later in 2017, the series follows a group avoid zombies (called “Zs”) while they try to transport the only survivor of a zombie bite, Murphy (Keith Allan) to a research facility to hopefully find a vaccine. Season 3 involved Murphy going independent and forming a community of Blends (humans he infected with his own bite that allowed him to control them but also be immune to the Zs. The series also stars Kellita Smith, DJ Qualls, Anastasia Baranova, Nat Zang and Emilio Rivera.

Star Trek: Discovery casting appears to have shifted into high gear. In addition to the casting of Michelle Yeoh previously announced (although we are now hearing her name is Captain Georgiou), Doug Jones (The Strain, Falling Skies) and Anthony Rapp (Rent, A Beautiful Mind) have joined the cast.

Jones will play Lt. Saru, from a new alien species, who is a science officer for Starfleet, while Rapp will play Lt. Stamets, an astromycologist (a space fungus expert…) on the Discovery.

The lead role, a lieutenant commander on the Discovery simply known as Number One (and speculated to later be the first officer of the Enterprise under Captain Pike), has yet to be cast.