Sci-Fi Storm

Eureka‘s Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Warehouse 13‘s Allison Scagliotti have joined the production of Stitchers, an hour-long crime procedural drama with a bit of science fiction thrown in. The two were among three roles recast from the show’s pilot, with Ritesh Rajan (The Last Airbender, Campus Life) also joining existing cast members Emma Ishta (Manhattan Love Story) and Kyle Harris (The Carrie Diaries).

Stitchers follows Kirsten (Ishta), a young woman who is recruited into a secret government agency to be “stitched” into the minds of the recently deceased, using their memories to investigate murders and help solve mysteries before they go to the grave.

Working alongside Kirsten is Cameron (Harris), neuroscientist; Linus (Rajan), bioelectrical engineer and communications technician; Maggie (Richardson-Whitfield), who heads the program; and Kirsten’s roommate, Camille (Scagliotti), a computer science grad student recruited into the agency for her hacking skills.

Production began today in Los Angeles.

Stitchers was created by Jeffrey A. Schechter (Beethoven’s 3rd), who write the pilot and will executive produce with Jonathan Baruch and Rob Wolken. Todd Holland (The Larry Sanders Show, Malcolm in the Middle) will direct the premiere.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Colm Meaney and Camp‘s Charlotte Nicdao have joined the Syfy mini-series project Childhood’s End.

Meaney will Wainwright, a powerful news organization owner while Nicdao will play zoologist Rachel Osaka.

Childhood’s End follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious “Overlords,” whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.

Syfy today announced it is developing a one-hour drama series about a futuristic prison society, 51st State, from Fox 21 Television Studios.

Oscar nominee Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club), who sold the pitch to Syfy, will write the pilot. Peter Chernin (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Katherine Pope (New Girl) and Borten will serve as executive producers.

As 51st State unfolds, the United States, confronting a prison population stretched to the limit, purchases Greenland and converts it into a frontier prison colony with male and female convicts incarcerated together.

Promised conditional freedom, the inmates are driven to the edge of their humanity when that promise, along with others, is broken. Struggling to seize control and exact revenge, reluctant heroes emerge — but what exactly are they fighting for?

John Rhys-Davies, who has graced screens in a variety of genre roles and most famously as Gimli and Treebeard in The Lord Of The Rings, will go back to the fantasy realm as King Eventine, the patriarch in Shannara, MTV’s scripted series based on Terry Brooks’ novel [asin=0345285549]The Elfstones of Shannara[/asin], the second in the series.

The Shannara stories are based hundreds of years in the future in a post-apocalyptic Earth that has reverted to medieval times and in which magic has re-emerged. The most recent book, [asin=0345540700]The High Druid’s Blade[/asin], was release this past July and is the first of a new trilogy, The Defenders of Shannara.

Production is expected to begin next month in New Zealand.

Helix returns on Friday with a brand new location, divergent time periods, and a potential new threat!

At he end of last season, with the arctic base destroyed and Dr. Julia Walker kidnapped, we saw Alan and Peter track her down to Paris a year later, where she appeared to be in charge of the Ilaria Corporation, which is run by 500 immortal humans, of which Julia is one.

But in the Season 2 season premiere we jump in two different directions but the same location – a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest. In one case we see Peter, Sarah and newcomer Dr. Kyle Sommer (Matt Long) investigating possible Narvik infections, and come across a boat where a mysterious pathogen kills all but one of the passengers and leads them to the island, which is inhabited by a cult led by the mysterious Brother Michael (Steven Weber).

Interlaced with this we see Julia also arrive on the same island, some time in the future, where she is captured by someone in a cobbled-together protective suit, while apparently looking for Alan.

Check out the sneak peek below, along with a catch-up of last season’s events – then read on for a discussion with executive producer Steven Maeda and Kyra Sagorsky (Julia Walker) along with Syfy’s Bill McGoldrick about the upcoming season…
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Fox, which has been working on a TV Adaptation of the 2002 Tom Cruise sci-fi movie Minority Report, loosely based on a Philip K. Dick short story, since September, and now they’ve agreed to a pilot commitment, according to TVLine.

The story is about the “PreCrime” department, which stops crimes before they happen through the use of “Precogs”, people with the ability to see visions of the future. The TV adaptation will reportedly follow one of the three Precogs as attempts to lead a normal life despite the constant intrusion of visions.

No casting has taken place yet. West Wing and Franklin & Bash producer Kevin Falls will be executive producer and showrunner; Godzilla scribe Max Borenstein will write and also executive produce.

Next Friday, Syfy’s remake of 12 Monkeys debuts at 9/8c – here is a little preview, and see what we’ve said previously about the show here!

To get you ready, here are the first nine minutes of the show, plus a little behind-the-scenes as well!
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Despite the seemingly mixed chatter regarding Peter Capaldi’s rendition of the Doctor, or the chemistry between him and Jenna Coleman’s Clara, or the complex, confusing plots, Series 8 of Doctor Who proved to be the best yet for BBC America, culminating in a Christmas episode that was the #1 non-sports program in its time slot, but was more than double Matt Smith’s first Christmas episode, at 2.31 million viewers. Overall, Series 8 delivered a little over 2 million viewers on average on Live+3 ratings.

Deadline reports that Ernie Hudson will guest star in episode 15 of Once Upon A Time.

The former Ghostbuster will play Poseidon, who is know to be the father of Ariel (i.e. “The Little Mermaid”), with JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Reba) reprising her guest role, but apparently we will find out that he is also the father of Ursula, played by Merrin Dungey (Alias), who made a couple appearances so far this season including the mid-season finale.

The second half of the current season appears to be leaving their Frozen mini-sequel behind for a more up front battle with Disney villains, with Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold joining Ursula, Cruella DeVil (Victoria Smurfit) and Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten) in an attempt to find “The Author” and change their story.

Syfy today announced casting of the new acquired scripted series Dark Matter, which will feature Melissa O’Neil (Broadway production of Les Miserables), Marc Bendavid (Bitten), Anthony Lemke (White House Down), Alex Mallari Jr. (Robocop) and Jodelle Ferland (Twilight) with Roger Cross (The Strain) and Zoie Palmer (Lost Girl).

The series begins production in Toronto on January 7.

Created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie (executive producers and writers of the Stargate franchise), and developed with Prodigy Pictures (Lost Girl, XIII), the 13 one-hour episodes are based on the [asin=B00A7H2CHK]graphic novel Dark Matter[/asin] by Mallozzi and Mullie, published by Dark Horse Comics.

Dark Matter will premiere on Syfy in Summer 2015, joining Syfy’s stable of acquired international and domestic co-productions ranging from the hit series Z Nation to popular programs such as Lost Girl, Bitten and Continuum, and the upcoming series Olympus.

Executive producers are Jay Firestone, Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie and Vanessa Piazza. The series will be distributed internationally by Endemol Worldwide Distribution.

In Dark Matter, the crew of a derelict spaceship is awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got on board. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal and hidden secrets.

Founded in 2006 by Jay Firestone and later joined by executive producer Vanessa Piazza, Prodigy Pictures leads the way in the production of quality television, film, and cross-platform media. Prodigy is responsible for the critically-acclaimed television series Lost Girl, which has electrified viewers around the world and amassed a cult-like following. Lost Girl just wrapped production on its final season. Prodigy’s other credits include indie horror The Dark Stranger and the original television miniseries XIII as well as XIII: The Series.