Sci-Fi Storm

Woke up this morning to the news – SYFY has elected not to pick up The Expanse for a fourth season – but that doesn’t mean it is dead just yet.

We are hearing that the decision may have been due to the deal the network had for the series, only allowing first run linear rights in the U.S., as opposed to complete streaming rights as well. This makes live viewers more important, and Season 3 thus far is running around 1 million total viewers, of which 40% of that is in the 18-49 demographic, and sits it below SYFY’s other show.

However, producers Alcon Entertainment are hopeful the show will go on. “We respect Syfy’s decision to end this partnership but given the commercial and critical success of the show,” said Alcon’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson in a statement. “We fully plan to pursue other opportunities for this terrific and original IP.” While this is traditionally a huge longshot for any show, my gut feeling is that they might have a better chance than most.

This chops yet another space-based show from the lineup. Killjoys I believe is the sole show with Nighflyers coming up.

It’s been a while since we said anything about the Mark Wahlberg starrer Six Billion Dollar Man project, but it was ready to go in front of cameras in a couple months and be released next May, or so we thought. Now it appears that scriptwriter and director Damian Szifron is off the project, apparently due to creative differences over his script and possibly a “language barrier” – Szifron (Wild Takes) is Argentinian, and this appears to be his first major English language project.

12 Monkeys will air its fourth and final season next month on SYFY, and the network will air the 11-episode season over four weeks, with a 3-episode premiere on Friday, June 15th from 8-11pm ET, and the final two episodes on June 6th from 9-11pm. Check out the teaser…

Fiona Dourif is set to join SYFY’s upcoming The Purge, based on the movie franchise of the same name. Dourif will play Good Leader Tavis, described as a “cool and offbeat” charismatic cult leader. Considering her wonderfully bizarre turn as Bart Curlish on Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, I’m looking forward to “offbeat”…

The CW picked up The 100 for a sixth season, just two weeks after season 5 started airing. The show was left behind when the network renewed the bulk of its lineup last month, but it received the renewal yesterday after showing decent ratings on its return.

SYFY and Universal Cable Productions (UCP) today announced Channel Zero’s fourth installment will be titled Channel Zero: The Dream Door. Nick Antosca, who has an overall deal with UCP, will return as executive producer, writer and showrunner for the upcoming installment. It will be directed by Evan Katz (Small Crimes, Cheap Thrills), who will also co-executive produce. The installment will star Brandon Scott (Grey’s Anatomy), Maria Sten (Straight Outta Compton), Steven Robertson (Elementary) and Steven Weber (Wings) and will premiere on SYFY later this year.

Based on the “creepypasta” short story “Hidden Door” by Charlotte Bywater, Channel Zero: The Dream Door follows newlyweds Jillian and Tom, who have each brought secrets into their marriage. When they discover a strange door in their basement, those secrets start to threaten their relationship — and their lives.

Brandon Scott will star as “Tom Hodgson,” Jillian’s husband (and childhood best friend), a capable and thoughtful man who is deeply in love with his wife. But he’s troubled when secrets from their past threaten the marriage.

Scott previously appeared in the third installment of the series, Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block. His other television credits include Guerrilla, Grey’s Anatomy, The Middle, Masters Of Sex, and Stitchers, as well as a recurring role on Loosely Exactly Nicole. Scott recently wrapped a lead role in the indie film Village People, and also appeared in Stand-Up Guys and Wreck It Ralph. He is represented by Sweeney Entertainment and Innovative Artists.

Maria Sten will star as “Jillian Hope Hodgson,” a landscape designer who has just married her childhood best friend. They’ve just moved into the house where he grew up — a house they hope to transform, through their combined skills, into their dream home.

Danish American actress Maria Sten recently appeared in Straight Outta Compton and the digital series Persuasion. Sten debuted her first short film When It Burns — which she wrote, directed, produced and starred in — at Uptown Short Film Festival and LA Shorts Fest 2016. She is represented by Grandview and CAA.

Steven Robertson will play “Ian,” Tom and Jillian’s next door neighbor, an open-minded psychology grad student who becomes involved in Tom and Jillian’s bizarre experience with the mysterious door in their basement.

Robertson is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School’s prestigious drama division. He recently guest starred on CBS’ hit series Elementary and just wrapped production on the independent feature film Auggie. He is also the front man for NY-based rock band Red Jetty. He is represented by Gersh and Echo Lake Entertainment.

Steven Weber will recur as “Abel Carnacki,” Jillian’s therapist. He has been listening to Jillian long enough to know about her trust issues and where they stem from. His quiet, controlled, almost hard to read tone is sometimes infuriating for Jillian, especially when she tries to talk to him about what — or who — was behind the door in their basement.

Weber soared to national attention for his role on Wings, which he starred on for seven seasons. He is also known for his roles in the television version of The Shining and in The Kennedys of Massachusetts. In film, Weber can be seen in Single White Female and The Temp, as well as the title character in the gay romantic comedy, Jeffrey. Most recently, Weber can be seen in the recurring role of Councilman Douglas Hamilton on NCIS: New Orleans. He also appears in Thirteen Reasons Why as Principal Gary Bolan and will make appearances on the upcoming season of Ballers. He has also performed on Broadway in The Real Thing, The Producers and The Philanthropist. Weber is represented by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

I’m still getting caught up after some personal travel and a variety of various things related to the end of the school year, musicals, plays, etc. – so, so busy! So here is a quick recap of notables this past week!

Star Wars will get animated again, but this time it will have an anime-inspired style. Disney has ordered up and production started on Star Wars Resistance, which is set in the period preceding Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The show will follow young Kazuda Xiono, a pilot recruited to spy on the growing First Order. Familiar and new characters will be featured, including BB-8, Poe Dameron (voiced by Oscar Isaac) and Captain Phasma (voiced by Gwendoline Christie). It will premiere this Fall on the Disney Channel in the U.S., followed by regular airings on Disney XD worldwide.

YouTube has cast two familiar Harry Potter alums in its upcoming SF thriller series Origin. Tom Felton and Natalia Tena will join newcomer Sen Mitsuji to star in the series which follows a group of strangers who are stranded on a spacecraft bound for a distant planet and must work together to survive.

SYFY has elected not to pick up the Tremors series, which would have brought back Kevin Bacon. Bacon posted on Instagram, “#Tremors Sad to report that my dream of revisiting the world of Perfection will not become a reality. Although we made a fantastic pilot (IMHO) the network has decided not to move forward. Thanks to our killer cast and everyone behind the scenes who worked so hard. And always keep one eye out for GRABOIDS!”

Paramount apparently plans to move forward with two separate Star Trek films simultaneously. We already knew about the Tarantino-helmed R-rated production, but now it appears that Tarantino’s project is in some way independent of the current Kelvin-timeline movies, but it is very hazy what that means yet. It could be a different ship and crew, or it could be yet another timeline. Instead, a new Kelvin-timeline movie to follow up Star Trek Beyond is now getting started, with female British director S.J. Clarkson in negotiations to take point – which would make her the first female to head a film in the frachise’s history. This film would also bring back Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk, James Kirk’s father, who appeared in a cameo in 2009’s Star Trek.

Last but not least, Battlestar Galactica and Longmire star Katee Sackhoff will launch back into space aboard the Netflix series Another Life, about astronaut Niko Breckinridge (Sackhoff) on a mission to search for extraterrestrial intelligence and explore an alien artifact.

For the first time Nielsen is releasing viewer data on a streaming program – and for it they’ve chosen Netflix’s Lost In Space, released April 13th.

An estimated 6.3 million viewers watched the premiere within the first three days of release. In addition, since Netflix releases all episodes simultaneously, they reported that 1.2 million viewers watched the tenth and final episode in those same three days, showing the level of binge-watching. I’m sure that number will grow.

I can’t give a review yet as I was traveling when it was released and I’m only about 2.5 episodes in…but it is intriguing so far.

It appears to be the end of the road for Ash Williams after three movies (and a cameo in the 2013 soft remake/continuation, plus a prototype film), comics, video games and now three seasons on TV. Starz has elected not to renew Ash vs. Evil Dead, and as such the third season finale on April 29th will serve as the series finale.

The gory horror-comedy franchise was created by Sam Raimi, with longtime partner Rob Tapert producing. It follows Ash (played like no one else could by Bruce Campbell) as he encounters the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, a Sumerian book which unleashes the undead upon the inhabitants of a cabin in the woods, and later transports him to middle-ages England to fight the forces of the dead again.

Campbell tweeted:

Ash Vs Evil Dead has been the ride of a lifetime. Ash Williams was the role of a lifetime.

I will always be grateful to Starz, Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and our tireless fans for the opportunity to revisit the franchise that launched our careers. Thank you! 😎 pic.twitter.com/oNmTopS1Ab

— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) April 20, 2018

Actor Tim O’Connor, best known for playing the role of Elliott Carson on the original primetime soap opera Peyton Place, but also around here would be known for his role of Dr. Elias Huer in the first season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, passed away on April 5th in his sleep at home in Nevada City. He was 90.

The Chicago-born O’Connor’s long career spanned stage and screen. His first on-screen appearance was an uncredited role in 1949’s Master Minds. Over his career he made many guest appearances, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, M*A*S*H, The Streets of San Francisco,Wonder Woman, Dynasty, All in the Family and more.

USA Network’s Colony has added four cast members for the upcoming third season, which starts May 2nd.

Peyton List (Gotham) will play Amy Leonard, a doctor and member of the San Fernando cell, who embarks on a dangerous journey with Eric Broussard (Tory Kittles) to deliver valuable secrets to Resistance fighters combating the Occupation.

A Boston native, List studied at the School of American Ballet in New York City and began her career as a model and actress at the age of eight. Since then, she had various modeling jobs for Dooney & Bourke, as well as Clean & Clear, and belongs to the Eileen Ford modeling agency in New York. At the start of her acting career, List played the role of Lucy Montgomery on As the World Turns and went on to guest star on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Sex and the City and Smallville. List can also be seen in films including The Greatest Game Ever Played and Conjuring Aurora.

Graham McTavish (Preacher) will play Andrew MacGregor, the leader of the most successful Resistance camp in what used to be the western United States. He’s held the camp together through a combination of discipline and charisma but is forced to adjust his plans once Will and Katie Bowman (Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies) arrive with vital information that could forever change the Resistance’s outlook.

Originally a Scottish television and film actor, McTavish is best known for his roles in Outlander, The Hobbit trilogy for Peter Jackson and Preacher, based on Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s cult comic book series. McTavish has also starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in Rambo and Creed, making him the only actor to perform opposite Rocky and Rambo. Additional credits include Red Dwarf, 24, Rome, The Finest Hour and Colombiana. McTavish has also lent his voice work to games and animated TV, including Uncharted 2, 3 and 4, Call of Duty, Dante’s Inferno, Hulk v Thor, The Avengers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Kung Fu Panda.

Wayne Brady (Sofia The First) will play Everett Kynes, a highly successful tech entrepreneur who has risen in this new world to become the head of the rebuilt Seattle Colony. Kynes’ technology was used – and misused – by the human collaborators before the Arrival, leaving him with a chip on his shoulder… and a unique relationship with the invaders. Kynes is both brilliant and has a messianic belief in his own vision for the future.

Born in Columbus, Georgia, Brady began his career performing in numerous stage productions including A Chorus Line, Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, Jesus Christ Superstar and I’m Not Rappaport. Upon moving to Los Angeles in 1996, he performed at the prestigious Mark Taper Forum in its production of Blade to the Heat and garnered guest starring roles on television series as I’ll Fly Away, The Home Court and In the Heat of the Night. Brady has since lent his voice to multiple TV series including TripTank, Phineas and Ferb and, most recently, Sofia The First. Additional credits include The Loud House, Real Husbands of Hollywood, How I Met Your Mother and American Dad!

Waleed Zuwaiter (Altered Carbon) will play Vincent, a moral man who finds himself caught in an impossible position while working for a powerful Resistance group. He will ultimately have to choose between supporting the Bowmans and holding on to old loyalties.

Currently starring alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the indie Unfollow The Rules, as well as The Angel, Zuwaiter recently wrapped the indie Saint Judy and Altered Carbon. He will next be seen in William, directed by Tim Disney, and Billionaire Boys Club. Additional credits include 20th Century Woman, The Free World and Prison Break. TV guest star roles include Masters of Sex, The Blacklist, House of Cards, Homeland, Madam Secretary and The Good Wife.

In the wake of a mysterious alien invasion, a family fights to stay together in a new world order. The third season of COLONY begins six months after the Bowmans’ escape from the Los Angeles bloc as Will (Josh Holloway) and Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies) struggle to rebuild their family in the world beyond the walls. When their peaceful existence is shattered, they are sent on an odyssey that will finally reveal the horrifying truth behind Earth’s mysterious occupiers and once again force our heroes to choose sides.

Created by executive producers Carlton Cuse (The Strain, Bates Motel, Lost) and Ryan Condal (Rampage), the critically acclaimed drama is co-produced by Legendary Television and Universal Cable Productions. Colony also stars Holloway, Callies, Tory Kittles, Peter Jacobson and Alex Neustaedter.

Starting to get excited…but am I the only one sensing this could just as easily be a prequel to Guardians of the Galaxy if you just swapped some characters around?

In Theaters May 25th!

Camelopardus! I’ve been wanting to do a retro review for quite a while – it’s been a while. But I’ve dug out some of my old DVDs that I purchased but never got to watch…and for this, I’m going back into my childhood (way back…) in the 70s world of Saturday Morning Television.

Back in the days where you had just a handful of channels and had to adjust antennas to point in the right direction depending on the weather, Saturday mornings were the domain of kids programming. Primarily cartoons, occasionally there would be a live action show as well. In the cartoon universe, there were the major players like Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros, there was also Filmation, who was firmly entrenched in Saturday morning programming since the 60s, working on early DC Comics shows featuring Superman and Batman as well as the Archie comics. In 1973, they produced Star Trek: The Animated Series. By the mid 70s they had quite a few cartoons in heavy rotation…but then they decided to break out into live action shows. Shazam! (which is being developed for a feature film) and The Secrets of Isis, but the two I remember most were Ark II and Space Academy, being the science fiction-crazed kid I was. Both shows only lasted 15 shows, but they were repeated often and I would watch any chance I could get. Both were released on DVD in 2006. Neither are currently in production, but you might be able to pick them up from resellers. Check out [sfs=698]Amazon[/sfs].

Space Academy was my favorite. It was like Star Trek for kids, featuring kids – well, primarily teens and young adults playing teens. It is set on board a traveling academy built on an asteroid founded in the year 3272 (it is never specified when the series itself is set), where the best and brightest gathered to study and explore the mysteries of space. The show focuses on the Academy’s “Blue Team”.

Starring in the show were:

• Jonathan Harris, best known for Lost In Space as Commander Gampu, the 300 year old head of Space Academy
• Ric Carrott as Chris Gentry, the captain of Blue Team. Ric also played the original Chuck Cunningham, Ritchie’s older brother, on the episode of Love, American Style that served as a backdoor pilot for Happy Days.
• Pamelyn Ferdin as Laura Gentry, Chris’s younger sister with which he shares a psychic bond. She made many appearances on shows in the 60s and 70s, and starred in Lassie.
• Brian Tochi as Tee Gar, the medical officer of the team and also has super-human strength through his martial Arts. Brian may best be known for his run as Takeshi in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, Nogata in the Police Academy movies, and the voice of Leonardo in the Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles movies.
• Maggie Cooper as Adrian Pryce-Jones, third in command of the team and the team’s technical expert. This was Maggie’s first role, but she would later star in the Chuck Norris film An Eye for an Eye and had a recurring role on Falcon Crest.
• Ty Henderson as Paul Jerome, a transfer from the Red Team, his introduction shows him as a tough loner but he warms up to the team quickly and his high intelligence aids the team. Ty would later guest star in a number of shows, including recurring roles in Madame’s Place and Santa Barbara.
• Eric Greene as Loki, who was found as a lone orphan on the planet Zalon. He joins the team, which vows to find where he came from (although this is largely forgotten after the first few episodes.) Eric went from acting to get a law degree and works in civil rights and is also an author.
• Erica Scheimer as the voice of Peepo the robot, who gets into as much trouble as Loki. Erica is the daughter of Filmation founder Lou Scheimer, and did many voices on Filmation shows.

The show is probably what you’d expect for a Saturday morning kids show. The budget wasn’t enormous, although they did well with what they had – the visual effects were good but often relied on stock footage. Planets were obviously on small soundstages redressed in different ways. To avoid needing expensive spacesuits, they simply had “life support” devices that presumably provided an invisible energy barrier to protect the wearer, like the life support belts used in Star Trek: The Animated Series. But the model of Space Academy was decent, and I really liked the overall design of the Seeker, their primary ship. Occasionally, the effects were laughable, such as the stop-motion creature in the second episode. In a “long shot”, you’d see the worm-like creature with arms flailing about – but the create had an ability to be invisible – coincidentally whenever the actors were shown…

Being kid oriented, stories were somewhat simplistic. The show was in 30-minute episodic format, with little carrying through from episode to episode – normal for the time. And since it was aimed at kids, so there would be some sort of lesson or moral to each. Heck, I think there was more to learn from these shows than the so-called “E/I” tagged shows these days.

The acting wouldn’t win any awards, but again this was Saturday morning kid stuff and an early venture into live-action programming for the studio. I suspect it was perhaps more at the production level plus the inexperience of some of the actors. I didn’t care at 10 years old though, and I . The late, great Jonathan Harris, as he generally did, performed every scene with an all-in attitude regardless of the material, and could make everything work. Pamelyn and Brian, having the most experience, did seem to excel at delivery more than most.

Speaking of Pamelyn Ferdyn and Brian Tochi, a bit of trivia – the two had previously worked together in the episode “And the Children Shall Lead” in the original Star Trek, where they were two of the children who took over the ship. And I have to say, I had a crush on Pamelyn back then – she had such a cute face and I recognized here across her many guest appearances on various shows, including The Odd Couple and The Brady Bunch.

Guest appearances were hit-and-miss. Not because of the performances but the characters were a bit…odd. Again because it’s a kids show, it seems like they would choose a guest character to be visually interesting to a kid, but not necessarily in a way that fits the role the character is in – I want to say more clownish/comical, but not really that. Just as an example, in the episode “Johnny Sunseed”, the eponymous character is there to inspect the Academy, but the portrayal and dress of the character is more like someone who would be panning for gold in the Old West with a twist of pirate including a parrot on his shoulder. He’s also a technophobe inspecting one of the most advanced space stations…

If some of the voices sound familiar, you’ve probably heard them many, many times on other Filmation shows. Even Lou Scheimer himself is uncredited as a voice in a couple episodes. I recognized the voice from other cartoons, but never realized it was Lou! Even some of the live action guests were better known for their voice work, such as the aforementioned Johnny Sunseed, played by Dal McKennon, who’s voice work includes Lady and the Tramp, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and over a 100 others.

And in the spirit of “don’t build a new one if you can re-use what we have”, not only does a heavily modified Robby the Robot make a guest appearance, but all the sounds and incidental music were recycled, mainly from Star Trek and Star Trek: The Animated Series. And then ultimately, after the show ended the sets and models got re-used in a sequel series, Jason of Star Command – which should show up in a Retro Review soon as well!

Despite it showing its age and probably not appealing to a modern science fiction fan, I still LOVED this show. I’m so glad I finally took the time to watch it again. I miss being a kid.