Sci-Fi Storm

Next Sunday will mark the debut of Syfy’s latest fairy tale mini-series, Neverland, which will air in two parts on Sunday, December 4th, and Monday, December 5th, at 9/8c. Unlike the previous mini-series (Tin Man and Alice), it is not a twisted retelling of the story, but actually an origin prequel which explains how Peter became the “boy who never grew up”, how James Hook became a pirate captain who battles Peter, and how they and the Lost Boys found themselves in a place called Neverland where no one grows old. It stars Rhys Ifans as James Hook, Charlie Rowe as Peter Pan, and Anna Friel as pirate captain Elizabeth Bonny, along with Bob Hoskins (reprising his Hook role as Smee), Charles Dance (Dr. Fludd), Q’orianka Kilcher (the Native American princess Aaya), and Keira Knightley (the voice of Tinker Bell).
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Here is another trailer for the upcoming Peter Pan origin story Neverland, starring Rhys Ifans, Bob Hoskins, Kiera Knightley and Charlie Rowe. Neverland airs on Syfy on December 4th and 5th at 9/8c – expect a review soon!

Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years, The West Wing, and super-smart geek girl) and Olympic speed skating champion Apolo Ohno will take on a deadly mythical beast in the new Syfy Saturday Original Movie Tasmanian Devil, which will begin production in British Columbia this month.

Kenneth Mitchell (Jericho) will also star in Tasmanian Devil, which is scheduled to premiere on Syfy in 2012.

In the movie, scheduled to premiere on Syfy in 2012, base jumpers in a remote Tasmanian national park are pursued by grizzly bear-sized Tasmanian Devils – legendary creatures created to protect the land from intruders.

Tasmanian Devil is a production of Vesuvius Productions.

Syfy announced a trio new scripted projects in development with Universal Cable Productions, CBS TV Studios and Fox Television Studios as the channel continues to expand it’s stable of original scripted programming, currently led by the quartet of Warehouse 13, Alphas, Eureka and Haven.

Leading the charge is an untitled project by Robert Hewitt Wolfe for Universal Cable Productions, which is about the Starship Defender on an expedition in search of lost worlds requiring law and order. Sounds a bit like Andromeda, which isn’t surprising: Wolfe was the series showrunner and developer, and has written and produced a number of other shows, notably Syfy’s Alphas.
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Syfy Films, created last December as an offshoot of Syfy Ventures in partnership with Universal Pictures, made it’s first rights acquisition for George R.R. Martin’s anthology series Wild Cards, announced today by Syfy Films Senior Vice President of Production Gregory Noveck. Melinda Snodgrass (The Outer Limits, Star Trek: The Next Generation) will write the script, with herself and Martin exec producing.
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Vampires are so passé (well, we still love Being Human); Zombies are all the rage now. Even the CDC has a “Preparedness 101” comic on how to survive a zombie attack (seriously they do, although it is tongue-in-cheek). The Walking Dead is breaking records. Finally, zombies are coming to Syfy!

Zombie Apocalypse, starring Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible) and Taryn Manning (Hustle & Flow), debuts next Saturday, October 28th, at 9pm as a feature of the 31 Days of Halloween. Catch a sneak peek below, and never forget…just because it seems like you scared off a zombie, you probably didn’t…

The final panel of the Syfy Digital Press Tour was a complete surprise. All we knew was it was an unscripted show with a surprise host, and they wanted volunteers who had to sign a waiver that they were in good health, etc…I volunteered, although I was not selected. I did, however, get an early clue as to what was going on as I was out in the hallway briefly, and one of those electronic signs at convention centers that tell you what is happening where called it a “Total Blackout” panel. But I was told I had to forget everything I saw or I’d be mind wiped or something like that…

The new show is, of course, Total Blackout, based on the hit European game show. In it contestants enter a completely darkened room while filmed by infrared cameras and have to determine objects just by their other senses – objects that could be alive.
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Two of the unscripted panels we had were for the returning make-up competition show Face Off, and the new “follow around” docu-series Monster Man.

Face Off is the reality competition show involving makeup effects artists that just began shooting its second season which will begin airing January 11th at 10pm ET. Host McKenzie Westmore and judge Ve Neill were on hand to talk about the show and tell us about the upcoming season.
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Syfy announced today that they’ve ordered six episodes of the unscripted series School Spirits. From the press release:

SYFY ORDERS SIX EPISODES OF ‘SCHOOL SPIRITS’ FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS MARK BURNETT AND SETH JARRETT

From the Producers of Survivor and Celebrity Ghost Stories Comes A Gripping One-Hour Docu-Series Recounting Tales of Infamous School Hauntings Nationwide

NEW YORK – October 18, 2011 — Syfy orders six, one-hour episodes of the new unscripted series School Spirits from executive producers Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice) and Seth Jarrett (Celebrity Ghost Stories). The project will tell true ghost stories of hauntings that have happened at schools across the country. The stories will be told in first person narratives through the testimonials of real students, teachers, parents and staff that have encountered the paranormal activity, blended with bone-chilling cinematic reenactments to further bring the haunting experiences to life.
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Our last panel on scripted programming was about Lost Girl, a Canadian show currently in its second season that Syfy has acquired and will join Being Human on Monday nights beginning January 16th at 10pm ET.

Lost Girl follows the story of Bo (Anna Silk), who discovers as a teen that she isn’t human, but instead she’s a succubus, one of the Fae who can drain life energy from others after she kills her love. She later learns of the Fae would, and is told she must choose between the light or the dark Fae – she rebels and considers herself neutral in their conflicts and she tries to protect the humans.
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