Sci-Fi Storm

[Apologies for the lack of news…if you saw on Twitter, I was having hardware problems…]

Syfy has announced that they have picked up the 4th series of the British fantasy show Merlin, to be aired at a future date in 2012. In its third season on Syfy, Merlin averaged 1.93 million total viewers, marking an increase of 12 percent in total viewers compared to season two. Merlin also posted gains in the key younger demo, rising seven percent among Adults 18-34.
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It seems that Syfy has found a strong scripted Monday lineup…with the return of already strong shows Eureka and Warehouse 13 and the addition of Alphas resulted in their highest rated scripted Monday in 10 years – with Alphas scoring 2.5 million viewers, making it the most watched debut on the channel in 2 years. Eureka and Warehouse 13 also averaged more than 2 million viewers each.

Also boosted by the debuts was Syfy.com, which delivered its best day in video streams (378K) since 11/1/2009; uniques (376K) since 10/31/10; page views (1.4 million) since 3/18/11, and visits (373K) since 1/17/11.

Syfy’s Summer Premiere Week continues on Wednesday, July 13, with the third season of Ghost Hunters International at 9PM, followed by the premiere of Legend Quest at 10PM. On Friday, July 15, Haven returns for its second season at 10PM.

After the success of Riese: Kingdom Falling (which reached 2 million streams), Syfy is going to introduce another web series through its Syfy.com web site with The Mercury Men, a 10 part series, starting on Monday, July 25th, with a new episode each weekday for two weeks.

Created by acclaimed director Christopher Preksta (Captain Blasto), The Mercury Men draws on the same retro serials that inspired films such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

The Mercury Men is set in Pittsburgh in 1975. Edward Borman (Mark Tierno/The Road, Day of the Dead), a lowly government office drone, finds himself trapped when the deadly Men of Mercury seize the building as a staging ground for their nefarious plot.
Aided by Jack Yaeger (Curt Wootton/Captain Blasto, The Hidden Blade), a daring aerospace engineer from a mysterious organization known as “The League,” Edward must stop the invaders and their Doomsday Device, the Gravity Engine.

The Mercury Men is written and directed by Christopher Preksta, best known as the writer/director of Captain Blasto, for which he was nominated for two Streamy Awards. His work has been showcased at prestigious events including the Tribeca Film Festival and Comic-Con. Producer is Kati Lightholder.

Defiance, and open world shooter MMO developed by Trion Worlds (who also created [asin=B002I0HIC8]RIFT[/asin]), is currently getting some behind-closed-doors demos at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, but the game itself wasn’t the big news – the big news is that the game will also tie in simultaneously with a TV series on Syfy.

Set on a future Earth, Defiance introduces players and viewers to a world where humans and aliens live together on a planet transformed by decades of conflict. The game combines the intense action of a “AAA” console shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMO, while its TV counterpart weaves the rich tapestry of the world into a series with the scope, characters, and drama of a classic sci-fi epic. Because they exist in a single universe, the show and the game will influence each other and evolve together over time, with actions in both mediums driving the overall story of Defiance.

On the television side, the Defiance series, to be produced by Universal Cable Productions, will be penned by Rockne S. O’Bannon, a legendary sci-fi TV writer best-known for his work on Warehouse 13, Alien Nation, seaQuest DSV, and Farscape.

The game will be available for the PC, Xbox 360®, and PlayStation® 3. Release dates are not yet available, but more information will be released at the official web site when available.

Alphas was created by comic book movie writer Zak Penn (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers) and Michael Karnow, directed by Jack Bender (Lost), and executively produced by Ira Steven Behr (The 4400, Deep Space Nine, Dark Angel). The series is a procedural thriller about ordinary people with extraordinary mental and physical abilities that operate within a special branch of the Department of Defense and are tasked to investigate cases committed by others with Alpha abilities.

Emmy® winner and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn (Temple Grandin/Good Night, and Good Luck) headlines a cast of both familiar and new faces including Warren Christie (October Road), Malik Yoba (New York Undercover), Laura Mennell (Watchmen), Ryan Cartwright (Bones) and Azita Ghanizada (Castle). Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica/24) guest stars in the pilot.

See the preview video below and find out who the Alphas are and the feel of the show, along with some stills from the show.

Alphas premieres on Monday, July 11th at 10PM ET/9PM CT on Syfy.
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Season 7 hasn’t finished airing yet, but Syfy has already announced an 8th season for Ghost Hunters, already it’s longest running original reality series, ordering up 20 new episodes for airing in 2012.

On Wednesday nights at 9pm for nearly seven years, Ghost Hunters has set the standard for paranormal series, offering viewers spine-tingling cases from the files of TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) – led by Rhode Island plumbers Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson.

To date, season seven (premiered February 2010) has attracted 1.1 million Adults 25-54 and 1 million Adults 18-49.

The next episode of Ghost Hunters airs at a special night and time: Wednesday, June 1 @ 8pm and features an hour-long case in Hawaii. Guest Josh Gates (Destination Truth) joins the team as they investigate paranormal claims at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The museum’s original plane hangars stand as they did on the fateful morning of December 7, 1941, and still bear the bullet holes and bomb craters from the attacks that precipitated U.S. involvement in World War II. Visitors and employees alike have reported several startling experiences at the museum, suggesting that the site’s history has made it a hub for paranormal activity.

Ghost Hunters is produced in association with Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Films and Television (Dirty Jobs, The Ultimate Fighter, My Fair Wedding). Piligian and Thomas Thayer, along with Rob Katz and Alan David, serve as executive producers.

It seems that there are rumblings that Syfy might be in talks with its NBC Universal sibling, Universal Media Studios, about a possible pick up of The Event for a mini-series – and if it does well, another season. Although not unheard of, it does happen – but typically cable networks can’t absorb the cost of the broadcast program, and it already wasn’t making the ratings numbers to draw enough advertising for the broadcast network.

Syfy’s chief Twit-umm, Twitterer – er, SVP of Syfy Digital, Craig Engler, just tweeted: “To answer some questions I’ve been getting, at this time we have no plans to pick up The Event.“

Ashley Eckstein (the voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars) is at Disney’s Hollywood Studios gearing up for Star Wars Weekends starting tomorrow, and has made a couple of videos previewing the brand-new version of the Star Tours attraction. You can view one video below, and then an exclusive tour of the new attraction queue is available over at Entertainment Weekly…the new attraction boasts incredible 3D projection, a new variable experience (54 possible variations) and all sorts of new details.

In the meantime, Eckstein’s company, Her Universe, which makes science fiction merchandise targeted at women, in partnership with Syfy (a partnership we reported on in October), will finally unveil a Syfy Gear merchandise line for women at San Diego Comic-Con, which runs July 20th-24th as well as available via Syfy.com and heruniverseshop.com (except for a Comic-Con “exclusive”). Both sides are still tight-lipped about what the merchandise might be…
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Syfy has acquired both seasons (26 episodes) of the hit Canadian supernatural drama Lost Girl from Prodigy Pictures, it was announced today by Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies, Syfy. Lost Girl stars supernatural seductress Bo (played by Anna Silk, The Ghost Whisperer), a Succubus (a powerful female entity in folklore) who feeds off sexual energy. Raised by human parents, Bo had no reason to believe she was anything other than the girl next door — until she “drained” her first boyfriend to death.
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Syfy does like it’s dramadies – apparently enough to create a spinoff. Warehouse 13 showrunner Jack Kenny and another writer are prepping a spinoff of the series for the network, centering on the H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray) character introduced last season. From the report, it sounds like it might be a late 19th century period piece, sort of a cross between steampunk and Sherlock Holmes…