Sci-Fi Storm

Syfy has been busy today. Two more TV movies were announced to air in February. Iron Invader, featuring Nicole De Boer (Dead Zone, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Cube), Kavan Smith (Eureka, Stargate: Atlantis) and Donnelly Rhodes (Battlestar Galactica). Antipodal already has a good write-up and a preview, and it airs February 12th.

The second, Area 51, doesn’t have much information yet, but stars Bruce Boxleitner (Tron, Babylon 5) and is directed by Jason Connery (son of Sean Connery), and is scheduled for February 26th.

Syfy announced today a new two-part Treasure Island movie event based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, which is already in production and expected to air in early 2012. In addition they announced Elijah Wood, Donald Sutherland and Eddie Izzard are joining the cast. Wood will play the part of Ben Gunn, Sutherland will play Flint, and Izzard will play Long John Silver (which we hope means there will be an interesting comedic bent to the film). They join Toby Regbo (Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2) as Jim Hawkins, Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter films) as Jim’s mother, and Nina Sosanya (Love Actually) as Silver’s wife.

Details of the story were not release, so we don’t know yet if this is a “reimagining” of the story like Alice and Tin Man, or a traditional version.

Syfy seems to have found an audience for what I’m now calling “creature feature” movies – those of you who grew up in the 70s, at least in Boston, will know what I mean by that, but it was those weekend morning monster movies, primarily dubbed Japanese ones like Godzilla, Gamera and the like and the US mutant monster flicks of the 50s, that ranged from pure camp to very creepy. I truly miss Creature Double Feature on Saturday mornings on WLVI…

Perhaps the most anticipated one yet, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, premieres this Saturday at 9PM ET. But perhaps the anticipation isn’t so much for the creatures as it is for the cast – 80s pop icons Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, who did battle in the music charts, get more physical this time – an all out cat fight…catch a sneak peek below.

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Just found out about this – if you are in the Los Angeles area and want to see some of the best makeup artists in action, Syfy will be throwing a live demonstration of its upcoming Face Off show at The Grove tomorrow (Thursday, January 20th, 2011) starting at 12:30pm PT, where the artists will transform models into the likeness of Mother Earth. Read on for the full details.
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A lot of people tuned in for Syfy’s Being Human premiere, netting just short of 2 million people during the 9PM showing, and 3.8 million non-duplicated viewers over the three back-to-back showings to be the most watched winter premiere for the network since 2005. It will be interesting to see if the ratings hold overall, but I was very impressed. In know Syfy had very high hopes for this show and were fighting against an existing fan base of the UK show who saw this as just a carbon copy with American accents. After meeting the cast and seeing them interact, I also could see how the show could work – it needs a great cast.

I think they scored.

Sam Witwer (Aidan the vampire) I think has the rugged look and intensity that I think is fitting for the role, without opting for the “sparkly vampire” image that’s all the rage. Sam Huntington (Josh the werewolf) adds the deadpan humor at a level that I actually enjoy and will laugh out loud at. And Meaghan Rath (Sally the ghost) adds the cute and exciting but troubled character wondering why she’s still there and if she’ll ever leave.

Part 1 did seem to rush a bit of the situation into play (possibly to hook the users), but it wasn’t too bad – there are still plenty of things to in the coming episodes. There were a couple shots of Josh when they meet the new nurse that seemed a bit odd (almost as if they were filmed separately, with Huntington just mugging for the camera), but otherwise I think the filming worked well. Being from the Boston area I could tell a number of shots weren’t actually in Boston (it is filmed in Montreal for its similar feel), and I’d like to see some more “establishing” shots of Boston proper, but I’m not going to hold them to total accurate location shooting (but Syfy, if you do bring them down for location shots, let me know, it would be nice to meet them again and see some of the filming).

I’ve never been into the vampire/werewolf stuff as of late, but I find this orders of magnitude more interesting than Twilight, and I’m eagerly awaiting future episodes – which I really, really didn’t expect. And I’m happy about it.

I haven’t been thrilled with the recent cancellations of Caprica and Stargate Universe, but I think Syfy was right to have high hopes for this program.

Unlike it’s recent siblings Caprica and Stargate Universe, Sanctuary has been renewed for a fourth season. It appears to be a “short” order of 13 episodes like its first two seasons, instead of the 20 episode order of Season 3, but it’s still better than nothing, and it could potentially be expanded. Production will pick up in the Spring with the debut in the Fall. Read on for the Syfy release:
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In the same vein as the great Battlestar Galactica recap videos and Re-Caprica, there is now a video that sums up Syfy’s upcoming Being Human in just two minutes, with a twist of humor…
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Congrats to our friend (and dinner company) Mark Stern, who was promoted to President of Original Programming for Syfy. Mark was already the Executive Vice President, and is also the co-head of original programming for Universal Cable. He will now also oversee Syfy Films. Mark is a great guy and I think we’ll see some cool stuff soon.

In other Syfy news, writers Jane Espenson (Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Warehouse 13, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more plus the upcoming Torchwood: Miracle Day) and Drew Z. Greenberg (Caprica, Warehouse 13, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) will write a pilot for Syfy based on the British show Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), which had two previous versions in 1969 (as My Partner The Ghost and 2000. The show centers around the private investigators partners Randall and Hopkirk – except Hopkirk is dead and appears as a ghost only seen by his former partner, and helps him to solve crimes.

I have a couple more clips of the upcoming Syfy version of Being Human. The first is the official preview for the premiere episode, “There Goes The Neighborhood, Part 1”, where Aidan and Josh have just moved into their apartment, and discover that there may already be a tenant…

The second one showcases various aspects of the feel of the show – drama, action, comedy, and horror, all in one, with the cast describing the setting.

Being Human begins Monday, January 17th, at 9PM ET.

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Starz will air its new take on the King Arthur tale starting April 1st, 2011 at 10PM ET. Camelot, which stars Joseph Fiennes (Flash Forward) as Merlin and Jamie Campbell Bower (The Twilight saga, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows) as King Arthur, is a 10-episode drama show on location in Ireland and will provide a new version of the classic tale. Read on for the press release.

Interestingly, this places it’s debut on the same day that Merlin‘s Series 3 finale should take place on Syfy.

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