Sci-Fi Storm

Syfy has released its slate of new scripted (whoa!) shows, and surprisingly some of these could work – or they could just be seen as knockoffs. Check them out and let us know which ones you think will work. I don’t know about the self-spoofing shows involving Lee Majors or Kevin Sorbo, with the latter’s Legendary essentially Galaxy Quest but using Sorbo’s own background. Zeros could be the most original, although it follows in the footsteps of zombie comedy movies Shaun Of The Dead and Zombieland.

Warehouse 13 returned for its sophomore season last night (missed it? Fortunately my TiVo didn’t – I should have had it in the Storm calendar, but it will air several more times this week), but ratings were down 14% from its series debut last year. The news is not all bad, though – it was still SyFy’s most watched telecast this year, with 3 million viewers. P.S. Eureka returns this Friday at 9PM ET…

I admit it…I heard this through another channel and seriously thought it was a joke, but apparently not: Tween sensations (before they were called tweens) Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, long after the tabloid stories of rivalry have faded, will put a new rivalry on the small screen as they will appear in a new SyFy shlocker, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. Seriously. I didn’t make this up. I can’t even call these B movies any more. At least a B movie I might want to watch…

The channel that gave us Mega Piranha and Dinocroc vs. Supergator may have bitten off more than it can chew. The network is creating a new production site called “B Movie Mogul” (no sign of it yet) where fans will get to pitch ideas and be involved in the creative process, and create the ultimate “script by committee”. But really, this could be the chance for a good movie…

Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan, Babylon 5) will return to Sci-Fi (and SyFy) in the upcoming TV movie 51 (can’t have two many movies with that in the title I guess), about reporters trapped in a top-secret Air Force Base (I wonder which one that would be?) with malevolent aliens.

SyFy might be aiming squarely at the B-movie market, if there is one. Not only have they given a green light to the half-shark, half-octopus monstrosity of Sharktopus! (which at least will be directed by king of B-movies, Roger Corman), but apparently SyFy and Corman are doubling up with Dinoshark, which comes out March 13th – even though they just announced it.

After giving some contemporary twists to the Oz (Tin Man) and Alice (Alice) stories, SyFy has its sights on 5 more tales to get the treatment, starting with Beauty And The Beast (February 27th), and including the stories of “Hansel & Gretel” and “Little Red Riding Hood”.

There was a conference call last week with SFC president Dave Howe to discuss the new SyFy branding and all the questions people had. I have the full transcript available now.

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The SCI FI Channel original miniseries The Lost Room was released yesterday on DVD. Here is a mini-review (mainly because it was a disjointed viewing making it difficult to sum up all the points for a full score).

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