sf/f TV development news - 2013

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Temis the Vorta, Oct 10, 2011.

  1. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    Or just drop the year altogether and keep using this thread.
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Or -- we convince everyone else in the world to renumber this year "2013"!
     
  3. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2008
    Location:
    Just around the bend.
    All we have to do is find convincing evidence that there was a year zero.
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    ^Years are arbitrary. There wasn't a year zero, one, two, fifty, one hundred, two hundred, or five hundred either; the calendar we use today wasn't invented until the year we call AD 525 and wasn't widely adopted until centuries later. Meanwhile, it's currently 1435 to the Islamic world, 5774 in the Hebrew calendar, 1935 in the Indian Civil Calendar, etc. We already call the year whatever we want to call it; it's just a matter of what excuses we use.
     
  5. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2008
    Location:
    Just around the bend.
    Wow, Gosh! I never knew any of that! I thought for sure that someone sat down one day and said "this is the start of year one today".:rolleyes:

    Now, about the "what excuses we use", how about we find convincing evidence for a year zero? (whether it be real or fabricated)
     
  6. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2011
    Location:
    astral plane
    I got it. Actually kinda clever.

    If there had been a year zero, then 2014 would be 2013. See one-based versus zero-based indexing.
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Well, since a calendar is simply a cultural construct, what we really need is a convincing argument for beginning it on a certain date. You don't even need a "year zero," you just need a justification for assigning a certain date as "year one." Our current "year one" isn't based on anything real anyway, since it's derived from an incorrect calculation of Jesus's birthdate; it's just a totally arbitrary year that happened to be 524 years before Dionysius Exiguus invented his calendar.

    So since we're 2014 years after a completely arbitrary starting point, it's no less arbitrary to pick the following year as a starting point instead just so we don't have to go to the trouble of changing a thread title. All we have to do is convince the rest of the world to go along with our arbitrary choice. Which is pretty much how calendars spread in the first place. ;)
     
  8. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2011
    Location:
    astral plane
    Yeah, but it was a joke. A math joke about the thread title, no less.

    But, if we're going to be serious about it, let's clarify with precision.

    Right now, we are not 2014 years after any point in time that lies within the year 1 CE (or any other point in time in the Common Era, for that matter). This is what's often so confusing to people, and why people intuitively perceive a "need" to have a year zero to start things off.

    In actuality, this is the 2014st year on (the CE part of) the calendar; 1 CE was the first such year. At the very end of December 31, 2014, it will be 2014 years since the very beginning of January 1, 1. Until that time, it's been only 2013 years and some change since the beginning of year 1, and less since any other part of year 1 (or any other point in the CE that has already occurred).
     
  9. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2004
    Location:
    The Island
  10. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Hmm. Coincidence?

     
  11. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2004
    Location:
    The Island
  12. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2002
    Location:
    Wherever you go, there you are.
    Hallmark has picked up The Good Witch, starring Catherine Bell, as a weekly series. It's heretofore been a series of telemovies. Deadline's report is here.

    Casting for the CW's iZombie as reported by Deadline:

     
  13. Spider

    Spider Dirty Old Man Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2004
    Location:
    Lost in time
    This. A thousand times this. I am bored to death of most of todays TV stuff and want a show about ships in space. Hell, at this point, I'd take Dracula in a starship.

    Or, the Underworld series set far in the future with the wolves and vamps in epic space battles. :lol:
     
  14. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2002
    Location:
    Wherever you go, there you are.
    Syfy has cancelled Being Human after a four-season run.

    Here's how things stand now for the SFF shows on the broadcast networks that are in at least some danger of cancellation:

    Toss-up to be renewed

    Almost Human (Fox)
    Revolution (NBC)
    The Tomorrow People (CW)

    Likely to be cancelled

    Dracula (NBC)

    Highly likely to be cancelled

    Beauty and the Beast (CW)
    Intelligence (CBS)
    Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC)
    Star-Crossed (CW)
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    What's your basis for putting Star-Crossed in the "highly likely to be cancelled" category when it's only been on the air two weeks? Did it perform that badly in the ratings?
     
  16. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2002
    Location:
    Wherever you go, there you are.
    Yeah, very bad ratings for its first two episodes. It's tough to turn a start like that around. It's probably dead on arrival.
     
  17. Vendikarr

    Vendikarr Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    May 17, 2001
    Location:
    Vendikarr
    Don't expect Tomorrow People to see a second season. It's on the bubble now. It is scheduled to move to Mondays in March. When it doesn't perform, I feel they will give it the axe.

    Monday is the CW ghetto. They can't get anything going on that night.
     
  18. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2002
    Location:
    Wherever you go, there you are.
    ^^^
    I agree. Between the move to Monday, the impending premiere of The 100 in the better timeslot, and the slate of SFF pilots the CW has lined up for next season, The Tomorrow People will probably end up cancelled. It's currently a toss-up, though, just based on its ratings to date.
     
  19. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2001
    That's good news. I enjoyed the TV movies. I hope they can get the cast onboard. Chris Potter is committed to Heartland right now.
     
  20. Out Of My Vulcan Mind

    Out Of My Vulcan Mind Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2002
    Location:
    Wherever you go, there you are.
    By my current count the 2013/2014 season (including summer 2014) will have 43 live action one-hour SFF shows produced for US and/or Canadian television. That's a new high and 10 more than the previous high last season. 10 years ago a season would yield somewhere between the mid-teens to the low 20s such shows, and 20 years ago a season would yield about half a dozen to a dozen such shows.