Summer Season's New Sci-Fi/Fantasy Shows (cable)

[JD]

Falling Skies: Trailer

FALLING SKIES opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

At the center of the series is Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), a Boston history professor whose family has been torn apart. His wife was killed in the initial attack, and one of his three sons has been captured. Determined to get his son back and to ensure the safety of his other two sons, Tom must put his extensive knowledge of military history to the test as one of the leaders of the resistance movement known as the 2nd Mass, because of their location in Boston, Mass. They are constantly trying to gain intelligence about the aliens in order to one day outsmart and overtake them and hopefully rebuild their lives.

Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) co-stars as Anne Glass, a pediatrician who works with the surviving children to help them cope with the traumatic upheaval in their lives. Will Patton (Armageddon, TNT's Into the West) plays a fierce leader of the resistance, Weaver. The series also stars Drew Roy (Secretariat) as Hal, Tom's oldest son and a growing fighter in the resistance movement; Maxim Knight (Brothers & Sisters) as Matt, Tom's youngest son; Connor Jessup (The Saddle Club) as Ben, Tom's son who was captured by aliens; and Seychelle Gabriel (Weeds) as Lourdes, an orphaned teenager who helps Anne in the group's makeshift medical clinic. Colin Cunningham (Living in Your Car) is John Pope, the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang and Sarah Carter (Shark) is Margaret, a wary survivor of Pope's gang.

FALLING SKIES focuses on the resilience of the survivors and their determination to maintain their humanity when all else has been destroyed. It is a tale of endurance, commitment and courage in which everyday people are called upon to become heroes. They may be outmatched, outnumbered and outgunned, but nothing can beat the human spirit. Most of all, the series is about the ties that bind people together in the most difficult of circumstances.

The aliens in the series are mighty, mysterious and merciless. They are highly intelligent and use military-like tactics, which makes them an overwhelming force against the 2nd Mass. There are two types of aliens that the human survivors have named Skitters and Mechs. Combining live action and special visual effects, the Skitters have spider-like bodies and incredible strength and agility. The deadly, robotic Mechs stand upright and can shoot bullets from their arms. The aliens control captured children, like Tom's son Ben, through bio-mechanical harnesses but have yet to reveal their ultimate plan for them.

FALLING SKIES is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, along with DreamWorks Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, Graham Yost (Justified, The Pacific) and screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his screenplay for Saving Private Ryan, wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. Mark Verheiden (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica) and Greg Beeman (Heroes, Smallville) are co-executive producers. The pilot was directed by Carl Franklin (One False Move, Out of Time).

Alphas: Trailer

Alphas is an action-packed thriller from writers Zak Penn (The Avengers, X-Men: The Last Stand) and Michael Karnow. In the series, five ordinary people are brought together to form one extraordinary team of Alphas -- people with the unique power to stretch the capabilities of the human mind giving them superhuman physical and mental abilities.

Operating within the Defense Criminal Investigation Service of the U.S. Department of Defense and led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn), an expert in Alpha phenomena, the team investigates cases that point to others with Alpha abilities. As they work against the clock to solve this new brand of crime, they must prevent their own personality differences and disparate backgrounds from interfering with their ultimate mission to catch the enemy.

In addition to Academy Award nominee David Strathairn (Temple Grandin, Good Night, and Good Luck), the ensemble cast stars Malik Yoba (New York Undercover, Why Did I Get Married?), Warren Christie (October Road), Laura Mennell (Watchmen), Ryan Cartwright (Mad Men, Bones) and Azita Ghanizada (Castle).

These are the only two I could find, and I'm really looking forward to both of them.

[Vendikarr]

You could probably mention on BBC America (it's new to U.S. audiences)
and
on MTV.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Oi vay, Teen Wolf. Should just remake Vision Quest too while they're at it.

[Vendikarr]

ObiWanShinobi wrote:

---

Oi vay, Teen Wolf. Should just remake Vision Quest too while they're at it.

Please don't give them more ideas.

[AviTrek]

Does Outcasts have an official premiere date yet? I would imagine it will start when Doctor Who takes a break, but I don't think I've heard anything official yet.

[Vendikarr]

This is my signature at the syfy.com forums. It seems appropriate to post it here.

Here are the premier dates of the genre related series coming this summer

[startrekwatcher]

Alphas looks like Heroes redux. Plus it being a SyFy show makes me think it won't be worth watching.

Falling Skies is the only show-sff or otherwise- coming out this summer that I'm the least bit interested in.

[Distorted Humor]

I Might try falling skies, it could be really good or really bad...

[Sindatur]

startrekwatcher wrote:

---

Alphas looks like Heroes redux. Plus it being a SyFy show makes me think it won't be worth watching.

Falling Skies is the only show-sff or otherwise- coming out this summer that I'm the least bit interested in.

I actually stuck with Heroes, until the bitter end (personally, I think S4 was starting to get a little better, and was better than S2 or S3), and yea, I'll try Alphas, but, the commercials don't give me any great faith it'll be to my liking.

[Kegg]

Futurama's back, eh?

The new season showed some signs of Simpsons-like fatigue (the Susan Boyle episode in particular), but it still had some stronger half-hours, like the very sharp mind-switching episode. Figure I'll keep up with it for now.

Distorted Humor wrote:

---

I Might try falling skies, it could be really good or really bad...

Trailer looked alright, although the news clips left me a little miffed ('renowned astrophysicist'? A real media outlet would probably provide a name there); alien invasion stories aren't always my cuppa but maybe they'll have an interesting twist on it... or not.

[Vendikarr]

AviTrek wrote:

---

Does Outcasts have an official premiere date yet? I would imagine it will start when Doctor Who takes a break, but I don't think I've heard anything official yet.

June 18th.

[Brian]

This is the one I'm most looking forward to: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiv...ler_shortfilms

[Greg Cox]

ObiWanShinobi wrote:

---

Oi vay, Teen Wolf. Should just remake Vision Quest too while they're at it.

I confess: I need to check out Teen Wolf. I never saw the original movie, but this looks like it could be fun.

Besides, I can never resist vampires or werewolves . . .

(Dare I admit I was up until 1 pm rewatching HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS last night?)

[Velocity]

Can't wait for Eureka's return!!

[Christopher]

startrekwatcher wrote:

---

Alphas looks like Heroes redux. Plus it being a SyFy show makes me think it won't be worth watching.

From what I've heard, any similarity to Heroes seems very superficial. Also, the showrunner is Ira Steven Behr (Deep Space Nine, The 4400), which means it should definitely be worth checking out.