sf/f TV development news - 2013

[RJDiogenes]

That's a shame. That Revolutionary War series sounded really interesting.

Good news about all the pirate activity, though-- I'd love to see a good pirate series.

[Temis the Vorta]

Starz would certainly ensure a hearty sleaze factor. There were several pirate series bopping around but I haven't heard much about the others.

THR Feed's Pilot Season Review.

Finally a source other than Deadline kicks in.

ABC: The first quibbling I've heard about The Last Resort. May be too male-skewing and therefore "off brand" for ABC. Apparently they think The River sank because it was male-skewing rather than the actual reason, it was nobody-skewing. If ABC is avoiding shows for boys, what does that mean for the Emmerich "antichrist" series? The lead is a cute guy, so I say it's for girls. Can we put a pink bow on it and sneak it in?

666 Park Ave "has not been ruled out," but no mention of the other two fantasy series it's reportedly competing with. ABC's comedies have been disappointing, which is good news for their dramas. (I've been worried this season is going to be comedy-heavy across the board, at the expense of dramas.)

NBC: Revolution - "heavy interest" after going unmentioned for so long. (NBC didn't watch Alcatraz I guess. ) Do No Harm "has heat." Frontier "turned out great, but the network remains hesitant." (Cmon NBC, take a risk!) NBC has the only comedy that interests me this year - Animal Kingdom, which "tested well."

CW: Cult (aka Alaric vs T-Bag) "has begun staffing" but The Selection "hasn't impressed everyone and isn't coming off as the slam dunk everyone had hoped for." It sounds like a fun premise, but if it sucks, please spare us, CW.

FOX - The Kevin Bacon serial killer series (which has been a sure thing for a while now) has a name: Mastermind.

[Enterprise is Great]

Rewind Pilot Adds Lost's Jeff Fahey and Director David Cronenberg

Lost alum Jeff Fahey and director/sometimes actor David Cronenberg (The Fly, A History of Violence) will guest star in Syfy’s drama pilot Rewind, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Cronenberg — who has appeared on Happy Town and Alias — will play a brilliant scientist and Nobel Prize winner who becomes unhinged after his wife’s death. He comes up with a dangerous plot to change the course of history. Fahey is a former NASA aerospace engineer with Zen-like wisdom who serves as the spiritual backbone of the time travel team.

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Jeff Fahey with zen-like wisdom-- that catches my interest.

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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Starz would certainly ensure a hearty sleaze factor.

That would be appropriate. A good pirate series should be as bawdy as it is adventurous.

[Caliburn24]

Michael Bay working on a show for a channel where he can show as much graphic violence and nudity as he wants?

I have to think about this...it could go horribly wrong or horribly right.

[Sindatur]

Caliburn24 wrote:

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Michael Bay working on a show for a channel where he can show as much graphic violence and nudity as he wants?

I have to think about this...it could go horribly wrong or horribly right.

Sounds like he's only the idea man, so, there's a good possibility that means it will only "look" like Michael Bay, and someone else can fill in the depth.

[Guy Gardener]

But the bloke doing the work, is either someone Micahel thinks shows a Michael Bay level of talent or some drone who worships Michael Bay.

Apples and trees.

[Temis the Vorta]

Cool. I liked Fahey in Lost.

[Harvey]

RJDiogenes wrote:

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Certainly there are some books or movies that are hard to classify, but there's generally a primary theme-- a Western is a Western, whether it's comedy or drama, realistic or fanciful.

If a Western is a Western, regardless of other genres, does that mean Outland, Four Brothers, and Star Wars are all principally Westerns? All have been evaluated by genre critics in terms of the Western, and the first two are both loose remakes of earlier, more traditional Westerns (High Noon and The Sons of Katie Elder).

And what about "Westerns" that pre-date the establishment of the Western film genre, like The Great Train Robbery (1903), which was sold as a crime film and, when successful, led to a cycle of other crime films, not films that have been since grandfathered into the Western genre?

[Temis the Vorta]

And finally: Variety on the pilot buzz.

NBC - Revolution has gone missing from the buzz list again, and Midnight Sun is back. (If it's a choice between the two, I'm more in favor of the latter.) Do No Harm seems to be in good shape and Frontier has the same quibbles - well liked, but too weird a premise to effectively launch? (On the upside, a "weird" premise will get attention, which more than anything, is what NBC needs, especially to take advantage of the Olympics audience this year.)

ABC - 666 Park Ave. and The Last Resort are looking good. No mention of Emmerich/Dark Horse.

FOX - Mastermind is likely for midseason.

CW - Cult, Arrow and Beauty & the Beast look good for pickup. (They won't have to fight with ABC over the name since ABC's version seems DOA.) The Selection's fate hinges on the CW picking up six pilots, not just five.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

So I take it that the sci-fi series Revolution (about the Revolutionary War being played out again, but this time on a colony planet which wants to secede from the Earth governmental alliance) is no more? The above described show with that name is apparently the plot that's just like the "Emberverse" from SM Stirling's novels.

[Sindatur]

Guy Gardener wrote:

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But the bloke doing the work, is either someone Micahel thinks shows a Michael Bay level of talent or some drone who worships Michael Bay.

Apples and trees.

Heh, Apples and Trees, I love it... NICELY Played

Showtime is likely to want some kind of character depth <Ut-oh, Guy will probably take that one for a run> to go with the flashy action and actors/actresses.

[Guy Gardener]

What's going to give me more Anne Dudek?

I want Anne Dudek or Bonnie Hunt.

Is there anything on the slate
that's going to instigate
A quickening of my heart-rate
By my dirty-blond soulmate?

[Temis the Vorta]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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So I take it that the sci-fi series Revolution (about the Revolutionary War being played out again, but this time on a colony planet which wants to secede from the Earth governmental alliance) is no more? The above described show with that name is apparently the plot that's just like the "Emberverse" from SM Stirling's novels.

That one's long gone, sadly. JJ Abrams' pilot for NBC is some kind of post-apocalyptic scenario in which all the energy sources of civilization have "vanished." No idea why or how the name "Revolution" would fit.

[RJDiogenes]

Harvey wrote:

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If a Western is a Western, regardless of other genres, does that mean Outland, Four Brothers, and Star Wars are all principally Westerns? All have been evaluated by genre critics in terms of the Western, and the first two are both loose remakes of earlier, more traditional Westerns (High Noon and The Sons of Katie Elder).

And what about "Westerns" that pre-date the establishment of the Western film genre, like The Great Train Robbery (1903), which was sold as a crime film and, when successful, led to a cycle of other crime films, not films that have been since grandfathered into the Western genre?

I'm not familiar with Four Brothers, but Outland and Star Wars are not Westerns. There may be thematic echoes or homages, but the definition of Western includes a certain spectrum of time and place. Star Wars is also an homage to The Seven Samurai, but that doesn't make it Japanese. Similarly, Firefly, which is called a "sci-fi Western," isn't a Western at all; it just borrows themes and imagery from that genre to inform its own identity.

As for The Great Train Robbery, if it fits the definition of Western then it's a Western; it doesn't matter if it existed before the coining of that definition. It's like "Murders In The Rue Morgue," which is still a locked-room mystery even if the term was invented later to describe that very story and its descendants.