sf/f TV development news - 2013

[xortex]

The head of Sy-fi said it's not like they have a big choice. They pick from the same box of tired old ideas over and over again. He actually said something like this. Boy, there's creativity for you and wearing a $1500 suit to boot.

[Enterprise is Great]

And here's what Green Arrow looks like in the Arrow pilot: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54388

[Christopher]

^Not bad. And very influenced by the Mike Grell costume design from the '90s. Plus he has the goatee!

[Temis the Vorta]

xortex wrote:

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The head of Sy-fi said it's not like they have a big choice. They pick from the same box of tired old ideas over and over again. He actually said something like this. Boy, there's creativity for you and wearing a $1500 suit to boot.

Was it this guy who said that? Looks like SyFy's SVP of original programming has left "to pursue other opportunities," the classic code words for getting the boot.

Funny, SyFy has been doing okay in the ratings, so why did he get the axe? Maybe they've realized that it's slightly embarrassing for AMC to have the hottest, highest-rated*, most critically acclaimed sci fi series on the tube, which is making everything on SyFy look tired and boring by comparison.

*Despite what Blastr would have us believe, Person of Interest and Big Bang Theory are NOT sci fi! The Walking Dead is even beating all the sci fi shows on broadcast, that's impressive. Lots of people still don't have even basic cable.

EDIT: holy SHIT! TWD's season finale got 9 million viewers! That wouldn't be too shabby even on CBS!

[xortex]

No. He looks like one of the good guys, who are the guys getting booted out nowa days. I think it was Mark Stern.

[Temis the Vorta]

SyFy is trying to get worse?

Brian Cox is the latest acting vet cast in a sf/f pilot - in Gotham, taking the role type usually filled by Sam Neill.

Brian Cox is set to co-star in the ABC drama pilot Gotham...Cox will play Alderman Morrill, an intelligent, sharp-eyed gentleman and seemingly the owner of a clock shop who is actually entrusted to keep the secret magic world New York City running on an even keel.

[xortex]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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SyFy is trying to get worse?

Brian Cox is the latest acting vet cast in a sf/f pilot - in Gotham, taking the role type usually filled by Sam Neill.

Not worse, just more mediocre.

[Venardhi]

The more and more I read about Gotham the more it sounds like something I wrote a few years ago when I first got to LA and showed to a couple people to try to get representation. The funny thing about that is I purposely wrote it to be the sort of watered-down concept I figured networks would be looking for and apparently I was on the right track. The plot itself seems to be different, and even more watered down, maybe I should work on that.

[Temis the Vorta]

Magical or sci fi cop shows are an evergreen TV trope. I don't mind 'em when they turn out good like Grimm has, but I don't want them taking over genre TV like they sometimes threaten to do...

Speaking of things that are good or maybe not so much...Eddie Izzard is Grandpa! (What, Meat Loaf wasn't available?)

Izzard will play Grandpa, the Munster family patriarch, a powerful, ancient vampire with an irrepressible twinkle in his eye. He can shapeshift into rats, wolves, and other creatures at will, but he’s also dapper and charming in a fedora; he is a Don Juan-type womanized with penchant for flashy, sexy outfits.

They're not calling it The Munsters anymore, so why not just sever the connection entirely since it's obvious they're not really interested in the original characters anyway.

[RJDiogenes]

^^ I'm hoping that will happen-- this will be much better as a totally original concept. And I have a feeling that Bryan Fuller feels the same way.

[Temis the Vorta]

Hemlock Grove casting: Famke Janssen stars.

I dunno, this sounds like the kind of show I'd be only marginally interested in, if it were a broadcast or cable series. If Netflix wants to make a splash, they can't just do what their competitors (premium cable, in their own estimation) do; they need to break out by doing what nobody else does, at least with one show that can become the basis for a rebranding of their whole business.

“Hemlock Grove” starts with the body of a young girl, mangled and murdered in the shadow of the former Godfrey steel mill. Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a biotech facility owned by the former steel magnates. Others believe the killer could be Peter, a 17-year-old Gypsy kid from the wrong side of the tracks, who tells his classmates he’s a werewolf. Or it could be Roman (Skarsgard), the arrogant Godfrey scion, whose sister Shelley is disturbingly deformed and whose mother, Olivia (Janssen), the otherworldly beautiful and controlling grand dame of Hemlock Grove.

Yahoo's new scripted (?) series Cybergeddon (about cybercrime) at least seems like something that it would be impossible to do on traditional TV (though I'm not sure I'm interested in it, either):

“Cybergeddon” will be launching globally, first on Yahoo! this Fall, as a series of installments to roll out sequentially. “Cybergeddon” will engage Yahoo!’s worldwide audience of 700 million unique visitors, through an immersive storytelling, social media and gaming experience.

“Through entertainment and dramatization, ‘Cybergeddon’ will illuminate the serious issue of how our constantly connected lives can be vulnerable to cybercrime, breaches of online privacy and theft.

[Temis the Vorta]

In case anyone didn't see this in the BSG forum yet:

SyFy passes on Blood & Chrome, may turn it into a digital series.

But if it's too expensive for TV, how could it not be too expensive as a digital series?

[xortex]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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In case anyone didn't see this in the BSG forum yet:

SyFy passes on Blood & Chrome, may turn it into a digital series.

But if it's too expensive for TV, how could it not be too expensive as a digital series?

First there was stepped on BSG now they passed on shredded BSG. What's the matter with them. Don't they know who and what RDM is?

[MPH]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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In case anyone didn't see this in the BSG forum yet:

SyFy passes on Blood & Chrome, may turn it into a digital series.

But if it's too expensive for TV, how could it not be too expensive as a digital series?

What the hell is a digital series?

[Temis the Vorta]

It's basically "TV series," but distributed via the internet rather than over the airwaves, cable or via DVD. Netflix, hulu, Yahoo, Amazon and DirecTV have digital seires in the works.

I've dropped "TV" from my lexicon in describing this sort of series because it's going to become irrelevant if it already isn't. Cybergeddon for instance is described as a "motion picture" released "as a series of installments to roll out sequentially" and has "social media and gaming" elements.

Rather than try to parse all that crap, I'm calling everything a "series" or "digital series" when it's necessary to distinguish it from cable or broadcast or movies or social media or games.