sf/f TV development news - 2013

[sojourner]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I've enjoyed Fringe all the way through.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Potentially, yes. It also has the potential of being internally inconsistent. If there are robot cops, does that mean the military has been roboticized? What about the National Guard and forest rangers and Secret Service?

We might get glimpses of the bigger picture, maybe a line of dialogue here and there, but any show has got to focus on its premise and characters. If they opt for the same proportion of worldbuilding vs characters and plot that they do in Grimm, for instance, that seems about right.

There's no reason to mistrust FOX any more than any other network when it comes to sf/f genre shows. All the networks churn through a lot of shows each year, genre or otherwise, and most fail. It'll happen again this year. That doesn't mean anyone is picking on sf/f shows.

And they'll keep churning through shows indefinitely because sf/f is a staple genre that among the networks, only CBS can afford to ignore. It's good for attracting that younger demo that advertisers want to reach.

NBC, ABC and the CW all have new sf/f shows in the mix. FOX has no new sf/f shows this fall, which surprised me. I'd expect them to add at least one for 2013-14.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I'll never forgive Fox for what they did to FreakyLinks.

 

[sojourner]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

^Your right, I thanked them.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Terry Brooks' "Shannara" fantasy books being adapted for TV

Sonar Entertainment has acquired the rights to author Terry Brooks' bestselling fantasy series "Shannara" and is partnering with Farah Films to produce a television series based on the books.

Farah Films principal Dan Farah and Sonar Entertainment CEO Stewart Till will exec produce with Brooks. Producers plan to recruit a showrunner and director before they shop the project to network buyers.

Set hundreds of years after the destruction of our civilization, series follows the Shannara family, who are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world. The plan is to base the show's first season on "The Elfstones of Shannara," the second book in the series.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Bah! I got one of those subscription-block pages. fortunately on an ipad, you can use the Reader to get around those, just in case anyone else is having trouble...

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

ABC continues its love affair with fantasy.

It is described as a fantasy adventure about a quirky family surviving together on a lawless frontier…a magical land where monsters are real, and one young woman’s unlikely destiny is about to change their lives forever.

Fantasy Western?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

That could work. Larry Blamire has written some great supernatural Westerns. No doubt others have, too.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

A&E gives pilot order to Occult.

The project, which draws parallels to X-Files and Fringe, centers on a FBI agent who returns from administrative leave after going off the deep end while investigating his wife’s disappearance. Eager to be back on the job, he is paired with an agent with her own complicated backstory who specializes in the occult. Together, they will solve cases for the newly formed occult crimes task force.

I'd snark about the derivative premise but it's A&E, so if they weren't doing this, they'd do a show about beauty contests for fetuses or roadkill cuisine so I'll just be happy with this.

 

[JD]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Actually they've started doing some pretty good (IMO) scripted shows the last two or three years. I've really enjoyed Breakout Kings, The Glades, and Longmire.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I was very disappointed with the remake of Coma on A&E.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Actually they've started doing some pretty good (IMO) scripted shows the last two or three years. I've really enjoyed Breakout Kings, The Glades, and Longmire.

I tried Breakout Kings and a little of Longmire, neither impressed me. Glades looked too derivative to bother with. It's a step in the right direction, though. Anything's better than more reality crap.

 

[Kegg]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Actually they've started doing some pretty good (IMO) scripted shows the last two or three years. I've really enjoyed Breakout Kings, The Glades, and Longmire.

I tried Breakout Kings and a little of Longmire, neither impressed me.

Shame. I'd heard mixed things about Longmire but was thinking of watching it if/when it ever showed up here. Poor man's Justified, people called it, only this one has Katee Sackhoff.

I'll probably catch the pilot regardless. Can't be worse than Awake, can it?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I barely hung in there with Awake...it had its moments but I'm not sad it got cancelled and even though they didn't intend it that way, the season finale works fine as a series finale.

Short interview with Whedon on S.H.I.E.L.D series. Basically, it's going to focus on new characters, who aren't superheroes but have to live in a superhero reality, nothing too surprising there.

 

[Christopher]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Awake had a fantastic pilot, but I wasn't sure the concept was sustainable as a series, and I don't think the network was either, because they kept retooling it and the series we got was inconsistent and unfocused. I wish it had been a movie instead.

As for SHIELD, I wonder, does that mean completely new characters, or will there be some comics characters who are new to the MCU, like maybe Bobbi Morse or Clay Quartermain?

 

[sojourner]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Shame. I'd heard mixed things about Longmire but was thinking of watching it if/when it ever showed up here. Poor man's Justified, people called it, only this one has Katee Sackhoff.

I'll probably catch the pilot regardless. Can't be worse than Awake, can it?

Longmire is great. Give it a chance. Not "a poor man's Justified". Totally different tone.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

CW High School monster drama.

The high-concept Copeland Prep is set at the premier secondary school in the nation, which is so fiercely competitive it’s turning its students into monsters — literally — and spreading the disturbing ramifications throughout the town.

Odd premise description...is the stress causing the kids to become monsters, or does becoming a monster give you a competitive edge in life? If this weren't the CW, I'd suspect they were going for social satire...

 

[Sindatur]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

CW High School monster drama.

The high-concept Copeland Prep is set at the premier secondary school in the nation, which is so fiercely competitive it’s turning its students into monsters — literally — and spreading the disturbing ramifications throughout the town.

Odd premise description...is the stress causing the kids to become monsters, or does becoming a monster give you a competitive edge in life? If this weren't the CW, I'd suspect they were going for social satire...

Could be some kind of "Steroid" or "Compound" to open up the mind, give more sports or Musical prowess... Several Horror flicks have been built around a similar premise. Even a Doctor Who episode (With Anthony Stewart Head as Head Master) explored giving something to the kids to make them smarter.

 

[lennier1]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

I barely hung in there with Awake...it had its moments but I'm not sad it got cancelled and even though they didn't intend it that way, the season finale works fine as a series finale.

Short interview with Whedon on S.H.I.E.L.D series. Basically, it's going to focus on new characters, who aren't superheroes but have to live in a superhero reality, nothing too surprising there.

With a new superhero movie popping up every other week the idea of this world viewed through the eyes of normal people actually sounds kinda refreshing for a change.

 

[JD]

Re: sf/f TV development news - 2012

Actually they've started doing some pretty good (IMO) scripted shows the last two or three years. I've really enjoyed Breakout Kings, The Glades, and Longmire.

I tried Breakout Kings and a little of Longmire, neither impressed me. Glades looked too derivative to bother with. It's a step in the right direction, though. Anything's better than more reality crap.

Glades is a lot of fun. It is pretty much you're standard cop show premise, but it's got great characters and writing.
Same goes for BK. I'm more than happy to watch a show these kinds of shows as long and I like the characters and the writing, and with both shows those elements are outstanding.

Shame. I'd heard mixed things about Longmire but was thinking of watching it if/when it ever showed up here. Poor man's Justified, people called it, only this one has Katee Sackhoff.

I'll probably catch the pilot regardless. Can't be worse than Awake, can it?

Longmire is great. Give it a chance. Not "a poor man's Justified". Totally different tone.

Agreed.