sf/f TV development news - 2013

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

NBC is developing a haunted hotel series called The Inn. You can read about it here.

 

[RJDiogenes]

It's true that Sci Fi was used by some as a pejorative, but that wasn't everybody. When I was a kid-- the 70s or so-- we used Sci Fi and Sciffy more as terms of endearment, and we considered anybody who looked down their nose at it (and B-Movies and Pulps) as being way too uptight. And counter-productive. The same way that we look down upon the politically correct these days.

As for common usage, the common people use "science fiction" itself as a pejorative. I remember one time when I was hanging around with some security guys at a hospital where I worked, the director was mocking one of the guys for liking "all that science fiction stuff." Turns out he was a Stephen King fan.

But that wasn't what I was talking about. I was talking about usage of the term to include things that are by no stretch of the imagination related to SF, like Horror and Fantasy. Labels should be useful and instructive. Should we consider Three's Company Sci Fi because it takes place in an alternate universe?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Reece Ritchie has been cast as the lead in Fox's Hieroglyph. You can read Deadline's report on the casting here.

 

[Taylirious]

Don't think I saw this mentioned...if so sorry.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/12/fea...sets-up-tv-series-projects-at-nbc-tnt-the-cw/

The Messengers at the CW, when a mysterious object crashes down to earth, a group of seemingly unconnected strangers die from the energy pulse — but then awaken again as angels of the coming Apocalypse.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

NBC has ordered Emerald City to series. From Deadline:

NBC has given a 10-episode order to Emerald City, an Oz-themed drama from Siberia creator/showrunner Matthew Arnold. The order comes after the project recently underwent a rewrite by Josh Friedman. The two will executive produce through Universal Television where Friedman is under a deal. A writers room is slated to get up and running soon but casting may be postponed until after pilot season. Emerald City is described as a modern and dark reimagining of the classic tale of Oz in the vein of Game Of Thrones, drawing upon stories from Baum’s original 14 books that include lethal warriors, competing kingdoms, and the infamous wizard as we’ve never seen him before. A head-strong 20-year-old Dorothy Gale is unwittingly sent on an eye-opening journey that thrusts her into the center of an epic and bloody battle for the control of Oz. Following the success of the 1900 The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Baum wrote 13 sequel novels. Emerald City is the one of several Wizard Of Oz in development at various networks and the first to get a green light.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yay, dark. Although in this case that probably translates to "jumping on the Once Upon A Time bandwagon."

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

NBC has ordered Emerald City to series. From Deadline:

NBC has given a 10-episode order to Emerald City, an Oz-themed drama from Siberia creator/showrunner Matthew Arnold. The order comes after the project recently underwent a rewrite by Josh Friedman. The two will executive produce through Universal Television where Friedman is under a deal. A writers room is slated to get up and running soon but casting may be postponed until after pilot season. Emerald City is described as a modern and dark reimagining of the classic tale of Oz in the vein of Game Of Thrones, drawing upon stories from Baum’s original 14 books that include lethal warriors, competing kingdoms, and the infamous wizard as we’ve never seen him before. A head-strong 20-year-old Dorothy Gale is unwittingly sent on an eye-opening journey that thrusts her into the center of an epic and bloody battle for the control of Oz. Following the success of the 1900 The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Baum wrote 13 sequel novels. Emerald City is the one of several Wizard Of Oz in development at various networks and the first to get a green light.

Maybe this will be compatible with Supernatural's version of Oz.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

The Barbarella TV show that's been in development without a network/platform attached is now headed for Amazon. From Deadline:

I have learned that Gaumont International Television’s Barbarella has been set up at Amazon Studios, which has taken in the pilot script penned by feature writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Skyfall). I hear search is underway for a showrunner in anticipation of a pilot pickup. Barbarella is based on the character created by Jean-Claude Forest in a graphic novel and made famous in the 1968 sci-fi movie staring Jane Fonda as a sexpot tasked with finding and stopping an evil weapons inventor. The project, which has been in the works at GIT for a year and a half, is executive produced by Nicolas Refn (Valhalla Rising), who had been attached to direct, and Martha De Laurentiis, whose late husband Dino produced the 1968 movie.

 

[Christopher]

Amazon Studios? Does this mean that Amazon.com is getting into the production business like Netflix has? Are they becoming a source of original programming too?

 

[Harvey]

They already have a limited slate of online programming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Studios#Original_programming

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

AdWeek has a piece about Syfy:

Syfy is hungry for a scripted hit. It’s not for a lack of trying. While Defiance, a huge wager on transmedia content, put up decent if unspectacular ratings during its premiere run, the network’s top earners continue to be a mixed bag of WWE (Friday Night Smackdown), reality (FaceOff, Ghost Hunters) and its signature original films (Sharknado). For all that, Syfy’s 2013 prime-time demo deliveries fell 11 percent. With genre shows more popular than ever, there may be no better time for the network to roll the dice on a fleet of high-concept drama series.

You can read the whole article here.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Amazon Studios? Does this mean that Amazon.com is getting into the production business like Netflix has? Are they becoming a source of original programming too?

Amazon's plans go back further:

Amazon will undoubtably continue to leverage its 2008 acquisition of indie film network Without A Box (through its subsidiary IMDb), which allows it to cherry pick from a pipeline of new original properties.
Amazon affiliate The People’s Production Company will actually develop most of the scripts on the Development Slate. [Pro Tip: The People's Production Company is a signatory to the Writers Guild of America Minimum Basic Agreement, while the Amazon Studios site is not.]

2012 source


2012 is when the mainstream was on notice although it was 4 years ago

Since Amazon Studios’ launch in 2010 with Warner Bros. as partner (it was offered a first-look deal), the service has seen more than 700 test movies and 7,000 scripts submitted to the site. Today, there are 15 movie projects currently under development through the deals made on the service, says Amazon.

2012 source

We can see that Amazon.com will use the Amazon Prime membership to include not just Amazon Instant Video Service (the only place to watch these Amazon Studios original series) but lower costs & free shipping on products and other perks like Microsoft's X-BOX Gold membership's perks.
http://www.tubefilter.com/2012/05/07/amazon-studios-comedy-children-shows/

 

[TheSeeker]

Has anyone mentioned Resurrection yet? My wife saw an ad for it on TV last night and it sounds just like the French show Les Revenants.

 

[AvBaur]

^ I think that's actually just the American remake of Les Revenants. Or at least it's based on the same novel.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

E4 have commissioned an alternative reality show called Alt:

E4 have announced details of their new drama pilot ALT.

The 60-minute pilot - written by Jamie Mathieson (Being Human, FAQ About Time Travel) - enters production this month, and will be directed by Ben Caron (My Mad Fat Diary).

ALT stars Gethin Anthony (Game of Thrones) as 24-year-old Danny, who finds himself transported to a parallel universe with his ex-best friend Milo, played by Craig Roberts (Submarine).

The full synopsis for the new drama reads: "Imagine: that mate you dumped months ago because he's a tool, rings you out of the blue and asks for help. You go round and he's tripping. Banging on about parallel worlds and killers with swords and you're not really listening to be honest.

"And the next thing you know the world's changed. Literally changed. Your girlfriend, who was kind of the love of your life, no longer even recognises you. Dead relatives are suddenly alive again. And someone who looks just like you is living your life. Badly."

​

 

[sojourner]

Sliders 2.0?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Here's how I see things as they now stand for the SFF shows on the US broadcast networks based on closely following the ratings:

Renewed or highly likely to be renewed

Agents of SHIELD (ABC)
Arrow (CW)
Grimm (NBC)
Once Upon a Time (ABC)
The Originals (CW)
Person of Interest (CBS)
Sleepy Hollow (Fox)
Supernatural (CW)
Under the Dome (CBS; summer series)
The Vampire Diaries (CW)

On the bubble (50/50 shot at renewal)

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

Highly likely to be cancelled

Beauty and the Beast (CW)
Dracula (NBC)
Intelligence (CBS)
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC - sometimes billed as a limited series, but the intention was for it to continue had the ratings been good enough)

Haven't aired yet

The 100 (CW)
Believe (NBC)
Resurrection (ABC)
Star-Crossed (CW)

Note: edited for clarity

 

[Christopher]

The only bubble/cancelled show on that list I would miss is Dracula. I now have two Beauty and the Beast episodes unwatched on my DVR and I don't know if I care enough anymore to watch them.

But it's impressive how much genre content there is on the broadcast networks. In particular, it's astonishing to see as many as three SF/fantasy shows on CBS in the same year.

 

[Mistral]

How things stand now for the SFF shows on the US broadcast networks:

Renewed or highly likely to be renewed

Agents of SHIELD (ABC)
Arrow (CW)
Grimm (NBC)
Once Upon a Time (ABC)
The Originals (CW)
Person of Interest (CBS)
Sleepy Hollow (Fox)
Supernatural (CW)
Under the Dome (CBS; summer series)
The Vampire Diaries (CW)

On the bubble

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

Cancelled or highly likely to be cancelled

Beauty and the Beast (CW)
Dracula (NBC)
Intelligence (CBS)
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC - sometimes billed as a limited series, but the intention was for it to continue had the ratings been good enough)

Haven't aired yet

The 100 (CW)
Believe (NBC)
Resurrection (ABC)
Star-Crossed (CW)

Source? Man, I'm pissed. I've been enjoying the hell out of Almost Human-and even my mother likes it, despite it being scifi. Also, Intelligence has potential and despite its flaws, I think Revolution is a ton of fun. So, source?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Source? Man, I'm pissed. I've been enjoying the hell out of Almost Human-and even my mother likes it, despite it being scifi. Also, Intelligence has potential and despite its flaws, I think Revolution is a ton of fun. So, source?

My take from following the ratings closely and taking commentary on TV By the Numbers into account.