sf/f TV development news - 2013

[Enterprise is Great]

Glen Mazzara Prepping 'Omen' Follow-Up for Lifetime

Titled Damien, the drama centers on the film's young boy Damien Thorn. Now an adult and haunted by his past, Damien is faced with a series of macabre events and must finally face his true destiny: he is the Antichrist.

Low Winter Sun alumna Athena Karkanis has been cast in Lifetime’s conspiracy thriller The Lottery

 

[Enterprise is Great]

IDW Entertainment & EOne To Develop Jonathan Maberry’s ‘V-Wars’ As Series

Three-time Emmy nominee Tim Schlattmann (Dexter, Smallville) will write the pilot based on Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry’s best-selling book. V-Wars debuted as a collection of prose stories that chronicles the first Vampire War, and a second volume is scheduled for release in July. V-Wars is set in a world transformed by a catastrophic environmental event that releases a millennium-old virus that, once triggered, affects individuals differently depending on their DNA. The result is vampires as unique as their cultures and a response from those unaffected humans like never seen before. (The Walking Dead).

 

[RJDiogenes]

Ah, the Vampire Apocalypse. Well, the part about the different kinds of Vampires sounds interesting, anyway.

 

[Mistral]

Extant looks interesting-I'm just afraid it will get all complicated, go on an over-long hiatus and drop so far in viewership that it never recovers, only to be canceled when it starts getting really good.

 

[JD]

Isn't it just a miniseries? I swear I remember it being referred to as a limited series somewhere when they first started talking about it around the web.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

The creator of Extant is already talking about a potential second season. According to this article there's no agreed upon definition of the term limited series.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Isn't it just a miniseries? I swear I remember it being referred to as a limited series somewhere when they first started talking about it around the web.

Under the Dome was also described as a limited series. They're increasingly using that description for network shows and it doesn't necessarily mean that the show is a close-ended miniseries. In most cases they're shows that are open to renewal if the ratings are strong enough. They're just shows designed to have seasons of 13 episodes or less. The term is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Since nothing lasts forever, all series are technically limited series.

 

[Christopher]

The term is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else.

I'd call it more a matter of preparing for the worst. No show is guaranteed renewal -- in fact, the odds are against it -- so in this more serialized era, it makes sense to have your first season be a self-contained story that comes to a satisfactory conclusion, while still having the option of continuing if the audience response is there.

Although it doesn't always work out that way. The recent Dracula show that aired on NBC was billed as a limited series, but its finale was more a cliffhanger/setup than a proper resolution, with some things resolved but just as much left hanging. And then it didn't get renewed anyway, at least not by NBC (though it's a British production, so it could conceivably continue elsewhere).

 

[TheSeeker]

Under The Dome didn't have any kind of resolution either. They must have had some kind of plan on how to either end it or keep it going, depending on how the ratings were.

 

[Sindatur]

Isn't it just a miniseries? I swear I remember it being referred to as a limited series somewhere when they first started talking about it around the web.

Under the Dome was also described as a limited series. They're increasingly using that description for network shows and it doesn't necessarily mean that the show is a close-ended miniseries. In most cases they're shows that are open to renewal if the ratings are strong enough. They're just shows designed to have seasons of 13 episodes or less. The term is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else.

It's to fool you into sticking around until the end of the Season "Ah, Hell, I've already watched 6 episodes, and it's only gonna be 10 episodes, I may as well go ahead and watch the other 4" Episode 10 ends up being where it starts getting really good and resolves everything and has a great cliffhanger, that traps you into tuning in next Season (If it gets renewed)

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Under The Dome didn't have any kind of resolution either. They must have had some kind of plan on how to either end it or keep it going, depending on how the ratings were.

It likely just would have been cancelled without resolution had the ratings been poor. That's what's happened to other limited series with open-ended season finales.

 

[Taylirious]

Like Star-Crossed. Ugh.

 

[Morpheus 02]

The term is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else.

I'd call it more a matter of preparing for the worst. No show is guaranteed renewal -- in fact, the odds are against it -- so in this more serialized era, it makes sense to have your first season be a self-contained story that comes to a satisfactory conclusion, while still having the option of continuing if the audience response is there.

Although it doesn't always work out that way. The recent Dracula show that aired on NBC was billed as a limited series, but its finale was more a cliffhanger/setup than a proper resolution, with some things resolved but just as much left hanging. And then it didn't get renewed anyway, at least not by NBC (though it's a British production, so it could conceivably continue elsewhere).

And not only is there a satisfactory conclusion, but viewers won't bail out because the ending "matters". If there was no definite conclusion, some semi-fans (who kinda liked it, but not hard core) would give up watching in favor of doing something else. And that's not good for the network (or especially advertisers who were sold on the show in the first place)

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

And not only is there a satisfactory conclusion, but viewers won't bail out because the ending "matters". If there was no definite conclusion, some semi-fans (who kinda liked it, but not hard core) would give up watching in favor of doing something else. And that's not good for the network (or especially advertisers who were sold on the show in the first place)

As has been discussed, though, the term "limited series" isn't only applied to shows where the season in question has a satisfactory conclusion. Some limited series fit that bill, some don't.

 

[Kegg]

And then it didn't get renewed anyway, at least not by NBC (though it's a British production, so it could conceivably continue elsewhere).

Actually a co-production between Sky Living and NBC, which is different from say Hannibal, which is only a production of Gaumont TV.

Considering Sky also co-produces Penny Dreadful now I wouldn't hold your breath.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Bitten has been renewed for a second season.

 

[Harvey]

And then it didn't get renewed anyway, at least not by NBC (though it's a British production, so it could conceivably continue elsewhere).

Actually a co-production between Sky Living and NBC, which is different from say Hannibal, which is only a production of Gaumont TV.

Considering Sky also co-produces Penny Dreadful now I wouldn't hold your breath.

Hey! Kegg! Nice to see you around again.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Bitten has been renewed for a second season.

Good news. It had improved greatly by the end of the season, although, unfortunately, the main character is still the weak link.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Showtime has renewed Penny Dreadful for a second season.