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Sci-Fi series development slate for '06-'07

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Sci-Fi series development slate for '06-'07

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Old 04-14-05, 01:55 PM
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Sci-Fi series development slate for '06-'07

Scripted Series

'UNTITLED MICHAEL DOUGLAS PROJECT'
'Desperate Housewives' meets 'The Twilight Zone' in this merging of the life and work of the late, celebrated author Shirley Jackson ('The Haunting Of Hill House'). Storylines and themes from Jackson's catalog of supernatural short stories will be woven into her real life experiences--as told in her non-fiction books 'Life Among the Savages' and 'Raising Demons.' This series will reflect Jackson's spirited family life and her transition from urban mom to small-town matriarch. Executive produced by Academy Award-winning actor/producer Michael Douglas ('Wall Street,' 'Traffic'); Alan Brennert ('Stargate Atlantis') is on-board to write.

'HEROES ANONYMOUS'
Based on 'Heroes Anonymous,' the popular comic books created by Scott Gimpel and Bill Morrison and published by Matt Groening's Bongo Comics, this live-action one-hour series lives in the world of 'The Incredibles' and 'Spiderman' ? a modern-day big city where superheroes are a part of everyday life. 'Heroes Anonymous' follows a group of twentysomething aspiring superheroes that form a support group to help them cope with the nearly impossible task of trying to discover their own identity, while carving out their secret identity. Produced by NBC Universal Television Studio and Bender-Brown Prods, the series will be Executive Produced by Lawrence Bender ('Kill Bill Vol. 1&2,' 'Pulp Fiction'), Kevin Brown ('Legend of Earthsea,' 'Roswell') and Karl Schaefer ('The Dead Zone'). Gimpel and Morrison will pen the pilot.

'THOSE WHO WALK IN DARKNESS'
Based on John Ridley's ('Three Kings,' 'Third Watch') best-selling novel of the same name, 'Those Who Walk in Darkness' is a near-future drama about an expert team of S.W.A.T. police whose primary mission is to hunt down and capture rogue "Metanormals"? people who genetically posses superpowers. Along with high-octane action, we'll delve into the intense relationships, on the job and off, within this elite team. John Ridley will write and executive produce in association with NBC Universal Television Studio.

'URBAN ARCANA'
Cities across the globe have been invaded by creatures from a parallel world. These beings have crossed through a portal into the human sphere and don't plan to obey the laws of the land. Undercover detective Sean Mayhew must protect the human population from the influx of these chameleon-like, mythological creatures. 'Urban Arcana' is based on a Hasbro/Worlds of Wonder role playing game. Aron Coleite ('Crossing Jordan') will write; Gary A. Randall and Rockne O'Bannon ('The Triangle, Farscape') will executive produce in association with Fox Television Studios.

'TOMORROW'S CHILD'
Horribly burned in an accident, a young girl is brought back to life by new "skin" of extraterrestrial origin. This new flesh gives the girl powers beyond human comprehension, and soon the government is on her trail, looking to make her its next guinea pig. As she travels the country in Fugitive fashion, she looks to discover the origin of her powers and seek out others like her. Produced by NBC Universal Television Studio and Gary Foster's Horseshoe Bay Productions ('Daredevil,' 'Elektra').

'TIME TUNNEL'
In this updated interpretation of the classic 1960s television series created by Irwin Allen, a female scientist and a government agent find themselves trapped in time when an experimental time travel project is sabotaged. Produced with Fox Television Studios and Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni of Synthesis Entertainment. Allen's wife, Shelia Allen will produce. Written by John Turman ('The Hulk').

'3:52'
From distinguished television writer/producer John Tinker ('St. Elsewhere,' 'L.A. Law,' 'Judging Amy,' 'The Practice'), comes a chilling human scenario. What if 2 billion people suddenly vanished off the face of the Earth? And nobody knew why? The ripple effect would be global and personal; religion and politics would change forever; families would mourn lost loved ones while scientists and conspiracy theorists would search for answers. 3:52 (the time of the disappearance) will examine the 'What If' of this event as told from the point-of-view of a small Maryland town.

Alternative/Reality

'BARBARIAN CHRONICLES'
What if 'Lord of the Rings' met 'Curb Your Enthusiasm?' The answer: 'Barbarian Chronicles.' This 1/2-hour animated series from Brendon Small, creator of the offbeat series strip 'Home Movies,' is a fresh ensemble comedy set in a magical realm of swords, sorcery and - you heard it here first ? Middle-earth metrosexuals. Executive produced by Small and David Letterman's Worldwide Pants, this series pulls back the curtain on a hilarious and heretofore unknown age of comedy.

'SERIOUSLY BAFFLING MYSTERIES'
It's Larry Sanders for the paranormal set. Supernatural investigative reporting gets a mockumentary makeover in this hilarious half-hour docu-spoof from FremantleMedia North America. Series host Jonathan Frankle goes in search of the paranormal on a shoestring budget, but instead finds trouble with his producer and crew. Production chaos and behind-the-scenes dysfunction bleed into each episode - the make-up artist negotiates a raise using a voodoo doll, a Nostradamus prediction about the apocalypse causes administrative anarchy and an investigation into a legendary cannibalistic monster degenerates into a Survivor-like discussion about who among the crew would be voted onto the menu first.

'DALLAS IN WONDERLAND'
This one-of-a-kind half-hour reality series, hosted by the irrepressibly vivacious British television star Dallas Campbell, follows one man's quest to achieve the impossible. Our determined host leaves no stone unturned in his earnest attempts to succeed at a bizarre set of outrageous, self-inflicted sci-fi challenges. Some experiments seem vaguely possible, others are clearly impractical, and some are downright crazy - but all are ingeniously lofty. Whether applying to NASA to fulfill his dream of space exploration or hitting up the Raelians for help with some narcissistic cloning, Dallas' hilarious never-say-die approach to a good challenge will feed the wanderlust in us all. Executive Produced by R.J. Cutler's Actual Reality Pictures ('American High,' '30 Days').
Link

Some interesting prospects. I look forward to the updated version of Time Tunnel.

The practice of describing a show as "X show meets Y show" really has got to stop. If that's the only way you can describe something, it should be sent back to the drawing board to make it more original.
Old 04-14-05, 02:16 PM
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Sounds pretty much craptastic.

And somewhere Down Under, Pilot and Rygel still sit in a crate.
Old 04-14-05, 02:18 PM
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Chew

The practice of describing a show as "X show meets Y show" really has got to stop.
Not at all. It's the only way they can make these shows sound remotely worth watching. There's no check on these assertions, so they can say pretty much anything. They could scoop up some dog poop on a paper and call it Seinfeld meets Citizen Kane meets The Beatles meets Sliced Bread, and no one can call bullshit until it's too late ... or at least until "Broken Bow" airs.

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Old 04-14-05, 02:20 PM
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Not a single monkey in any of their new projects.
Old 04-14-05, 02:32 PM
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These sound a lot more promising then their offerings (aside BSG) from the last few years.
Too bad Brandon Smalls will make a cartoon that no one will watch when he should be doing more Home Movies.
Old 04-14-05, 02:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Fielding Mellish
Sounds pretty much craptastic.

And somewhere Down Under, Pilot and Rygel still sit in a crate.
Not to mention what happened to Firefly...
Old 04-14-05, 03:07 PM
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Most of these sound pretty good to me. I'm especially happy to hear about Brendon Small's new show.
Old 04-14-05, 03:18 PM
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Any word on a future Dune project?
Old 04-14-05, 05:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Fielding Mellish
Sounds pretty much craptastic.

And somewhere Down Under, Pilot and Rygel still sit in a crate.
I couldn't agree more. I am still heartbroken over Farscape. Damn usa2. Besides, if any of these turn out to be good, you just know the hammer will make it her mission to kill them. I'm still kicking myself for getting attached to battlestar galactica (my one concession to watching the channel again since they gave farscape a miniseries) because something good can never last on usa2.
Old 04-14-05, 10:34 PM
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Most of these shows will probably never see the light of day.

Here is a similar thread from two years ago:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...=sci-fi+series

I believe that only one show out of that slate made it to air. (Stargate: Atlantis)
Old 04-14-05, 11:36 PM
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Whatever happened to the miniseries of The Forever War?
Old 04-14-05, 11:44 PM
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At least their pitches are getting better, but they can not stray too far from a series centered around the main character being brought back to life.
Old 04-15-05, 05:07 AM
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SCI FI Announces Films for '06

•Fire Alien, a tongue-in-cheek film about a fire-breathing alien starring William Shatner.
William Shatner in a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi movie? What more do you need, other than a barf bag?

•Gryphon, an epic fantasy about a prince and princess from opposing sides of two warring kingdoms who must join forces to defeat a mystical gryphon conjured by an evil wizard.
Wow, that sounds really original. I don't think I've heard of a story like this one before.

•Heat Stroke, an action-adventure from Farscape executive producer David Kemper about an alien invasion which leads to massive global warming.
Mr. Neutron, the Sci-Fi's channel's official programming chimp, created the idea for this series by pulling random ideas out of a hat. From hat "A": "Alien Invasion" and From hat "B": "Global Warming." Good job, Mr. Neutron!

•Black Hole Terror (working title), a thriller from director Tibor Takacs (Mansquito) about a failed experiment which threatens to swallow the entire Midwest. Kristy Swanson and Judd Nelson star.
And from hat "C" -- JUDD NELSON! Now, Mr. Neutron, pull two title words out of hat "D" -- "Terror" and "Black Hole." Excellent, Mr. Neutron!

•Citadel, starring Corin Nemic as a member of an elite corps of American soldiers who must destroy a creature unleashed on Europe by the Nazis after D-Day.
Hmmm... dollars to donuts says someone left a copy of F. Paul Wilson's "The Keep" lying around the office.

•Squid/Tentacles (working title), a creature feature starring a giant squid which attacks the crew of a treasure-hunting expedition.
Ground-breaking, I tell you. Ground-breaking. But I really need to know if they're going to call it "Squid" or "Tentacles" so I can set my TiVo now. Or maybe they'll be really creative and call it "Squid Tentacles."

•Magma, a disaster film about a volcanic eruption, starring 24's Xander Berkley and Reiko Aylesworth along with Amy Jo Johnson (Felicity).
Because "Volcano" and "Dante's Peak" weren't enough. Looks like Amy Jo Johnson and Xander Berkley won the Mr. Neutron lottery, too!
Old 04-15-05, 05:59 AM
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Originally Posted by nny
Most of these sound pretty good to me. I'm especially happy to hear about Brendon Small's new show.
I'm right there with you. Some of the premises are solid enough that if they were actually done well, could turn out to be some good TV. Most people are still pissed about the whole Farscape deal (and rightly so), but that shows premise on paper would sound pretty lame compared to the stuff up top. It's all about how something is executed. 3:52, Urban Arcana, and Heroes Anonymous at least seem to have some talent behind the shows. I'll wait and see. Not for those Alternative/Reality shows though. Those all sound pretty bad.

And 3:52 set in MARYLAND! Whoo! Shows set in my great state of maryland are usually great! Homicide, The Wire.....Homicide the Movie.

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