Sci-Fi Channel announces 16 new shows for 04-05 year
03-31-03, 10:09 PM
#1
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 1,279
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sci-Fi Channel announces 16 new shows for 04-05 year
Sci-Fi Channel announces 16 new shows for 04-05 year
A new STARGATE series is among the channel's new goods
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline: Monday, March 31, 2003
By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor
Source: The Sci-Fi Channel
The Sci-Fi Channel has released a list of what new programming it intends to broadcast in the 2004-2005 year. Among the new shows being offered are ongoing series, two new mini-series and a host of special programs for its out-of-this-world audience.
Eight new ongoing series were announced:
STARGATE: ATLANTIS: Perhaps the biggest potential series is this long-rumored spinoff to STARGATE SG-1. You can read all about this series here, in a separate article.
DEAD LAWYERS: Produced by DreamWorks Television, this one-hour series' concept is about -- you guessed it! -- lawyers that return from beyond the grave to "defend everyone they screwed when they were alive -- and it's all pro bono!" (Really, I swear I'm not making this up.)
The show's central character is a deceased defendant named Jimmy Quinn, who, after being run over by a bus, joins a dead lawyer firm in the netherworld. The story was developed by Christopher Murphey and Andy Lieberman and the script was written by Murphey.
THE DIVIDE: A latenight DJ, his dead twin sister, and the local coroner team up to fight crime. High concept enough for you? Produced by Lions Gate, executive produced by Stan Brooks and written by Frank Military and Dean White.
LEGION: A young man who sells his soul to the devil to save his daughter's life and then roams the country to fight evil, able to recognize those who are possessed. Produced by Kudos Film & Television, Ltd., Whoop, Inc. and Tom Leonardis, written by Tony Jordan and executive produced by Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Garrett and Jane Featherstone.
PAINKILLER JANE: Based on the Event Comics series, this is a 2-hour backdoor pilot. Jane Browning was a young marine officer who is exposed to a biochemical weapon that changes her genetically, endowing her with incredible self-healing powers. The pilot script was written by John Harrison (writer/director of FRANK HERBERT'S DUNE mini-series) and Don Opper. Harrison will also direct the show.
CLIVE BARKER'S THE EVIL ONE: It sounds like this will be more of an anthology series where every week a new chapter in the battle between good and evil will be told...and not every week the good guy wins. The show will be produced by Seraphim, Inc. (Barker's production company) and exec produced Barker as well.
TOTAL ECLIPSE: As described by Sci-Fi: "Jeremy Cross arrives at his new teaching and research position at Greylock, a beautiful and prestigious college, only to discover that the school is a nexus of the otherworldly, arcane, and supernatural. As if tenure wasn't hard enough to get, the faculty's IQ goes up every year, intelligent wolves roam the forests, and the research covers time travel, extrasensory perception, and anything else on the edge of science. Distributed by USACE. Executive produced and written by Steve Aspis."
SUTURE GIRL: Another 2-hour backdoor pilot, this time based on a character from the pages of Todd McFarlane's SPAWN comic book series. A female advertising executive is murdered by a serial killer and then resurrected by gypsies and given supernatural powers to combat evil. The pilot is written by Alan McElroy (writer of the SPAWN movie). McFarelane, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Tracey E. Edmonda will produce.
Also announced were a four-hour mini-series that will re-envision THE THING (click here for details); a six-night mini-series titled 6 DAYS 'TIL SUNDAY, about a man who discovers proof that he will be murdered in six days; and six reality-based specials including a SURVIVOR-like show called LIFE ON MARS where 12 contestants try to survive inside a simulation of a Martian base.
The channel also announced that their new four-hour BATTLESTAR GALACTICA mini-series (which also serves as a possible pilot) will be broadcast in December 2003.
A new STARGATE series is among the channel's new goods
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline: Monday, March 31, 2003
By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor
Source: The Sci-Fi Channel
The Sci-Fi Channel has released a list of what new programming it intends to broadcast in the 2004-2005 year. Among the new shows being offered are ongoing series, two new mini-series and a host of special programs for its out-of-this-world audience.
Eight new ongoing series were announced:
STARGATE: ATLANTIS: Perhaps the biggest potential series is this long-rumored spinoff to STARGATE SG-1. You can read all about this series here, in a separate article.
DEAD LAWYERS: Produced by DreamWorks Television, this one-hour series' concept is about -- you guessed it! -- lawyers that return from beyond the grave to "defend everyone they screwed when they were alive -- and it's all pro bono!" (Really, I swear I'm not making this up.)
The show's central character is a deceased defendant named Jimmy Quinn, who, after being run over by a bus, joins a dead lawyer firm in the netherworld. The story was developed by Christopher Murphey and Andy Lieberman and the script was written by Murphey.
THE DIVIDE: A latenight DJ, his dead twin sister, and the local coroner team up to fight crime. High concept enough for you? Produced by Lions Gate, executive produced by Stan Brooks and written by Frank Military and Dean White.
LEGION: A young man who sells his soul to the devil to save his daughter's life and then roams the country to fight evil, able to recognize those who are possessed. Produced by Kudos Film & Television, Ltd., Whoop, Inc. and Tom Leonardis, written by Tony Jordan and executive produced by Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Garrett and Jane Featherstone.
PAINKILLER JANE: Based on the Event Comics series, this is a 2-hour backdoor pilot. Jane Browning was a young marine officer who is exposed to a biochemical weapon that changes her genetically, endowing her with incredible self-healing powers. The pilot script was written by John Harrison (writer/director of FRANK HERBERT'S DUNE mini-series) and Don Opper. Harrison will also direct the show.
CLIVE BARKER'S THE EVIL ONE: It sounds like this will be more of an anthology series where every week a new chapter in the battle between good and evil will be told...and not every week the good guy wins. The show will be produced by Seraphim, Inc. (Barker's production company) and exec produced Barker as well.
TOTAL ECLIPSE: As described by Sci-Fi: "Jeremy Cross arrives at his new teaching and research position at Greylock, a beautiful and prestigious college, only to discover that the school is a nexus of the otherworldly, arcane, and supernatural. As if tenure wasn't hard enough to get, the faculty's IQ goes up every year, intelligent wolves roam the forests, and the research covers time travel, extrasensory perception, and anything else on the edge of science. Distributed by USACE. Executive produced and written by Steve Aspis."
SUTURE GIRL: Another 2-hour backdoor pilot, this time based on a character from the pages of Todd McFarlane's SPAWN comic book series. A female advertising executive is murdered by a serial killer and then resurrected by gypsies and given supernatural powers to combat evil. The pilot is written by Alan McElroy (writer of the SPAWN movie). McFarelane, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Tracey E. Edmonda will produce.
Also announced were a four-hour mini-series that will re-envision THE THING (click here for details); a six-night mini-series titled 6 DAYS 'TIL SUNDAY, about a man who discovers proof that he will be murdered in six days; and six reality-based specials including a SURVIVOR-like show called LIFE ON MARS where 12 contestants try to survive inside a simulation of a Martian base.
The channel also announced that their new four-hour BATTLESTAR GALACTICA mini-series (which also serves as a possible pilot) will be broadcast in December 2003.
03-31-03, 10:11 PM
#2
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 1,279
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sci-Fi Channel announces THING mini-series
Written by MINORITY REPORT screenwriter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline: Monday, March 31, 2003
By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor
Source: The Sci-Fi Channel
Late Monday afternoon The Sci-Fi Channel announced a long list of projects in development for broadcast in the 2004-2005 season (see our other stories for details on these new shows.) Among the new shows announced was a new mini-series that will "re-envision" THE THING.
Here is how Sci-Fi Channel described the new THING mini-series:
"It's everywhere. It's anything. And it can't be stopped. SCI FI re-envisions the terrifying suspense classic, THE THING, which follows a team of American scientists who discover a bloodthirsty alien life form in the frozen expanse of Antarctica. Swift, stealthy and cunning, this shape-shifting monster assumes the appearance of its victims with the aims of earning the scientists' trust -- and decimating the group from the inside. Who can be trusted, and who is a threat? The miniseries, written by Gary L. Goldman (MINORITY REPORT, TOTAL RECALL), will be distributed by USACE."
Sci-Fi did not give a broadcast date for the project, nor has casting begun on the show.
Written by MINORITY REPORT screenwriter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline: Monday, March 31, 2003
By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor
Source: The Sci-Fi Channel
Late Monday afternoon The Sci-Fi Channel announced a long list of projects in development for broadcast in the 2004-2005 season (see our other stories for details on these new shows.) Among the new shows announced was a new mini-series that will "re-envision" THE THING.
Here is how Sci-Fi Channel described the new THING mini-series:
"It's everywhere. It's anything. And it can't be stopped. SCI FI re-envisions the terrifying suspense classic, THE THING, which follows a team of American scientists who discover a bloodthirsty alien life form in the frozen expanse of Antarctica. Swift, stealthy and cunning, this shape-shifting monster assumes the appearance of its victims with the aims of earning the scientists' trust -- and decimating the group from the inside. Who can be trusted, and who is a threat? The miniseries, written by Gary L. Goldman (MINORITY REPORT, TOTAL RECALL), will be distributed by USACE."
Sci-Fi did not give a broadcast date for the project, nor has casting begun on the show.
03-31-03, 10:11 PM
#3
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 1,279
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sci-Fi Channel finally announces STARGATE: ATLANTIS
Rumored spinoff finally gets greenlight
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline: Monday, March 31, 2003
By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor
Source: The Sci-Fi Channel
Late Monday The Sci-Fi Channel announced that it had officially given the greenlight for the long-rumored spinoff series from STARGATE SG-1, STARGATE: ATLANTIS. Rumors of ATLANTIS have been floating around Stargate fansites and conventions for over a year, but until today they had never been confirmed by the network.
According to the Sci-Fi Channel release, the show is centered around the discovery of the ruins of the lost civilization of Atlantis, which is then discovered to actually be the same civilization that created the Stargate system. As stated by the Channel, "the implications of this discovery lead the team to a distant universe, where they find a primitive human civilization threatened by a sinister new enemy." No further details were given.
STARGATE SG-1 is entering its seventh season on the Channel and it remains unknown if the spinoff will include any of the first show's characters or creative personnel.
Rumored spinoff finally gets greenlight
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline: Monday, March 31, 2003
By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor
Source: The Sci-Fi Channel
Late Monday The Sci-Fi Channel announced that it had officially given the greenlight for the long-rumored spinoff series from STARGATE SG-1, STARGATE: ATLANTIS. Rumors of ATLANTIS have been floating around Stargate fansites and conventions for over a year, but until today they had never been confirmed by the network.
According to the Sci-Fi Channel release, the show is centered around the discovery of the ruins of the lost civilization of Atlantis, which is then discovered to actually be the same civilization that created the Stargate system. As stated by the Channel, "the implications of this discovery lead the team to a distant universe, where they find a primitive human civilization threatened by a sinister new enemy." No further details were given.
STARGATE SG-1 is entering its seventh season on the Channel and it remains unknown if the spinoff will include any of the first show's characters or creative personnel.
04-01-03, 12:07 AM
#5
DVD Talk Reviewer
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: WAS looking for My Own Private Stuckeyville, but stuck in Liberty City (while missing Vice City)
Posts: 15,094
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm speechless..
but only because I know das will have an eloquent response to this foolishness..
Or else he'll just sum it up with a "Bite Me Hammer" and be done with it..
but only because I know das will have an eloquent response to this foolishness..
Or else he'll just sum it up with a "Bite Me Hammer" and be done with it..
04-01-03, 01:10 AM
#6
DVD Talk Hero
Wow. It would be quite a contest to see which series will be the dumbest, won't it?
Let's see... Buffy knock-offs, Dead Zone knock-offs, lousy comic book adaptions...
The only that seems like it could even possibly have any promise is the Clive Barker one, and that's because the description is so vague.
"Dead Lawyers" - Jesus, it's like a retarded chimp pitched this.
"The Divide" - It's like Buffy meets CSI!
"Legion" - It's like Buffy meets Dead Zone!
"Painkiller Jane" - It's like a cross between Buffy and Woverine of X-Men!
"Total Eclipse" - It's like Buffy meets Buffy!
"Suture Girl" - It's like a cross between Buffy and Angel!
Let's see... Buffy knock-offs, Dead Zone knock-offs, lousy comic book adaptions...
The only that seems like it could even possibly have any promise is the Clive Barker one, and that's because the description is so vague.
"Dead Lawyers" - Jesus, it's like a retarded chimp pitched this.
"The Divide" - It's like Buffy meets CSI!
"Legion" - It's like Buffy meets Dead Zone!
"Painkiller Jane" - It's like a cross between Buffy and Woverine of X-Men!
"Total Eclipse" - It's like Buffy meets Buffy!
"Suture Girl" - It's like a cross between Buffy and Angel!
04-01-03, 01:52 AM
#7
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 3,826
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I can just imagine what goes on during these pitch meetings over at Sci-Fi:
"Here is my idea, we take a monkey and put in a room. The monkey takes a crap and then takes the crap and throws it up against the wall. We then film crap covered wall and turn it into a 13 part mini-series about a Pre-school teacher who is killed during a poodle attack and is brought back from the dead to help place foster children into good homes."
"Here is my idea, we take a monkey and put in a room. The monkey takes a crap and then takes the crap and throws it up against the wall. We then film crap covered wall and turn it into a 13 part mini-series about a Pre-school teacher who is killed during a poodle attack and is brought back from the dead to help place foster children into good homes."
04-01-03, 06:04 AM
#8
DVD Talk Legend
While I'm looking forward to Stargate Atlantis, the rest sound like pure crap.
If you're going to adapt a comic book, at least work on one that was a bit successful. I think Painkiller Jane lasted about 4 issues.
If you're going to adapt a comic book, at least work on one that was a bit successful. I think Painkiller Jane lasted about 4 issues.
04-01-03, 06:52 AM
#9
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Join Date: May 2000
Location: A secret rebel stronghold in the Republic of San Marcos
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 0
Received 15 Likes
on
9 Posts
So, after looking at the vast majority of "concepts" up there, let me just ask this:
Shouldn't they now just call themselves The Zombie Channel?
Shouldn't they now just call themselves The Zombie Channel?
04-01-03, 07:33 AM
#11
Member
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Atlanta, Ga
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Too. Painful. For. Words....
Must. Seek. Out. New. Interesting. Way. To. Defile. Network.....
All.. Slanderous. Metaphor. Used. Up....
Hammer. Too. Evil....
ACK... The. Pain....
*dies*
Must. Seek. Out. New. Interesting. Way. To. Defile. Network.....
All.. Slanderous. Metaphor. Used. Up....
Hammer. Too. Evil....
ACK... The. Pain....
*dies*
04-01-03, 07:43 AM
#12
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Where the sky is always Carolina Blue! (Currently VA - again...)
Posts: 5,167
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I guess they really are getting away from scifi = space. Good gravy those are some weak-ass concepts. GvsE was pretty good and half those shows are direct ripoffs it looks like. Seriously, I'm not sure there's even one semi-original-minded person still working at that network. It's like some horrible "Channel of the Yes-Men"!!! 
04-01-03, 07:59 AM
#14
DVD Talk Legend
So, they couldn't afford to produce one popular, quality show because they're producing a boatload of crap? Sounds about right.
The lawyer one sounds like a bad SNL sketch, and Total Eclipse sounds like Buffy Goes to Hogwarts. And what's with all the dead people? Maybe they can get the rights to Enterprise and turn Tripp into Zombie Tripp.
That would be fun. Not.
The lawyer one sounds like a bad SNL sketch, and Total Eclipse sounds like Buffy Goes to Hogwarts. And what's with all the dead people? Maybe they can get the rights to Enterprise and turn Tripp into Zombie Tripp.
That would be fun. Not.
04-01-03, 08:06 AM
#15
DVD Talk Hero
• Quoth Jason •<HR SIZE=1>The lawyer one sounds like a bad SNL sketch<HR SIZE=1>
Sci-Fi's New Line-up Brought to you by
Wilson Ear Drills. When you just can't take it anymore.
das
04-01-03, 01:28 PM
#16
DVD Talk Hero
And I just want to say that there are so many GOOD comics that could be made into decent series, but they go with crap like Painkiller Jane and Spawn.
04-01-03, 01:39 PM
#17
DVD Talk Legend
Now the cancellation of Farscape makes sense. They needed to make room for quality "Sci-Fi Original" programming like this.
All is forgiven, Sci-Fi. I can't wait for Dead Lawyers and The Divide. Sounds great!
All is forgiven, Sci-Fi. I can't wait for Dead Lawyers and The Divide. Sounds great!
04-01-03, 02:28 PM
#19
DVD Talk Legend
Originally posted by Derrich
I think this is an April Fools joke.
I think this is an April Fools joke.
Unfortunately, every day is April Fools at Sci-Fi. Here's the official press release over at Yahoo:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030331/nym196_1.html
04-01-03, 05:57 PM
#22
Banned
Oh lord, SG-1 Atlantis? The only thing that could possibly save that show is if Richard Dean Anderson was in it, and that's unlikely.
They're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here...
They're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here...
04-01-03, 07:22 PM
#23
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: The War Room
Posts: 1,442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Y'know...
I clicked on this, planning to read all the lame ideas, laugh, and maybe post a smart-alecky comment about how they should do a reality show, and then...
04-01-03, 07:28 PM
#24
Senior Member
Join Date: May 1999
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, talks are progressing between Viacom and Vivendi Universal over the purchase of several networks (Sci-Fi included). If Viacom does purchase Sci-Fi, one thing for sure is that all of the Star Trek series will get daily runs as their syndication contracts expire. If it happens, I would bet that Sci-Fi will also start showing some of the failed UPN genre series such as 7 Days, Special Unit 7, and The Haunted.