Kevin Phillips

Is anyone aware of any new sci-fi TV shows in the pipeline? Something that is not here on Earth; such as B5, BSG, Farscape, Stargate, Star Trek, etc.?

Stargate: Universe was the last show I watched regularly.

I guess 44 year old scifi geeks aren't really a lucrative demographic.

DJariya

Defiance. Premieres next month on SyFy.

resinrats

Depending how the DVD sells for BSG Blood & Chrome, there was talk about making more of that.

Deftones

I am pretty sure SyFy passed on that BSG, regardless of how well it sells.

Groucho

I'm a little skeptical, given that you're supposed to watch the show AND play the video game. Seems like they'll do a half-ass job on both, but I hope I'm wrong.

valkyrie

I agree with you. This is Syfy we're talking about here. They even half-assed their name. I have zero faith in them making a decent show.

Ranger

I think the CW had a couple possible new sci-fi shows next fall. Too early to know for sure.

SHIELD on ABC this fall?

Orphan Black on BBCA?

DJariya

All I know about the show is it's from the creator of Farscape (Rockne O'Bannon) and takes place in another universe. And yes, I do know about the video game that is being released at the same time.

resinrats

It wasn't for SyFy. Sounded like they might go with straight to DVD releases. So I guess not a TV series but a series of releases.

PhantomStranger

Unless a premium cable channel wants to tackle sci-fi aimed at adults, I see it becoming an extinct genre on television like Westerns. Sci-fi costs big bucks to produce and the serialized storytelling automatically limits your audience, unless it is tied to a proven brand like Star Wars or Star Trek.

Fantasy has hung around better because it can appeal to both genders in a weekly format.

sven

Not Alphas.

JesseCuster

Something to look at is Joss Whedon down the line a bit. He's busy for now be he's going to be weilding some unprecedented power after the next 2 Avengers films go thermonuclear. He could get total creative control of a series which I think is unheard of in TV...if he wants it.

resinrats

Nothing going on that I know of but it wouldn't surprise me if Paramount tried another Star Trek series in a few years. A franchise made popular again with the recent movies.

redrum

Stephen DeKnight (Spartacus) is developing one for Starz called Incursion

Kevin Phillips

Not too sure about Defiance. But I liked Rockne O'Bannon's work on Farscape, so I'll definitely give it a look.

Incursion sounds more what I was hoping for: Other worlds and lots of shoot-em-up.

DJariya

Incursion hasn't even shot a Pilot yet. DeKnight hasn't received the greenlight to shoot it yet. No actors have been cast either. It's going to be a long wait for that one to make it to series (if it does)

BearFan

I would think a new Star Trek series is inevitable at some point by the end of the decade

tasha99

I could see that, but it makes me sad--I can't really see the point of unserialized shows, with the exception of sitcoms. If I'm going to take the time to watch something, I want the writers to make the story rich and detailed, with each episode connected to the previous one. I think even well done monster of the week shows get pretty boring.

I don't know of any new scifi shows coming up. I'm pretty excited about American Gods on HBO. I'm hoping Dracula will be good (love Jonathon Rhys Meyers) but it's on network television, so I'm skeptical.

Cellar Door

I believe Defiance takes place mostly on Earth in the near future, though the premise does involve aliens from another star system coming here.

Not new (obviously) but there's Doctor Who. It is sometimes more fantasy, but many of its episodes are straight-up sci-fi and some of them take place on other worlds or in space.

I miss Stargate: Universe.

Defiant1

I'd love if HBO and/or Showtime greenlit a space-based scifi series. Give it the full Game of Thrones treatment with a lavish budget combined with an adult-oriented sensibility.

Michael Corvin

"Not on Earth" seems like an odd requirement(is that akin to saying "something with aliens?"), and if you really haven't watched any sci-fi since Universe you shouldn't shrug off Fringe just because it takes place on Earth.

The Stargate franchise exemplifies your point about serialized sci-fi.

SG-1: largely episodic. Sure the goa'uld(and later the Ori) were the big bad, but for the bulk of the show episodes were self contained. Lasted 10 years.

Atlantis: comes along with about a 50-50 ratio of episodic vs. serial. Lasted 5 years.

Universe: presents the viewer with a 100% serialized format. Dead after 2 seasons.

I think Lost really hurt the genre(in multiple ways) in regards to appealing to the general populace. First, people got burned on the final season/finale. Like it or love it, the general consensus wasn't positive. Second, all the serialized sci-fi "me toos" that followed really burned people out. Surface, the Event, Alcatraz, V, the River, Flash Forward, Knight Rider, Dollhouse, Terminator, Eleventh Hour, Terra Nova, etc. Sci-fi had it's chance and the networks pissed it away.

wz42

This is what killed cable for me. If the ad market isn't interested in a genre or whatever then let us pay for it entirely...but that doesn't happen and even the commercial free premium channels play the demo game.

Iirc Seth MacFarlene said he'd like to do a Star Trek series. Not sure how good he'd be at it but the sci-fi stuff on Family Guy is good and he does have respect for the franchise.

As an aside I'm still wondering if the Jonathan Frakes "Riker as Captain" TNG spin off still has a shot of happening.

superdeluxe

You don't 'have' to play the video game, they are just set in the same world.
Early reviews seem promising

superdeluxe

Mass effect series

Kevin Phillips

"Not on Earth" was because shows like Smallville, Eureka, etc. didn't click with me. The ones I did like involved space-travel or other planets. Not necessarily aliens; for example I liked BSG and Firefly.