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There are currently several series airing on SyFy which aren't being covered in their own threads. Some of which Goons probably watch or are at least worth a look. I figured we needed a thread to help cover these series. These include original honest to god science fiction serials and some of their barely sci-fi related reality fare. Syfy has been Syfy now for several years, and they've actually been turning it around!? Yes, for real, Syfy seems to be making an effort to try out some fun sci-fi/fantasy shows, as well as some harder sci-fi shows. They've dumped a lot of their reality fare and left behind the WWE. A new dawn? Seems like it! Here are some highlights with show bios: Originals: Channel Zero - An American horror anthology television series created by Nick Antosca. The series was greenlit for two 6-episode, self-contained seasons. Storylines for the series are based on popular creepypastas, including Candle Cove, No End House, Butchers Block and The Dream Door. Has a thread here. Happy! - HAPPY! is based on Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel of the same name. The series follows Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU) – an intoxicated, corrupt ex-cop turned hit man, who is adrift in a world of casual murder, soulless sex and betrayal. After a hit gone wrong, his inebriated life is forever changed by a tiny, relentlessly positive, imaginary blue winged horse named Happy (Patton Oswalt). Has a thread here. Killjoys - From the producers of Orphan Black and the creator of Lost Girl, Killjoys follows a fun-loving, hard living trio of interplanetary bounty hunters sworn to remain impartial as they chase deadly warrants throughout the Quad, a distant system on the brink of a bloody, multi-planetary class war. Has a thread here. Krypton - Set two generations before the destruction of the legendary Man of Steel’s home planet, Krypton follows Superman’s grandfather, whose House of El was ostracized and shamed, as he fights to redeem his family’s honor and save his beloved world from Brainiac. Has a thread here. The Magicians - Quentin Coldwater enrolls at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy to be trained as a magician, where he discovers that the magical world from his favorite childhood books is real and poses a danger to humanity. Meanwhile, the life of his childhood friend Julia is derailed when she is denied entry, and she searches for magic elsewhere. Has a thread here. Van Helsing - Vanessa "Van" Helsing (the descendant of Abraham Van Helsing) is resurrected in a post-apocalyptic world, three years after her death, to lead a resistance against the vampires that plague it. Wynona Earp - Wynonna Earp follows Wyatt Earp's great granddaughter as she battles demons and other creatures. With her unique abilities, and a posse of dysfunctional allies, she's the only thing that can bring the paranormal to justice. Z Nation - Z Nation starts three years after the ZN1 zombie virus has gutted the country, a team of everyday heroes must transport the only known survivor of the plague from New York to California, where the last functioning viral lab waits for his blood. Although the antibodies he carries are the world’s last, best hope for a vaccine, he hides a dark secret that threatens them all. With humankind’s survival at stake, the ragtag band embarks on a journey of survival across three thousand miles of rusted-out post-apocalyptic America. Has a thread here. Other Series with SA Discussion Threads - The Expanse [Completed on Syfy, Renewed on Amazon] Mystery Science Theater 3000 [Completed on Syfy, Renewed on Netflix] Stargate Atlantis, SG-1, Universe [All canceled but complete more or less] Twelve Monkeys [Completed on Syfy] Old School Original Series and Mini-Series - The channel also has been known for making some other series which have completed: Ascension (6 Episodes) - U.S. generational ship launched in the 1960's faces its first murder after 50 years in space. Battlestar Galactica (79 Episodes), Caprica (20 Episodes), Blood and Chrome (2 Episodes) - Humanity made robots, they rebelled and nuked everyone. The human survivors flee in search of a legendary planet called "Earth". Dark Matter (39 Episodes) - Space ship passengers wake up with no memories of who they are, eventually learning they're evil mercenaries. Can they turn their lives around? Defiance (38 Episodes) - Following the arrival of aliens fleeing the destruction of their home system, Earth gets re-shaped in a terrorist attack. The remains of humanity and the alien colonists must now pick back up the pieces and try to live together. Dominion (21 Episodes) - Angels versus demons in Las Vegas. Based on the movie of the same name. The Dresden Files (12 Episodes) - Based on the book series about a wizard in the modern day who works with the police. Eureka (77 Episodes) - Comedic super-science drama about a sheriff looking after a small town full of scientists. Farscape (88 Episodes + 4 Episode Mini-series) - Astronaut gets transported far off into space where he joins the crew of a living ship full of former prisoners. First Wave (66 Episodes) - Nostradamus quatrains predict the destruction of the planet. Haven (78 Episodes) - An FBI agent comes to a small town in Maine for an investigation and finds its citizens wield strange powers and that her own past may be tied up with theirs. Helix (26 Episodes) - CDC scientists versus Evil Corp and their weird viral plagues. Invisible Man (46 Episodes) - Guy can turn invisible thanks to "Quicksilver gland". The Lost Room (3 Episodes) - Everyday objects which were in a motel room during some unknown incident in the 60s grant strange powers to the holders. Sanctuary (59 Episodes) - Green-screen show starring Amanda Tapping, about an organization that seeks out extraordinarily-powered creatures and people. Warehouse 13 (64 Episodes) - Objects of historical note which obtain magical powers are tracked by government agents before they fall into the wrong hands. Original series of dubious quality: Andromeda, Flash Gordon, Painkiller Jane, Tremors, Tripping the Rift, Who Wants to be a Superhero?. Other "Originals" aka Canadian Imports - Syfy also picks up to air several shows which originally aired in Canada, these included Bitten, Continuum and Lost Girl. Syfy Original Movies - Everyone is familiar with these. The low-budget ($1 M dollar range) movies which SyFy either makes or buys the rights to and airs on weekends. These tend to be some of the best performers for them and gives the channel pretty good bang for their buck money to ratings wise. Typically the movies will feature some cryptozoological horror or recent real-life incident hyped to schlocky B-movie levels. ex. If there's an outbreak of some new flu virus in goats, expect "Goat-Flu Zombie Apocalypse" to hit later that year. Syfy's biggest hits in this genre have been Sharknado 1, 2, 3 and the upcoming Sharknado 4. Reality/Competition: There is none other than Face Off? Somehow, I don't think there's any currently being produced by the network. Doesn't mean they won't try again I guess. Face Off - Special Effects make-up reality show. It has nothing to do with Nicholas Cage or John Travolta. Here's Syfy's write up: "The contestants are tasked with elaborate feature challenges including executing full body paint make up on models and creating their own horror villain. Not only will the show incorporate effects make-up, it will include a wide range of skill sets including prosthetics, 3-D design, sculpting, eye enhancers, casting and molding. Each episode involves incredible reveals of the competitors' finished work, and the drama of one contestant being sent home by the panel of expert and celebrity judges. It all culminates in one winner and one grand prize that will launch a career." Has a thread here. Next season starts January 2017. Current SyFy Schedule: http://www.syfy.com/schedule/index.php?__source=Syfy_Global_Nav SyFY on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/network/syfy?sort=popularity Upcoming shows to keep an eye out for: --- Non-Original programming Syfy picks up the rights to many complete/incomplete shows which aired on other networks. Some of these are classics or shows which were canceled early. The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling's classic anthology series featuring fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror stories. Many recognizable actors can be seen in very classic stories) SyFy also has the rights to a couple of other shows which aren't on normal rotation, but which may air as marathons: Invasion, Jericho, Level 9, Moonlight, Special Unit 2. You'll also get the occasional classic series back for a marathon or two like Green Hornet or Tales From The Darkside. Big Event Movies Every year Syfy tries to attract the normals by making a big event mini-series with cross-over appeal which will feature a few name actors. This sometimes involves their take on well known public domain fable or fantasy stories. In the past they've done mini-series like Alice (a take on Alice in Wonderland) and Tin Man (a take on Wizard of Oz) and Neverland (which is their take on a Peter Pan prequel) Teek fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Sep 21, 2018 |
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Nov 16, 2010 18:02
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Sanctuary needs to know its limits. This past episode had some horrid CG for the werewolves. Their background or location CG is passable to good (the hologram city looks fantastic), creature CG seems to always be spotty.
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Nov 22, 2010 18:48
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I'm not sure how active a hand Syfy takes in the cheap movie development, or if they just spend $$$ to air them. It always seems to be the same production companies making them. On that note, Syfy just sent out a press release with their upcoming slate for the next year: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...m-kitchen/73000 Good lord. "Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen"? Who at the network thought that was a good idea? Face Off sounds bad too, but it at least has some barely strained tie in to Science Fiction. Why they didn't renew CHA$E or the fun Estate of Panic is beyond me.
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Nov 22, 2010 21:16
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They're all pretty crappy. Seems like the ones with the more clever names tend to be the better of the bunch, so a little more effort was put into Mansquito and Sharktopus than something like Dinoshark. And by a "little more effort" I mean they got a hundred more dollars to spend on effects. Looks like Wikipedia was nice enough to list all of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Syfy_original_films
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Nov 22, 2010 23:16
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I wonder who decides which shows to remake, rather than just bring over? I guess they'll do it with shows which are easy to transition over which they think would be a bigger hit than the limited run British one(?) They're showing Merlin and Primeval but remaking Being Human. Merlin I can see why they'd stick with the British version, Primeval seems like an easy series to remake though.
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Nov 26, 2010 05:35
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Just a reminder, Eureka and Warehouse 13 will be airing their Christmas themed episodes tomorrow evening. Also has anyone watched the web series Riese: Kingdom Falling on Syfy.com? Apparently it was a solo web series like Sanctuary which SyFy picked up for additional web series episodes. It features a lot of known Vancouver actors from different sci-fi series like Allison Mack and Alessandro Juliani.
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Dec 6, 2010 19:04
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Syfy has picked up Alphas to series, it's another "powers" based show. This time they're people with some form of mental skills: http://www.deadline.com/2010/12/syfy-picks-up-alphas-pilot-to-series/ Three Inches is also alive, another powers series, with the "wacky" premise that the title character can move objects with his mind... but only for three inches.
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Dec 8, 2010 16:27
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Ghost Hunters seems to have two sides, the show side where they go more mainstream and play down the wacky paranormal stuff and their website and magazine which caters more towards the fringe stuff.
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Dec 13, 2010 23:07
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Positive light spoiler review of the first three episodes of Syfy's remake of Being Human: http://io9.com/5720075/how-does-syfys-being-human-stack-up-to-the-uk-version-our-spoiler+free-review If you don't know anything about the show, it goes into things just a tiny bit.
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Dec 29, 2010 08:48
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Just some random notes about the channel for this month: Ghost Hunters International started up their new season tonight, Robb has been jettisoned and Barry is the new team lead. Kris from the original Ghost Hunters has also been added to the team. Britt from GH is also there, but don't expect him to be there long, as he was apparently fired not too long into the season. Being Human the remake of the British series starts up soon, Monday January 17th. It's been getting good early reviews so far. Merlin's third season premieres this Friday after Smackdown. Syfy's new realty series Face Off about a make up special effects competition starts January 26th. Syfy will be running a day long marathon of the original Green Hornet series which featured Bruce Lee next Tuesday January 11th. Ani-Monday is apparently Ani-Tuesday now, they're showing Gurren Lagann currently.
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Jan 6, 2011 05:21
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Jane Espenson and Drew Greenberg are developing a pilot for a remake of the British show Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). It deals with a detective who is murdered and comes back as a ghost to help his partner solve crimes. I'm not familiar with the original from the 70s or the remake from 2000. Has anyone seen the original? Did they do much with the premise? http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/01/13/buffy-randall-hopkirk-syfy/
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Jan 14, 2011 15:23
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Bump reminder that the U. S. remake of Being Human premieres tonight at 8 PM CST. It'll be on at the same time as The Cape, a little bit of crossover audience there. Being Human will be replayed at 9 PM CST and about 30 more times throughout the week. Early word seems to be that Being Human has good casting and acts as a worthy enough remake of the original.
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Jan 17, 2011 07:31
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Being Human was pretty good, the only thing which bugged was Pellegrino suprisingly. I'm sure his character will grow on me though as the season goes along.
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Jan 18, 2011 07:21
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Updated the OP with info on Face Off which starts next Wednesday and Alphas which starts this summer. Also updated it to include some info about non-originals airing on the channel.
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Jan 21, 2011 17:35
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I was mainly highlighting original series they're still airing or things which aren't but which we have threads for. I didn't see those on the schedule, they'd be part of pickups from other networks. Everyone is free to talk about other past shows though which they have shown, always a chance they could bring them back.
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Jan 21, 2011 20:47
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I wish Syfy would show Sliders again. It aired on Fox for the first three seasons, then was picked up by Sci-Fi for the last two. It hasn't been seen in a long rear end time. It seems like a concept which could be revived at some point, just in the hands of competant show runners this time around, and hopefully without a revolving cast.
Teek fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Jan 23, 2011 |
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Jan 23, 2011 19:43
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Any future series really need to think about where they'll film. BSG worked because it was largely ship based, and when we did see planets they managed to find enough varied locales around Vancouver to make them different. Then you have something like the Flash Gordon remake, which was Earth-based. It was shot in that same area and came off looking cheap. Going the Sanctuary/Spartacus route seems like it could work for other series, you just have to have talented artists on the back end making everything look good or at least stylized. Then you have something like V which just has horrible green screen work.
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Jan 23, 2011 20:03
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Anyone else watch Face Off last night? I thought it was decent. I think as a competition it was structured fairly well. The "reality" show faux conflict was kept to a minimum, mainly coming from two guys who happened to already know each other and another guy who was a loud mouth and got called on his behavior. I was also impressed with the winning team's animal-human hybrid design. It looked professional and was a lot more impressive than some of the others. Teek fucked around with this message at 15:40 on Jan 27, 2011 |
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Jan 27, 2011 15:37
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Wasn't really impressed with any of the alien creatures this third episode of Face Off. The one that won had some nice work on the head, but they kinda cheated by covering up 80% of the model with the gown.
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Feb 10, 2011 06:11
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What do you get when you team up Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a female cop? http://www.deadline.com/2011/02/syfy-developing-series-about-harry-houdini-and-arthur-conan-doyle-solving-mysteries/ Guess we'll find out. Sounds good in theory, not exactly high on the "it'll have steampunk!" thing, as I think that's getting a bit played out, but it seems like it could be the basis for a good series. Focus on spiritualism and the occult, throw in some Aleister Crowley for good measure.
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Feb 11, 2011 16:53
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The "two camps" thing strikes me as a bit fake, it really seems like it's just three people. Megan and Conor, and then the clueless ears chick who seems to have problems with Megan. Everyone else is doing their own thing but annoyed by the BS between Megan and Jo. I really like some of the villains last night. Conor's demon was generic as hell. The teddy bear thing and the big head guy were pretty awesome. I would be interested to see how the big head guy would turn out with more time to work on it. Teek fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Feb 17, 2011 |
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Feb 17, 2011 18:40
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I may do that in the next week if someone else doesn't. In other news, Sffy announced premiere dates for some returning and new series: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/live-feed/syfy-announces-sanctuary-stargate-universe-160094 Hollywood Reporter posted:The third series in the Stargate franchise will return for its last 10 episodes on Monday, March 7 at 10 p.m. Syfy also picked up the rights to re-air Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles starting April 7th: http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/02/22/syfy-sarah-connor-chronicles-exclusive/ Teek fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Feb 22, 2011 |
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Feb 22, 2011 20:42
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Tom was absolutely robbed, that really doesn't help the show's reputation that Megan remained.
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Mar 3, 2011 16:07
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In regards to Megan, I just have to assume that the work done on the face didn't translate across on TV. It looks like it had some nice work, but all the blood red really didn't let us see much in the way of detail which may have been good.
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Mar 3, 2011 23:15
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Glad that Megan was finally sent home, she was terrible tonight, furthering cementing that Tom was screwed last week.
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Mar 10, 2011 05:02
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Depends on the show, since this was the first season, I'm sure SyFy didn't want to dump too much money into it yet. This seems to be popular though, and actually did a tiny bit better in the ratings than Ghost Hunters last week, so I figure season 2 is a lock. Which might mean a longer season next time around, possibly going final 3 rather than final 4.
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Mar 10, 2011 05:39
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Was happy with the top 3 in Face Off. Connor's came off a lot better than I thought it would, as his original statement that it would be a basic witch didn't seem to be him pushing himself. The elemental wood nature of her though worked well.
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Mar 17, 2011 05:42
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Awesome to see a quick renew. Just a couple scheduling notes. Destination Truth is having a Ghost Hunters-esque live show tonight for Saint Patrick's Day in Ireland. They'll be doing a live investigation of a castle for four hours starting at 6 PM CST. After tonight's live show, the series will start airing new episodes on Tuesdays at 8 PM. Also Fact or Faked will return next week with new episodes. Marcel's Quantum Kitchen will premiere next week after Destination Truth, having not seen it I can't fully judge, but it seems like a blatant play to get non-genre viewers to the channel.
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Mar 17, 2011 15:56
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Coming to Syfy after being passed over by Travel Channel, Discovery, VH1, Bravo, etc., etc.. http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/03/21/tommy-lee-syfy/ I made up the last part, but I have a feeling it's probably true in some form.
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Mar 21, 2011 20:45
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Even more reality on the way: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110322/tv_nm/us_syfy Syfy via Hollywood Reporter posted:"Haunted Collector," a working title, centers on a family of renowned paranormal investigators who spend their time tracking down haunted items. The family then houses its collections -- think guns, jewelry, paintings and dolls -- in its museum. Haunted Collector sounds ridiculous. "Yeah man, my old Atari is totally haunted." Actually that would be fun if it's like that episode of Aqua Teen. Legend Quest sounds passable, it's been done before, but really, how many of these items can they ever hope to find? You're not going to find the Ark of the Covenant, but maybe they can find Sankara Stone level items. Paranormal Witness just sounds boring. Though if they could do it like Unsolved Mysteries, that might work. Though you'd need to resurrect Robert Stack first.
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Mar 22, 2011 22:56
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Hollywood Treasure gets annoying with the "So how about we auction item X that you own?" "Nah, not for sale." That seems to happen each episode. Maybe those will work better when the collector finally comes back in a later season and actually has them auction it, otherwise it seems like pointless filler to try and make up for some of the crap they're left auctioning.
Teek fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Mar 23, 2011 |
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Mar 23, 2011 01:04
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Here's Syfy's upfront:Syfy posted:NEW SCRIPTED SERIES You certainly have a lot of winners there Syfy...  Most of the reality shows in development they list there will probably suffer from the one thing I hate in "reality" shows. Artificial conflict and drama within the cast to give some weight to the proceedings. I don't give a poo poo that person X is fighting with person Y, especially in non-competition based shows. That and artificially imposed deadlines. "We only have two days to do it or we'll in trouble!" SHUT UP, it's your own drat show, which takes weeks of prep and development, you didn't just start the process 3 days before X happens. Shows which may have promise: Alphas, BSG Blood and Chrome, Three Inches, Legend Quest and Overthunk. Hi Tech Hoaxes sounds like a behind the scenes Scare Tactics on steroids, which could be cool. What I'm also seeing is a lack of real genre busting series ideas. Where's the next Farscape or Lexx? Something which pushes the boundaries of what they can do? With so many series it seems like they're just throwing crap at the wall and hoping it sticks. I would gladly trade in 4-5 of those reality shows for one solid try at a new series which goes beyond "everyday life + weirdness" that they do on the cheap. Teek fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Mar 25, 2011 |
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Mar 23, 2011 17:04
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Unfortunately there's a big difference there, being a "reality" show, Quantum Kitchen is probably cheap as poo poo to make and thus easier to keep around.
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Mar 30, 2011 04:13
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For people who have missed Joe Flanigan of Stargate Atlantis fame, he'll be in a new Syfy picture Saturday evening which got a positive review: http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/ferocious-planet-syfy-2011
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Apr 8, 2011 19:00
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http://io9.com/#!5793136/farscape-creator-teams-up-with-syfy-for-huge-new-series This hopefully will make up for my complaint earlier that there's no big genre ideas coming from the network. Now to wait and see just what it will be. Hopefully not Alien Nation, I'm a bit burned out after the poor showing of V. Teek fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Apr 19, 2011 |
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Apr 18, 2011 22:49
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So did anyone catch The Almighty Thor this past weekened? How was it?
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May 10, 2011 21:41
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SyFy prepping Warehouse 13 spinoff around HG Wells in the 1800s: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/syfy-prepping-warehouse-13-spinoff-188019 It sounds similar to the Houdini show they had in the pipeline. Wonder if this means both might go to series or if it'll come down to which has the best pilot. http://www.deadline.com/2011/02/syfy-developing-series-about-harry-houdini-and-arthur-conan-doyle-solving-mysteries/ I think the Houdini show sounds better in theory, at least being able to possibly explore the occult and magic. Teek fucked around with this message at 00:15 on May 13, 2011 |
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May 13, 2011 00:10
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Syfy has picked up the first two seasons of Lost Girl, a Canadian show about a succubus. Has anyone seen it before? Any good? http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/18/syfy-lost-girl/ It sounds like the type of show which would work better on Cinemax...
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May 18, 2011 21:27
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Here's a positive semi-spoilery review of the new Monday night lineup: http://io9.com/5819528/syfys-monday-night-lineup-pretty-darn-solid
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Jul 9, 2011 18:51
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Reminder that Haven season 2 starts tomorrow at 9 PM CST.
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Jul 14, 2011 05:54
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