The Fall 2022 season is upon us, and if you are looking for some sci fi and fantasy shows to watch, no sense wasting much time on broadcast and cable (you can see my preview of the paltry offerings on those channels at this link). The streaming services are where the big genre entries are at these days and they have quite a number of offerings on the Fall 2022 schedule. But it’s going to cost you because none of those services are putting scripted shows out there for free. (Well, PopcornFlix/Crackle does have Salvage Marines for the cost of watching ads). So I am here to get you ready for the genre shows premiering or returning in the coming months as I rundown everything currently on the schedule while tallying up what it will cost you in streaming fees! And all I ask in return is that you help support independent websites by sharing this post on social media.
See all the premieres for September 2022 and beyond at this link
Let’s start off with one of the biggest shows to arrive this Fall which is Amazon’s LOTR prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (could that title be any longer?). You know you are going to be watching that, so it’s time to start shelling out the subscription fees to Mr. Bezos. If you are not going to go for the full Amazon Prime Service ($139.99 a year, and yes it’s a shameless plug from a small blog trying to make a buck or two to cover costs), then you can do the monthly Prime Video plan at $8.99 a month. And Amazon even offers a free month trial, so you can get by with only paying for one month if you start watching from the beginning (the show releases one episode a week). But wait! Prime Video also has The Peripheral on the way (based on the William Gibson Novel), and it does not premiere until October 21st. Assuming it follows the one-episode-per-week release schedule, that keeps you on the hook until December (but at least you are covered if Carnival Row finally returns for its second season).
Money spent so far (assuming you did the free month): 3 x $8.99 = $26.97. Cha-ching!
Next up is the new AMC+ animated sci fi entry Pantheon which actually looks rather interesting (it premieres September 1st). That service only offers one week free and the show will release one episode a week, so you are in for a couple of months at $8.99 each (though you might find it as cheap at $6.99 through Amazon, Apple, or Roku). But as a bonus, you can go back and watch this Summer’s sleeper sci fi entry Moonhaven which is worth a look.
Keep up with the latest news and updates with Johnny Jay’s Sci Fi TV Week in Review posts
But you’re not done with AMC+ just yet! October 2nd brings the premiere of the epic vampire series Interview with the Vampire based on the books by Anne Rice (which will be on AMC as well, but I am not sure which venue gets it first and AMC+ is ad free). That is not to be confused with Peacock’s epic vampire series Vampire Academy which also arrives this Fall and is based on a series of books. Nor is it to be confused with Syfy’s upcoming vampire dramedy Reginald the Vampire which is based on the book by the same name. Nor is it to be confused with the recent Netflix vampire series First Kill based on the short story of the same name. This is the other vampire series with literary origins, and it will keep you on the hook with AMC+ for at least a couple more months. Bonus for The Walking Dead fans (assuming any are left): you get to stream episodes of the final season a week early.
Money spent so far: $26.97 + 3 x $8.99 = $53.94. Cha-ching!
On September 12th, we get the premiere of the third season of War of the Worlds on EPIX. That is actually a premium cable channel, but does not seem to be carried by many providers and they are pushing their streaming service so I am including them here. Good news is that it only costs $5.99 per month. Bad news is that the show releases one episode per week and I don’t see a free month promotion, so you will need to sign up for at least two months. Bonus is that the third season of the epic fantasy Britannia is streaming there and that is worth checking out.
Money spent so far: $53.94 + 2 * $5.99 = $65.93.
Next on the list is the fifth season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale (September 14th), and you know you are going to want to see the fallout from that fourth season finale. You can sign up for Hulu for as little as $6.99 per month with ads or $12.99 per month without. But you’re going to want to go ahead and get the Disney+ bundle because we have more from that streamer on the way. That is $13.99 per month for Disney+, Hulu with ads, and ESPN+ (if you want Hulu without ads it is $19.99 per month). You’re going to need it through at least December, so let’s add four months to the tally. As a bonus, with Hulu you can go back and catch up on Season 3 of The Orville and that is definitely worth watching.
Money spent so far: $65.93 + 4 x $13.99 = $121.89. Cha-ching!
Next up is Peacock’s epic vampire series Vampire Academy. That is not to be confused with . . . well . . . see the paragraph above on Interview with the Vampire. You can sign up for Peacock for free, but that gets you access to only limited content and I don’t think they let you watch the originals all the way through on that plan (you get an episode or two as a teaser). You can sign up for $4.99 for the ad-supported plan and $9.99 per month for no ads. We are trying to keep costs down here, so we will go with two months of the former.
Money spent so far: $121.89 + 2 x $4.99 = $131.87. Cha-ching!
Next up is Fate: The Winx Saga on Netflix (September 16th). Sure, that fantasy entry is more of a Young Adult show, but it sure pairs up well with Vampire Academy. The cheapest Netflix plan is $9.99 per month which lets you watch the service on one screen (and don’t be sharing no passwords), but that is only SD. So we will go with the $15.49 plan which gives you two screens and a few other “perks” (still no password sharing lest they blame their own people and start laying them off). And even though Netflix shows release their episodes all at once, there are more genre entries from that service on the way, so open up that wallet for four months worth of sub fees for the Fall. And the streamer just announced a September 8th premiere date for The Imperfects, so you are covered for that one.
Money spent so far: $131.87 + 4 x $15.49 = $193.83. Cha-ching!
We signed up for Disney+ above and now is when that pays off doubly so. On September 21st, the Star Wars series Andor has its premiere which is a prequel to the prequel film Rogue One. That is not to be confused with the Star Wars sequel/prequel series Obi-Wan Kenobi which premiered this past Summer and which takes place between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Nor is it to be confused with the prequel/sequel/spin-off series The Mandalorian which takes place between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Nor is it to be confused with the spin-off from that prequel/sequel/spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett. Nor is it to be confused with . . . well . . . I’m confused at this point.
Nevertheless, you get two for one on Star Wars from Disney+ in September as The Bad Batch has its second season premiere on September 28th. That animated series is a spin-off/sequel to the sequel/prequel/spin-off series Star Wars: The Clone Wars which takes place between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and it is not to be confused with the animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars which was produced by Genndy Tartakovsky and is a sequel/prequel/spin-off series which takes place between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. But I digress . . .
Good news is that you are already covered above on subscription fees at Disney+ through December. The bad news is that we are only through the beginning of October and we are not quite done with paying yet!
October only has two more streaming premieres on the schedule at the moment, and both of those are on Netflix so you are already covered with that above. October 7th brings the premiere of the supernatural drama The Midnight Club which is based on the young adult novel by Christopher Pike. (No relation to the future captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise that we know of at this time.) Then on October 25th, the horror anthology Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities has its highly anticipated debut. Also, at some point this Fall we will get the sci fi mystery 1899 on Netflix which comes from the creators of Dark.
On November 4th, Manifest kicks off the first half of its fourth and final season on Netflix, but we are still covered for that plus the fourth season of the animated fantasy series The Dragon Prince.
And speaking of fantasy entries, the long-awaited sequel series to the George Lucus 1988 film Willow arrives on Disney+ On November 30th. That one will carry over into the new year with its weekly release schedule, though, so that is one more month for the Disney+ bundle. Plus, the Star Wars sequel/prequel/spin-offs The Acolyte and Tales of the Jedi will be landing later in Fall as well (no premiere dates have been set at this point).
Money spent so far: $193.83 + $13.99 = $207.82. Cha-ching!
So in order to catch all of the Fall sci fi and fantasy entries from the streaming services that are scheduled at this point, you’ll be spending somewhere around $200. Sure, you can wait and catch up on some of those weekly release schedules to cut a month or two off and maybe also manipulate the free trials periods just right, but it is still going to cost you a chunk of change, and the Mid-Season shows are already lining up for that January start. But then some people are still shelling out a hundred bucks a month for cable, so a couple of hundred for four months of streaming is not too bad.
You can see all of the upcoming premieres for September and beyond at this link, and be sure to check back at that page on a regular basis because the streaming services have a tendency to add shows to their schedule with little notice. That could end up costing you more if you don’t have that particular streamer covered in the tally above, so be sure that you have some money stashed away just in case!
Which sci fi and fantasy shows will you be watching on the streaming services this Fall? Chime in with your comments below.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
