Sci Fi TV Week in Review: Johnny Jay’s irreverent, snarky, and caffeine-fueled look back at the past week in sci fi TV in five minutes or less.
With Star Trek: Discovery and Picard coming to an end, there have been rumors of franchise fatigue and that Paramount+ possibly cutting back on its Trek shows. But hold that thought because the announcements from this past week suggest the streamer is going the other way. The greenlight has been given to the long-gestating Starfleet Academy series which will follow a new class of cadets (age sixteen and up) as they work their way through the rigorous training at the academy. The show will skew to a young adult audience (it would have been a perfect fit at The CW back in the days when CBS co-owned the network with The WB) with Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau acting as showrunners. No casting has been announced at this time and it will likely be early 2024 before it premieres on the streaming service.
In addition to that, early renewals have been handed out to two of the current shows in the franchise at Paramount+. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has received a third-season renewal ahead of its second-year premiere, and the animated Lower Decks has been extended to a fifth season. The second season of Strange New Worlds will premiere June 15th, and Lower Decks is set to return for its fourth year later in the Summer. So for now, the voyages of Starfleet appear to be full steam ahead!
Another sci fi franchise that could be getting an extension is The X-Files. Black Panther‘s Ryan Coogler is currently working on a revival of the alien investigation series with a diverse cast. It is unclear at this point if this will be considered a “Next Generation” type show (the best direction for a revival) or if it will be a reboot (a bad idea). It is also unclear where it would land since 20th Century Fox is now owned by Disney. This project is very early in the development stages, so keep an eye out for updates.
In additional news relating to that franchise, the planned animated series X-Files: Albuquerque will not be moving forward. According to TVLine, that show “would have centered on an office full of misfit agents who investigate X-Files cases too wacky, ridiculous or downright dopey for Mulder and Scully to bother with” and Chris Carter would have been onboard to produce. It was originally announced in August 2020 as in development at FOX, but the project has been cancelled at that network.
In other cancellation announcements, the British historical fantasy Britannia will not be continuing to a fourth season. That Game of Thrones-in-Celtic-garb series did not get as much attention in the U.S. (where it streamed on Amazon and EPIX), but it proved popular across the pond. It was an expensive show to produce, though, and Sky decided not to give it a fourth season, leaving it as yet another Peak TV entry that will end without resolving its story. There is no word yet on whether it will be shopped around.
Season 2 of HBO’s House of the Dragon has been trimmed back to eight episodes from the originally planned ten. But that appears to be a cost-cutting measure (it is one of the most expensive shows in production these days) and does not appear to jeopardize its future. According to Deadline, this all part of the plan for getting it ready for a third season renewal.
In the streaming ratings, Disney+ series The Mandalorian entered the Nielsen Streaming Rankings at Number 3 with the premiere of its third season, pulling in an estimated 823 million minutes of viewing. There were some early reports that the viewership was down for the show this year, but these numbers suggest otherwise. Keep up with the renewal/cancellation status of all the current sci fi TV shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
In scheduling announcements, as mentioned above Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will have its second season premiere on June 15th. Also, Disney+ has given a date of June 21st for the arrival of its Secret Invasion mini-series. This coming week brings no new premieres, but NBC’s Quantum Leap will be wrapping up its first season on Monday. You can see the premieres for April and beyond at this link and you can keep up with the current schedule at this link.
Be sure to keep up with the news during the week at r/SciFiTV.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates on all the airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows for the current season with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
