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.
Before getting to this week’s news, it occurs to me that this is the second week in a row that Amazon’s Prime Video has dominated the headline of this post (you can see last week’s headline at this link). And both times it is about promising new content coming to the service. Considering that most of what I write about Netflix these days involves cancellations (see below), Prime Video–which has surpassed Netflix in the U.S.–could be positioning itself to be the market leader by next year.
Now on to the news that not coincidentally involves Prime Video. That service is currently considering adding a new Stargate entry and it is soliciting pitches from the industry’s creative talent. (Feel free to try and submit your own pitch, but good luck getting it into the ivory tower). Amazon completed the purchase of MGM studios (and may be buying you and me soon if Google doesn’t do it first) which includes the Stargate live-action shows and movies (those are currently available for streaming on Prime Video). The Expanse creators Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby have shown an interest in working on the franchise as well as the producers of The Boys and of course J.J. Abrams. (He has touched almost every other major sci fi franchise, why let this one pass by?) Brad Wright had previously written a pilot script for a new show, but apparently Amazon execs were not interested in moving forward with that despite his close connection to the other television entries. Whether the streamer would prefer to go the reboot route is uncertain, but passing on Wright’s project could suggest they are considering it. Stay tuned for more updates on this in the coming months.
In cancellation news, Netflix cut down yet another show this week. The fantasy entry The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself has fallen to the Netflix Red Queen’s “Off With Their Heads!” verdict and will not be continued to a second season. Series creator Joe Barton made the announcement on Twitter. That show did not receive much in the way of promotion, but it still managed to place in the Netflix Top 10 shows for two weeks in a row. Whether it will be shopped around to other venues remains to be seen.
Also cancelled this past week was AMC+’s sci fi series Moonhaven. That show had previously been renewed after pulling strong viewership as an exclusive on the streaming service, but that has been rescinded amidst shakeups at AMC Networks. There is a chance it could continue on a different venue, and you can vote for that show, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, and more in our Fall 2022 Save My Show poll.
Back to Prime Video, Stephen King’s supernatural western The Dark Tower may have another shot at a television series adaptation on that streaming service. Mike Flanagan–who just bailed from Netflix–has indicated that is one of his dream projects and he is looking at developing a series with partner Trevor Macy. The two have acquired the rights to the property and Flanagan has a pilot script already written. This could be one of the first shows that they work on as part of their development deal with Prime Video. Amazon had previously planned a television version of the books back in 2016 which would have been tied to the 2017 feature film starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. That movie bombed at the Box Office, though and the TV series was scrapped.
In casting news, Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again has added Sandrine Holt and Margarita Levieva in “major roles” but there is still no word on whether Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson will be invited back to the show. Prime Video’s animated fantasy series The Legend of Vox Machina has added Henry Winkler, Cheech Marin, Billy Boyd and Lance Reddick to the voice cast in unspecified guest roles for the second season.
In ratings news, Syfy’s vampire dramedy Reginald the Vampire improved to a 0.06 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 241K total viewers for its Season 1 finale. That show’s numbers have improved two weeks in a row, and interestingly both of those episodes did that without the lead-in from Chucky. Whether the ratings bump will be enough to convince the network to give the show a second season remains to be seen. In the meantime, fans can cast their vote for that one in our poll. More on the streaming and linear ratings for sci fi TV shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
The Fall 2022 season has essentially wrapped up, but there are still a few more premieres in December. Hulu’s time-bending sci fi entry Kindred has its premiere next week under the FX on Hulu banner. All episodes of that one will be available for streaming on Tuesday. You can see all the premieres for December and beyond at this link and you can see the Weekly Listings here.
Be sure to keep up with the news during the week with This Week in Sci Fi TV and 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 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.
