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.
The cost-cutting measures continue under the Paramount umbrella as the plans for a Gattaca television series at Showtime have been nixed. That premium cable service is rolling into Paramount+ on the streaming side and other cancellations have occurred during the consolidation including Star Trek: Prodigy (more on that in last week’s post). Deadline gives the following description of the project:
The series, takes place a generation after the events of the film, when science and humanity have evolved to the point where we can direct our own evolution. Genetic engineering has created a world in which parents can determine the future of their children before they are born (the Valids), which by default has created a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the color of one’s skin (the Invalids).
Set in the near future where corporations screen their employees based on their genetic makeup, the series centers on a man with a congenital heart condition who tries to assume the identity of a former athlete with perfect genes in order to fulfill his dream of traveling in space.
It comes from Homeland co-creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and the word is that the project will get shopped around to other venues.
Warrior Nun‘s creator Simon Barry announced this week that the show has been saved, and that has been confirmed by other sources. It will return for a movie or a shortened third season to give it the chance to wrap up its storylines. It will not be returning to Netflix, though, and the new venue has not been announced yet. But this is yet another example of fans stepping up to save a show cancelled too soon and offers hope to those trying to save other genre entries like Raised by Wolves, Lockwood & Co., The Winchesters, and more.
The master of disaster is back and he will be kicking off a new sci fi franchise. Roland Emmerich is best known for end-of-the-world epics like Independence Day, 2012, and the recent Moonfall, but now he is turning his attention to more straightforward sci fi. He is teaming up with the World of Warcraft people to start up a new property named Space Nation which will launch as an MMORPG and then a television series and animated shorts will follow. The specifics of the story have not been revealed yet other than it will be a space opera, likely on a pretty grand scale considering that Emmerich usually goes big with his productions. The online game is targeting August 2023 for an Alpha Test and will then get an official release in 2024. The television series will follow sometime after that. No network or streamer is attached at this point, but the property should draw considerable interest.
In renewal news, MGM+ has officially given the greenlight to a third season of its sci fi/horror series From. If you follow this site and CancelledSciFi.com, you already knew that, though, because we passed on the news that Production Weekly showed that the third year of the show in production in early May. The writers’ strike started up right about then, though, so there will likely be a delay on this one returning to the air.
In the streaming ratings, Netflix’s Black Mirror moved to Number 1 in that streamer’s chart the week after its Season 6 premiere. It had 60 million hours viewed across 11.6 million accounts. There has been no word on a seventh season yet, but I consider it a strong candidate for renewal. You can keep up with the renewal/cancellation status of all the current sci fi TV shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
In schedule announcements, the second season of Apple TV+’s Invasion has received an August 23rd premiere date. Next week will bring no premieres for sci fi and fantasy shows, but things should ramp up later in the month. You can see all of the premieres for July 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.
