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 Arrow-verse seems to be on its last legs these days with The Flash wrapping up this season and neither Stargirl (which could be on its way out) nor Superman & Lois having very strong ties to the franchise. But according to former Arrow co-star David Ramsey, the Justice U series is still going forward. That show will see Ramsey’s John Diggle recruit five young meta-humans to a new team and he recently claimed that they were “on the second draft of a script, and we just closed the deal on a writer”. The show has not received an official greenlight, though, and it may not fit in with the “wholesome” programming planned by the new regime, so whether it does get picked up to series remains to be seen.
In other development news, Amazon has apparently taken notice that Netflix is doing well with Korean dramas and wants to get in on that as well. The streamer has given the greenlight to the fantasy/action series Island which is based on the comic/webtoon of the same name. The Hollywood Reporter gives the following description:
Set on Korea’s tropical Jeju island, it depicts the journey of characters fighting an evil force that is trying to destroy the world. The show taps into Jeju’s traditional legends and folklore, while showcasing the island’s natural beauty.
Kim Nam-gil, Lee Da-hee, Cha Eun-woo, and Sung-joon are set to star in the show with Bae Jong directing and Oh Bo-hyun as the lead writer. The series will likely join the streamer’s slate of originals at some point in 2023.
In further development news, Dune: The Sisterhood is going forward at HBO Max despite the fact that the streamer has been cancelling projects left and right. Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter) have been cast and the show could be targeting a 2023 premiere date. From AMC, the Daryl Dixon spin-off from The Walking Dead has received a title: Daryl Dixon. Wonder how many marketing agents they paid to come up with that one!
In renewal announcements, three shows received the greenlight for another season this week. Amazon finally announced a second season for its contemporary sci fi/western Outer Range and that one should be returning in 2023. The animated Legend of Vox Machina received an early Season 3 announcement with its second season on the way to Prime Video in early 2023. And Hulu gave an early Season 5 renewal to its animated comedy Solar Opposites with its fourth season in the works for next year. More on those renewals at this link.
In ratings news, Chucky returned for its second season on Syfy on Wednesday and had a 0.15 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic on that channel along with a 0.14 score for its simulcast on USA. That is very close to its premiere numbers last year which is quite an accomplishment with most shows seeing year-over-year declines these days. The dramedy Reginald, the Vampire had a 0.08 in the demo for its premiere in the lead-out spot which is not a great start but also not terrible for that network. More on the streaming and linear ratings for sci fi TV shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
NYCC is going on this weekend and brought several schedule announcements. The third and final season of His Dark Materials will premiere on HBO on December 5th. Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches will premiere January 5th on AMC. Jodie Whittaker’s final appearance as the 13th Doctor arrives with “The Power of the Doctor” on October 23rd. (You can see the trailers for those two at this link.) The second season of Amazon’s Good Omens will be arriving in Summer 2023. And Harley Quinn will be getting a Valentine’s special on HBO Max which will stream in February 2023.
On the schedule next week are premieres for the Supernatural spin-off The Winchesters on The CW, the second season of the sci fi comedy Avenue 5 on HBO, and the new Anime Exception on Netflix. You can see all the premieres for October and beyond at this link and you can see the Weekly Listings here.
Did I miss anything? Probably because I have been reading up on my Tolkein lore as I am getting ready to start watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, so let me know in the comments below.
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.
