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.
Another one bites the dust at Netflix, but it’s likely that not many people will mourn the latest cancellation by that streamer. The live-action Resident Evil series that premiered in June has been given its walking papers after only one season. But considering that the feedback was mostly negative on the show (it only had a 27% Audience Score at Rotten Tomatoes), did anybody want a second season from that one? It pulled in decent viewership, but likely not enough to justify its cost. And Netflix tracks whether viewers finish watching a show, which many probably did not considering the poor reviews.
But it is not all bad news as Netflix this week as The Umbrella Academy was given the greenlight for a fourth season. That will be its last though, as the streamer follows its typical pattern of wrapping up its originals (even the most-watch ones) around their third or fourth season. Then it will be on to the next show in the churn of originals
And with that show wrapping up next year, showrunner Steve Blackman has set his next two projects at Netflix. He is developing a series based on the Playstation game Horizon Zero Dawn which takes place in a far-future post-apocalyptic setting. He is also working on a drama series that will take place on the ISS to be titled Orbital. You can read more about those and other recent development announcements at this link.
Also in the works is a King Kong live-action series headed to Disney+ that will be based on the 1933 movie that will explore the mythology of Skull Island. That is not related to the 2016 animated Netflix series Kong: King of the Apes (nor the 2000 animated series nor the 1966 animated series). It is also not linked to the Monster-verse movies from Legendary Entertainment that tie Kong into the Godzilla universe. It is also not linked to the upcoming Skull Island animated series that takes place in the Monster-verse. It is also not linked to the upcoming Godzilla live-action series headed to the Apple TV+ that is part of the Monster-verse. So be sure to have your scorecard handy to keep your King Kongs straight!
The upcoming TWD spin-off which will follow Negan and Maggie in a devasted New York City has been renamed from The Walking Dead: Isle of the Dead to The Walking Dead: Dead City. Not certain that a name change will help much considering the declining viewership for that franchise. Tales of the Walking Dead has barely registered with its first two episodes and even the main series has been at all-time lows. Maybe if they rename the new show Negan and Maggie Take Manhattan more people would tune in?
In ratings news, HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon had its premiere on Sunday and proved that people are still watching the cable channels. That episode pulled in nearly ten million viewers on its premiere night across all platforms and that has increased to twenty million throughout the week. Not surprisingly HBO has given that one a quick renewal for a second season. More on the streaming and linear ratings for sci fi TV shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
Next week brings the highly anticipated premiere of Amazon’s LOTR prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. That show cost a ton of money (like around a billion dollars) and word is that it can make or break the future of streaming originals on Prime Video. So . . . no pressure, right? Also next week, Stargirl returns for its third season, Rick & Morty is back for its sixth season, and the new animated sci fi entry Pantheon will have its premiere on AMC+. You can see all the premieres for August and beyond at this link plus you can see the Weekly Listings here.
In trailers, we got a look at Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, a clip from Disney+’s Star Wars prequel Andor, a trailer for Peacocks vampire drama Vampire Academy, and more. You can see those at this link.
Did I miss anything? Probably because I have been compiling my Fall preview and there are a lot of shows on the way the next few months, 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 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.
