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.
Amazon is heading into the tomb as they currently have a Tomb Raider TV series in the works with Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story) attached as writer, and they plan on expanding this into a Marvel-like franchise. The video game series, which follows archaeologist Laura Croft as she searches for lost artifacts and ventures into deadly tombs, has produced three feature films, and now it is headed to the small screen. But Amazon will not stop there as they are building a shared universe with more films on the way which will be tied to the video games and the series. An actor has not been announced for the role of Laura Croft yet, but expect that to be coming soon (along with plenty of fan casting suggestions). This is a developing story, so stay tuned for updates.
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos made a comment earlier this week in an interview with Bloomberg that the streamer does not cancel “successful” shows and the ones that have received the axe had a “very small audience”. The problem with that is that Netflix publishes numbers on a weekly basis that dispute those claims. Shows like 1899, Fate: The Winx Saga, and Warrior Nun all had very high to at least decent viewership stats, yet they are among the ones that were cancelled. Not surprisingly, his comments were not well received and triggered the expected backlash on social media. I delve deeper into the numbers over at CancelledSciFi.com.
In cancellations and renewals this week, two genre entries went down while one got a nod for another season. HBO Max has announced that its live-action superhero shows Titans and Doom Patrol will both end with their fourth seasons (the shows are currently on hiatus with new episodes set for a Spring or Summer launch). Many fans would have preferred that the shows continue, but both have had a pretty successful run for a streaming original at four seasons each and over 45 episodes. Meanwhile, HBO has given the greenlight to a second season of The Last of Us as expected. That has been one of the most successful launches of a show for that premium cable service in over ten years, and the renewal was pretty much a sure thing.
Not getting renewed yet is The Orville, and Hulu execs have very little information on where the show currently stands. When the head of Hulu and Disney branded streaming originals Craig Erwich was asked about the show at the TCAs, this was his response:
It’s a great show and I know that the fans loved having it back in their lives. And Seth did a great job, uniquely as he can, in front of and behind the camera. But we don’t have anything to share right now.
Thanks, Craig. That really gives us a lot to go on . . .
The Orville did not make it into the Nielsen Streaming Rankings when its third season was released last Summer, nor did it show up once it became available on Disney+. The cast and crew have been released from their contracts, but Seth McFarlane has said that a fourth season could still happen. So it is still wait and see on this one as fans continue to lobby for show to continue.
Peacock cancelled Julie Plec’s YA series Vampire Academy last week and now they have decided not to go forward with Dead Day which she was working on with Kevin Williamson. Based on the comics of the same name by Ryan Parrott, the show would have focused on the annual “dead day” when the dead come back for one night to complete unfinished business. Peacock is yet another streamer that is going through some behind-the-scenes shakeups, and apparently this show did not fit with their strategy even though they had already given it the greenlight. Plec is still working on another upcoming series for the streamer and Dead Day is being shopped around to other venues.
In ratings news, The Last of Us grew its audience for its second episode, allegedly by 22% based on numbers given by HBO. That show already had a strong debut, and as I said earlier in the week, the renewal announcement mentioned above was pretty much expected. Keep up with the renewal/cancellation status of all the current sci fi TV shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
Next week brings the premiere of The Ark on Syfy which comes from the creators of the original Stargate movie. It debuts on Wednesday at 9 PM EST. Also next week, NBC’s La Brea returns from hiatus (Tuesday, 9 PM EST), and Solar Opposites will have its fourth season premiere on Hulu (Tuesday).
You can see all the premieres for January 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.
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