US Telefantasy 2012/2013 Season: All The New Shows

The big five US TV networks have now finished their axing, commissioning and recommissioning frenzy, and with the dust settling we now have a clear idea of what the US telefantasy landscape is going to look like for the 2012/2013 season.

It’s not quite as sci-fi and fantasy bereft as we feared, although it’s worth pointing out that with some of the new shows listed below ( Cult , Zero Hour , Do No Harm ), it’s a little unclear if they will be SFX territory, or if they just border on our favourite genre.

Still no spaceship shows (boo) but a few people moving to new homes with dark secrets (the American Horror Story effect?). One of the two Beauty And The Beasts has made the cut (but ABC seems to have thought better about its version starring Pop Idol Darius ) ans sadly Brian Fuller’s Munsters remake (starring Eddie Izzard) has once again failed to get the green light.

Oh, and CBS had absolutely nothing of interest to offer us, so it’s not listed below…

ABC

Renewed

Once Upon A Time

Cancelled

The River

New series

Neighbors

Neighbors is a comedy about a family (Lenny Venito, Jami Gertz, Isabella Cramp, Clara Mamet, Max Charles) that moves into a coveted New Jersey gated community only to discover that the entire place is inhabited by aliens disguised as humans. Simon Templeman, Toks Olagundoye Tim Jo and Ian Patrick co-star in the half-hour comedy created by Dan Fogelman (Disney’s Tangled , Pixar’s Cars ), who exec produces the ABC Studios single-camera comedy alongside Chris Koch and Aaron Kaplan.

666 Park Avenue

When a young couple (Dave Annable, Rachael Taylor) accept an offer to manage one of the most historic apartment buildings in New York City they begin to experience supernatural occurrences that complicate and endanger the lives of everyone in the building. Based on the book by Gabriella Pierce it stars Lost 's Terry O'Quinn, Vanessa Williams, Mercedes Masohn, Robert Buckley and Helena Mattsson. David Wilcox ( Law & Order , the US Life On Mars , season three of Fringe ) penned the pilot and wil exec produce alongside Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo and Matt Miller.
Zero Hour

ER ’s Edwards stars as a man who's spent 20 years as the editor of a skeptics magazine who is launched into one of the most compelling conspiracies in human history. Michael Nyqvist, Carmen Ejogo, Scott Michael Foster, Addison Timlin and Jacinda Barrett co-star. Paul Scheuring ( Prison Break ) penned the pilot and will exec produce alongside Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Dan McDermott.

The CW

Renewed

Supernatural
The Vampire Diaries

Cancelled

The Secret Circle

New series

Arrow

The “gritty” reimagining of the DC comic superhero Green Arrow, filling a Smallville-shaped hole in the CW’s schedule. Stephen Amell stars in the title role with Paul Blackthorne, Jamey Sheridan, David Ramsey, Colin Donnell, Katie Cassidy and Willa Holland co-starring. Arrow is from Bonanza Productions Inc in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti ( Green Lantern , Brothers & Sisters ), Marc Guggenheim ( FlashForward , Eli Stone ), Andrew Kreisberg ( Warehouse 13 , The Vampire Diaries ) and David Nutter ( Smallville , Supernatural , Game of Thrones ). Melissa Kellner Berman ( Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money ) is co-executive producer. The pilot was directed by David Nutter from a teleplay by Andrew Kreisberg & Marc Guggenheim, story by Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim. ( More information here )

Beauty And The Beast

Extreme make-over of the late ’80s fantasy series, he series stars Kristin Kreuk ( Smallville , Chuck ) as Catherine and Jay Ryan ( Terra Nova ) as Vincent, with Max Brown ( The Tudors, MI-5 ) as Evan, Nina Lisandrello ( Nurse Jackie ) as Tess, Nicole Gale Anderson ( Make It or Break It ) as Heather, Austin Basis ( Life Unexpected ) as JT, and Brian White ( The Shield , The Cabin in the Woods ) as Joe . Beauty And The Beast is from CBS Television Studios with executive producers Jennifer Levin ( Without A Trace , Felicity ), Sherri Cooper ( Brothers and Sisters ), Bill Haber ( Rizzoli & Isles , Thurgood ), Paul J Witt ( A Better Life ) & Tony Thomas ( A Better Life ), Ron Koslow ( Moonlight ) and Gary Fleder ( Life Unexpected ). ( More information here )

Cult

Drama about a TV a mysterious TV show called Cult which has some rather rabid fans. The series stars Matt Davis ( The Vampire Diaries ) as Jeff Sefton, Jessica Lucas ( Melrose Place , Cloverfield ) as Skye Yarrow, Alona Tal ( Supernatural , The Killing ) as Kelly Collins and Robert Knepper ( Prison Break , Shameless ) as Billy Grimm. Cult is executive produced by Rockne S O’Bannon ( Farscape , V ), Josh Schwartz ( Chuck , Gossip Girl ), Stephanie Savage ( Hart Of Dixie , Gossip Girl ), Len Goldstein ( Hart Of Dixie ) and Jason Ensler ( Franklin & Bash , Hart of Dixie ). The pilot was directed by Jason Ensler and written by Rockne S O’Bannon. ( More information here )

Fox

Renewed

Fringe
Touch

Cancelled

Alcatraz
Terra Nova

New series

None

NBC

Renewed

Grimm

Cancelled

Awake

New series

Do No Harm

Medical drama with a Jekyll and Hyde twist. The cast also includes Alana de la Garza ( Law & Order ), Phylicia Rashad ( The Cosby Show ) and Mousa Kraish. Executive producer is David Schulner, who has previously worked on The Event and Kings . ( Watch a preview clip )

Revolution

The new show from JJ Abrams, with a little help from Jon Favreau ( Iron Man ) and Eric Kripke ( Supernatural ). An epic adventure thriller, it features a family struggling to reunite in a postapocalyptic American landscape in which every single piece of technology – computers, planes, cars, phones, even lights – has mysteriously blacked out. Twilight 's Billy Burke stars, with David Lyons, Giancarlo Esposito, Tracy Spiridakos, Graham Rogers, Anna Lise Phillips, Tim Guinee, Andrea Roth, JD Pardo and Zak Orth rounding out the cast. ( Watch clips from the show here )