It’s been a busy old week in US TV land, with the major networks deciding which shows get to live to fight another day, and which ones get to replace those banished to the afterlife of cancellation. Here’s our round-up of the American SF TV landscape will look like from this autumn onwards...
AUTUMN STARTERS
ABC
New! Flash Forward
The entire world blacks out for two minutes and gets a “flash forward” to what their future holds. Joseph Fiennes, Jack Davenport and Star Trek’s John Cho star in an ensemble show based on Robert J Sawyer’s novel. Take a look here .
New! Eastwick
The 1987 Jack Nicholson movie about a harem of suburban witches gets a ‘00s reboot. X-Men’s RebeccaRomijn heads the cast. It all looks a little Desperate Witches, as you can see from the trailer .
CBS
Ghost Whisperer
It’s a fifth season for the Jennifer Love Hewitt-starring “I see dead people” series. Yay?
Mover! Medium
It was cancelled for less than 24 hours, when NBC passed on America’s superior “I see dead people” series, but CBS said, “Yes please, we’ll have some of that.” Season six starts this autumn.
THE CW
New! The Vampire Diaries
Kevin “Dawson’s Creek” Williamson will hope the Twilight effect also applies to TV with this adaptation of LJ Smith’s vampire book series. Trailer
here .
Supernatural
The Winchester bros are back for a fifth (and, according to creator Eric Kripke, final) season.
Smallville
The show that absolutely will not die – it’s probably impervious even to Kryptonite. A ninth season suggests Smallville’s looking to break records (even though Tom Welling’s Clark Kent must now be older than all the movie versions).
FOX
Fringe
After a shaky start, JJ Abrams’ new show has escaped the obvious X-Files comparisons to win itself a well-deserved second season
Dollhouse
It looked for a while like Joss Whedon’s latest was going to get the Firefly treatment and only last one season. If the upward trajectory continues (quality, not ratings – the latter needs work) this could be one of the best decisions Fox made this year.
NBC
Heroes
Can the post-Daisies Bryan Fuller continue the show’s late season three renaissance? The upcoming fourth series will reveal all.
SCI FI (or SyFy as it’ll be then)
New! Warehouse 13 (starts July)
There’s weird things going on in a storeroom (much like the one from the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark) packed with SF-friendly artefacts. Federal agents investigate.
New! Stargate Universe
Atlantis may be over (though spin-off movie Extinction is on the way) but the third Stargate TV series is moving in to take its place. The creators have promised a change of direction – the leftfield casting of Robert Carlyle suggests they may be good to their word.
Sanctuary
It was born on the web and made the transition to TV so successfully that SCI FI gave it a second season. Read more about the second season in the next issue of SFX, on sale 1 July.
COMING IN EARLY 2010
ABC
New! V
The ‘80s alien invasion classic gets reimagined for a new generation. And, like most good new SF shows, there’s a Firefly contingent, as Morena Baccarin provides a PR front for the ETs. Follow this link for a sneak peek.
Lost
It’s the final season for the good-again Island drama. Can’t wait to see how everything gets wrapped up.
FOX
New! Human Target
We’re not sure yet whether this second attempt at adapting the DC Comics series will be SF. See what you think by watching the clips that lie behind this link .
New! Past Life
The clue’s in the title as reincarnation helps a bunch of investigators solve crimes. How original... Alas, the trailer wasn’t quite enough to get us excited.
NBC
New! Day One
Former Heroes showrunner Jesse Alexander returns with a drama set in the aftermath of an apocalypse. We’re hoping it’s not Jericho 2.
Chuck
There was a last-minute reprieve for the geek-saves-the-world show, and subsequently much rejoicing. Expect season 3 in the new year.
SCI FI/SY FY
New! Caprica
Galactica may be gone, but we can find out where the Cylons came from in the prequel series. Frankly we can’t wait.
