Sci Fi TV Top 5: Covering the top sci fi and fantasy TV stories of interest from the past week. You can keep up with the sci fi and fantasy TV news headlines throughout the week at r/SciFiTV on Twitter and on Reddit.
1. Doc Savage Will Take on Peak TV
A new television series is in the works that will feature the classic pulp hero Doc Savage who was created by Street & Smith Publications. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description for the project:
The scripted series will chronicle his adventures, featuring rampaging dinosaurs, secret societies led by dastardly villains, fantastic gadgets and weapons, death-dealing traps, hair-raising escapes, and plots to rule the earth.
Sony Pictures Television is partnering with Condé Nast Entertainment on the series. Sony had previously been working on a Doc Savage movie which would have starred Dwayne Johnson, but that has stalled. No network is attached to the series at this point, but it should draw plenty of interest.
2. Doctor Who Showrunner Will Return for Another Season
The twelfth season of the Doctor Who revival is winding down, but even though there has not been an official announcement, it appears that a 13th is on the way. Jodie Whittaker has already confirmed that she will be back for another season and now Showrunner Chris Chibnall has indicated that he will be returning as well. Following are his comments to Entertainment Weekly about the upcoming season:
We are already planning the stories. Once you see the end of this series, you’ll realize there are some stories we’re already setting in train for next series. We have very big, ambitious plans for our third series together.
Chibnall also indicated that the thirteenth season should premiere at some point in 2021. Season 12 will wrap up on March 1st and will be followed by a special episode which has yet to be scheduled.
3. Cancellation Watch: Manifest and Project Blue Book Slip in the Ratings
On NBC on Monday, Manifest slipped back to a 0.6 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 3.7 million total viewers. That show continues to see strong gains in delayed viewing, though, so I still consider it safe for now. On the History Channel on Tuesday, Project Blue Book slipped to a 0.17 rating with 1.1 million total viewers. That show’s numbers have been up and down in its second season, but it continues to do well in total viewers which is important to its older-skewing network. Keep up with the latest ratings results and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Rounup posts.
4. Batman: The Animated Series Gets a Comics Spin-Off
A new comic book series is on the way that will be a direct continuation of Batman: The Animated Series and that will be written by the show’s producers Paul Dini and Alan Burnett. Burnett had the following to say about the upcoming series:
What is different, however, is that we’re going back to cover certain gaps in the original series, events that didn’t have a bearing on the series at the time, but now do. In other words, there will be secret histories that will turn Batman’s world upside down. Things that no one knew were out there, until now.
The series will come out first as a digital edition in April followed by the print comic which will be on stands May 6th.
5. Production Notes: Casting Announcements for Debris, Falcon and Winter Soldier, and The Witcher
Riann Steele has been cast as the female lead in NBC’s sci fi pilot Debris which comes from Almost Human‘s J.H. Wyman. Norbert Leo Butz has also been cast in the pilot in a co-starring role. Supergirl‘s Carl Lumbly has joined the upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Netfix has cast Game of Thrones veteran Kristofer Hivju in the role of Nivellen in the upcoming second season of its fantasy series The Witcher.
THE SCHED: Altered Carbon Returns for Its Second Season on Netflix
There is one more sci fi show that will be joining the schedule this February as Netflix’s cyberpunk series Altered Carbon will return for its second season on Thursday. Anthony Mackie will be taking over the role of Takeshi Kovacs from Joel Kinnaman (the character will be “re-sleeved” in a new body) in the show’s second year. All episodes will be available for streaming on Friday. You can see the full schedule of sci fi and fantasy shows at this link and you can keep up with the weekly listings at this link.
More from CancelledSciFi.com
Keep up with the ratings developments and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Roundup posts. And join the #CancelledSciFiArmy on Twitter to bolster our ranks and help us fight for the struggling and cancelled sci fi and fantasy shows.
Check out our Sci Fi TV Schedule for debut and season finale dates and follow our Weekly Listings for a rundown of the shows airing in the current week.
Check back each Saturday for Sci Fi TV Retrospectives: A look back at cancelled, classic, forgotten, and more genre shows from the past.
