Believe it or not, the Fall season is just a few weeks away as Syfy gets it off to an early start with the premieres of returning series Haven and new entry Z Nation on September 11th and 12th respectively. As of this writing, there are 23(!) sci fi / fantasy entries on the schedule for Fall with several others waiting in the wings. And I expect a few more shows to sneak onto the schedule in the next few months as well. So there are plenty of genre options out there for fans to tune into, and those who want to watch them all will probably have to consider cutting out sleep and/or any semblance of a social life! You can see the full schedule for the Fall genre shows at this link
For those jonesing for some space-based shows to watch–mostly absent from the tube the last few years–Disney XD gives us Star Wars: Rebels and Syfy offers Ascension (with more along those lines coming next year). We get a few more comics/super-hero shows this year with Gotham (FOX), Flash (CW), and Constantine (NBC), and a new zombie entry as well with Syfy’s Z Nation (and The CW has iZombie on the way as well). And ABC will be experimenting with the “bridge series” with Galavant and Agent Carter taking the slots for Once Upon A Time and Agents of SHIELD late in the Fall (and NBC may do a similar thing with Heroes: Reborn). The idea is to run less repeats and have more original programming on the schedule throughout the year. The networks hope that proves successful and stems the ratings declines they have been experiencing over the last few years.
As far as scheduling, I don’t see too many disastrous timeslots along the lines of last year’s Once Upon A Time in Wonderland (which sank in ABC’s Thursday 8 PM EST deathslot), Revolution (which was very much out of place in the family friendly Wednesday 8 PM EST hour), or Star-Crossed (which couldn’t make a dent for The CW on Mondays). That said, I don’t like The CW’s move of The Originals to Mondays because that night has been a disaster for them the past few years. I realize they did reclaim Tuesdays last season with The Originals and Supernatural, but will that former series provide a strong enough lead-in for the night on its own? And even though in the past I thought that the Friday 10 PM EST timeslot for NBC would be a good hour for a genre series with its lead-in from Grimm, that didn’t work so well last year with either Dracula or Hannibal. So, new entry Constantine may be facing some grim ratings when it debuts.
As for which networks have the most sci fi / fantasy offerings this Fall, ABC and The CW both have six shows on the schedule, though that represent 60% of the ten hours that The CW programs, so they get props as the broadcast network sci fi channel. Syfy is next in line with three entries, followed by FOX and NBC with two, and one each for CBS, AMC, Disney XD, and FX.
I should have the first run of the Power Rankings for the Fall shows posted here shortly which will act as an initial look at the cancellation prospects for the returning entries. And then I will take a separate look at the new shows as well (the freshmen series don’t make the Power Rankings until they have had at least two airings). And be sure to keep an eye on this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest ratings results and breaking news.
Fall Schedule of Sci Fi / Fantasy TV Shows
Last Season’s Sci Fi / Fantasy Shows on Blu-ray and DVD:
