#TheHandmaidsTale Is Among The Big Genre Winners At The Emmy Awards
Several sci fi and fantasy shows did well at the Emmy Awards this past week, taking home 21 total statues. Among the high profile category winners was Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale which won Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, along with four more. The episode “San Junipero” from Netflix’s Black Mirror won Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Drama and Outstanding Television Movie. Winning technical awards were Stranger Things (6), Westworld (5), and Luke Cage (1). You can see the complete list of Emmy wins for genre shows here.
HBO Orders Pilot For #Watchmen TV Series
HBO has been mulling over the development of a TV series based on Alan Moore’s Watchmen comic book, and now they have officially ordered a pilot with Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers, Lost) attached. The acclaimed comic book takes place in the 1980’s in an alternate timeline and follows a group of aging superheroes known as The Minutemen who find themselves becoming increasingly less relevant in their world. Zack Snyder previously adapted the story to the big screen in 2009 which has proved very divisive among fans. The TV series would not be a spin-off from the movie, and HBO will likely be targeting a launch date of late 2018 or early 2019.
FOX Wants To Tell ‘True Lies’ On TV
After having some success with their Lethal Weapon TV series, FOX has decided to bringJames Cameron’s spy fi blockbuster True Lies to television. McG will be in the director’s chair (he also helmed the Lethal Weapon pilot) and Arrow‘s Marc Guggenheim will pen the script. The original film starred Arnold Schwarzengger, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold and focused on a group of ultra-secret spies who keep their identities hidden from all, including their families. At this point, there is no word on whether any of the original cast will be involved, but consider that unlikely. FOX will likely be targeting this for a Fall 2018 bow.
‘Sabrina The Teenage’ Witch May Return To TV
The CW is currently developing a reboot of Sabrina the Teenage Witch that would act as a companion to their Archie series Riverdale. According to Variety, the new series would be based on the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comics which: “reimagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult, and witchcraft”. The network will likely be targeting adding this to their schedule mid-season or Fall 2018. Previously, a sitcom based on the character ran for seven seasons from 1996 to 2000. The first four aired on ABC before the show shifted to The WB.
Supernatural YA Book Series ‘Lockwood & Co’ Getting TV Adaptation
Big Talk Productions is in the process of adapting Jonathan Stroud’s YA supernatural book series Lockwood & Co to a television series. According to Deadline Hollywood:
The ‘Lockwood & Co’ books are set in an alternative London that’s facing an epidemic of spooks and ghouls. Only a few young people have the abilities to see and hear the supernatural terrors, and it’s their job to fight them. Many competing Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, but the smallest, most ramshackle of all is Lockwood & Co.
There is no network attached at this point and late 2018 or early 2019 is likely the earliest this would make it to the small screen.
Sci-Fi TV Status Report: #TheOrvilleAnd #Gotham Have Decent Thursday Debuts
On Thursday, FOX’s The Orville had its timeslot premiere and pulled a 1.1 rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic with 4.0 million total viewers (according to the preliminaries). Those are decent numbers for FOX on that night, but the show was going up against repeats on the other broadcast networks, so next week’s ratings will be more telling. Gotham returned for its fourth season pulling a 1.0 rating with 3.1 million total viewers. Again, good numbers for FOX on Thursday, but we will have to see the impact of increased competition. Over on CBS, Zoo wrapped up its third season with a 0.5 rating and 2.9 million total viewers.
On Monday, NBC’s Midnight, Texas improved to a 0.8 rating with 2.7 million total viewers for its season finale. Fans are currently campaigning for a second season of that show. On Tuesday, ABC’s Somewhere Between had a 0.4 rating with 1.9 million total viewers for its season finale. That one, along with CBS’ Salvation which bowed out with a 0.5 rating and 3.1 million total viewers on Wednesday, will likely be “limited run” and done. Over on NBC on Wednesday, The Good Place had a 1.3 rating with 5.3 million total viewers for its Season 2 debut. Those are okay numbers, but its fate will be decided by its Thursday ratings when it moves to that night starting next week. Syfy’s Channel Zero had a paltry 0.13 rating with 392K total viewers for its Season 2 debut. But it has already been renewed through its fourth season.
RIP Bernie Casey Who Played The King Gargoyle In 1972’s ‘Gargoyles’
Actor and former professional football player Bernie Casey passed away this week at the age of 88. He had a long career in film and television, but I personally remember him best for scaring the hell out of me at an early age in the 1972 TV movie Gargoyles (more on that one here). Among his other credits of interest to genre fans are Major Jeff Spender in The Martian Chronicles (1980), U.N. Jefferson in Revenge of the Nerds (1984), Mr. Ryan in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), Commander Calvin Hudson in Star Trek: DS9 (eps “The Maquis” Part 1 & 2), Derek Cranston in Babylon 5 (eps “Matters of Honor”, “Hunter, Prey”).
#TheInhumans Arrive Next Friday
ABC’s newest Marvel series The Inhumans has its two-hour television debut Friday of next week (the first two episodes were released in IMAX over Labor Day weekend). On that same night, FOX’s The Exorcist returns for its second season and CBS’ MacGyver is also back for its second season. Also next week, the French sci fi / horror series Missionswill have its debut on the AMC streaming service Shudder on Thursday. And the Orson Scott Card penned series Extinction will debut on BYU TV on Sunday (check your cable/satellite listings, you may be surprised to found out you have that channel). You can keep up with the weekly listings of #scifi and #fantasy shows here and you can see the full Fall schedule here.
News Bites: A Fifth #GameOfThrones Spin-Off And More
Variety has confirmed that a fifth spin-off from HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones is in the works with writer Bryan Cogman. As with the other spin-offs, no details are available at this time.
FOX’s upcoming supernatural comedy Ghosted is now streaming on Twitter ahead of its October 1st broadcast debut. It is running each night at 9 PM EST through September 24th.
Emily Tremaine, Megan Ketch and Shiloh Fernandez will be joining the cast of Syfy’s Tremors pilot along with Kevin Bacon. But still no word on whether franchise mainstay Michael Gross will be joining that one.
