The Preliminary Mid-Season Schedule is Now Posted

The Fall season is already winding down, but don’t expect a long hibernation for this year’s sci fi and fantasy shows. While most will go on break within the next week or two (you can see a rundown of the Fall finales at this link), the first few weeks of January will see many of them starting back up again along with new show premieres and others returning for new seasons. Mid-season will be bringing us the premieres of new shows Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams on Amazon, Black Lightning on The CW, and more along with the returns of Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, Netflix’s Black Mirror, Starz’s Ash vs. Evil Dead, and more. Plus, many of the shows that will go on hiatus in December will resume in January.

I have the preliminary mid-season schedule of sci fi fantasy shows posted at this link. And we still have a full month before January, so I expect to have more premiere dates added to that over the next few weeks. Be sure to keep a close eye on this site and Sci Fi TV Site on Twitter for schedule updates and announcements as the new year approaches.

New Format for This Week in Sci Fi TV

This column has now moved permanently to SciFiTVSite.com with Creators.co closing its doors. And with the move there will be some changes that should improve our ability to get the latest sci fi TV news to you. We will be posting news updates at the site throughout the week and on Fridays (sometimes Saturdays) running down all of the updates from this site and our sister site CancelledSciFi.com along with the latest news in the This Week in Sci Fi TV column. So be sure to keep an eye on SciFiTVSite.com on a regular basis for breaking news, and also check with us at the end of the week for the full rundown.

CBS Developing Tell Me a Story with Kevin Williamson

ABC’s Once Upon A Time is now in its seventh season, and apparently CBS has decided it wants its own dark fairy tale, though with a bit of a crime drama bent. They have ordered a new series from Kevin Williamson (Scream, The Vampire Diaries) for their All Access streaming service based on the Spanish series Tell Me a Story. Variety gives the following description for the project:

It takes the world’s most beloved fairy tales and reimagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller. Set in modern-day New York City, the first season of this serialized drama interweaves “The Three Little Pigs,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” into a tale of love, loss, greed, revenge and murder.

This one looks like it has skipped the pilot stage and will go straight to series on the streaming service. Expect it to bow in the latter half of 2018.

CBS to Go on a Hunt for Blood & Treasure

CBS has typically not shown much interest in adding sci fi shows to its regular season schedule (MacGyver is currently the closest thing it has on its  Fall slate), but in the Summer months it has been more willing to find space for genre entries. Shows such as Under the Dome, Zoo, and Salvation have all had runs in the hot months for the network and now a new genre entry will enter the fold. The network has given a 13-episode straight-to-series order to action-adventure series Blood & Treasure. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description for the show:

[Blood & Treasure] centers on a brilliant antiquities expert and a cunning art thief who team up to catch a ruthless terrorist who funds his attacks through stolen treasure. As they crisscross the globe hunting their target, they unexpectedly find themselves in the center of a 2,000-year-old battle for the cradle of civilization.

There is no casting information at this point, but Matt Federman and Stephen Scaia (who both worked together om fan favorites Jericho and Limitless) are working on the initial scripts. Expect the show to debut in either June or July of 2018.

Next Week Brings the Debut of Happy! Plus Fall Finales

Next week brings us another late season premiere as Syfy’s Happy!, based on the Grant Morrison comic book of the same name, has its debut on Wednesday at 10 PM EST.  In addition, plenty of shows will have their Fall finales next week including the Arrow-verse shows, Supernatural, Gotham, The Orville (season finale), Outlander (season finale), and The Walking Dead.  You can see the full Fall schedule at this link and you can keep up with the weekly listings at this link.

More Sci Fi TV News of Note

According to Variety, HBO was apparently not interested in bidding for the television rights to Lord of the Rings because the network already has a large amount of money committed to the Game of Thrones spin-off series that are in the works.

Netflix has cast Tom Hopper (Black Sails, Game of Thrones) along with Robert Sheehan (Misfits), Emmy Raver-Lampman, David Castaneda, and Aidan Gallagher in their upcoming Umbrella Academy.  They will be joining Ellen Page in the series based on the Gerard Way comic.

Syfy has released an augmented reality app for iPhone and Android to promote their upcoming series Happy!, based on the Grant Morrison comic book, which debuts on December 6th.

News Roundup from This Past Week

Sci Fi and Fantasy TV Premieres, Returns, and Finales for December: Agents of SHIELD, The Librarians, Bright, and More Read

Cancellation Watch: It’s the Arrow-verse vs. the Ratings-Pocalypse as Crossover Ratings Are Down, Stranger Things Gets 3rd Season, Plus Ratings Results Read

Sci Fi TV News: Bryan Fuller is Leaving American Gods, George R.R. Martin Confirms Nightflyers Series, Fear the Walking Dead Casting News Read

Cancellation Watch: Additional Episode Order for Ghosted is Not Necessarily Good News Read

Sci Fi TV News: Walking Dead Crossover Character Announced, Stryx Live-Action TV Series in the Works, Matt Smith Wants to Team with 13th Doctor Read

Sci Fi TV Trailers: Black Mirror Season 4, Arrow-verse Fall Finales Watch

Sci Fi TV Status Report: The Orville Will Air One Less Season 1 Episode, Between Could be at an End, Ratings Results Read

Keep up with the current schedule of sci fi and fantasy TV shows at this link and the weekly listings at this link. And be sure to follow The Sci Fi TV Site on Twitter for schedule reminders along with news and updates.