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 at r/SciFiTV on Twitter and on Reddit.
1. Netflix Is Developing an Animated Bone Series
Netflix continues to crank out new productions and has announced plans for an animated series based on Jeff Smith’s acclaimed fantasy comic Bone. Following is the description that Hollywood Reporter provides for the project:
[Netflix]’s Bone series will follow the iconic Bone cousins on an adventure through a vast, uncharted desert and into a mysterious valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creators.
Smith will be onboard to oversee and executive produce the project. He was previously working with Nickelodeon on the property, but that did not move forward due to creative differences (“They wanted a Britney Spears song in the film,” he claimed). Netflix will target the series at younger viewers, but the comics appeal to adults and children alike and the show should draw a wide audience.
2. Amazon Unveils Trailer for the Final Season of The Man in the High Castle
Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle returns for its fourth and final season next month, and the streamer has released a trailer to tease the upcoming events of the epic finale. Following is the official synopsis of the fourth season:
The final season of The Man in the High Castle will be rocked by war and revolution. The Resistance becomes a full-blown rebellion, driven by Juliana Crain’s (Alexa Davalos) visions of a better world. A new Black insurgent movement emerges to fight the forces of Nazism and imperialism. As empires teeter, Chief Inspector Takeshi Kido (Joel De La Fuente) will find himself torn between his duty to his country and the bonds of family. Meanwhile, Reichsmarschall John Smith (Rufus Sewell) will be drawn towards the portal the Nazis have built to another universe, and the tantalizing possibility of stepping through a gateway to the path not taken.
The fourth season premiere will be on November 15th with all episodes available for streaming that day.
3. The CW Has Renewed Pandora and The Outpost
The CW has renewed its space drama Pandora for a second season and given a third season nod to fantasy series The Outpost. Both shows aired this past Summer to low ratings, but they are acquisitions designed to fill up space on the schedule during a low-viewership time of year (and they also come at a relatively low cost to the network). Both are also available for streaming on the network’s website and app, and they likely do better in digital viewing (The CW has adapted better to the 21st century than the other broadcast networks and pays more attention to those stats). Last Summer, The Outpost debuted on The CW in Summer to low ratings but was still renewed. Pandora joined that one this year along with horror anthology Two-Sentence Horror Stories. All three averaged only one-tenth of a ratings point based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic in Summer. But it’s also likely that all three picked up more viewers digitally. There has not been a renewal announcement for the latter series yet, but that could come in the next couple of weeks or so.
4. League of Legends Animated Series in the Works
An animated series to be title Arcane is in the works based on the Riot Games League of Legends game. That property is a multiplayer online battle arena video game in which players act as “summoners” calling upon a “champion” with the typical goal being to destroy the opposing team’s “Nexus”. Not many details are available on the series at this point apart from the fact that it will dig into the lore of the game. Riot Games is developing the series internally with Paris-based Fortiche Productions set to do the animation. No network is attached at this point.
5. The Purge Returns Down for Its Second Season
USA’s The Purge–based on the film franchise of the same name–had its second season debut last week and posted a 0.25 rating based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 613K total viewers. That’s down over 50% from the 0.55 score it had for its series premiere last year and down 39% from last year’s average. That also follows the trend we have been seeing of late of notable year-over-year ratings declines for second season shows, especially for the cable channels. That said, the 0.25 score is still decent for a cable entry these days. If it does not slip much more in the coming weeks, and if it makes up some of the slack with delayed viewing, this one could still return for a third season. Be sure to keep up with the ratings numbers and status updates for all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows each week with our Cancellation Watch Weekly Roundup post.
THE SCHED: Castle Rock Returns, Daybreak Debuts Next Week
Two more Fall premieres hit the schedule next week, both on the streaming services. On Wednesday, Hulu’s season-long horror anthology Castle Rock returns for its second season and will release one episode a week as it did in its first season. On Friday, Netflix’s post-apocalyptic series Daybreak has its debut and all episodes will be available for streaming that day. 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.
>Prior Sci Fi Top 5: The CW and Primal Battle the Nielsens, Maniac Cop Heads to HBO, and More
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.
