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. Neflix May Extend Its Deal with the Devil
There have been rumors floating around that Netflix may renew its DC Comics series Lucifer for a sixth season, and now that looks more likely as series star Tom Ellis has signed on for another year. Prior to that news, co-showrunners Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson had signed a new deal for a sixth season and most of the co-stars have existing deals that carry them through the show’s sixth year. Netflix, which saved the show after FOX cancelled it in 2018, had previously announced Lucifer‘s upcoming fifth season as its last. But then the episode order for that was increased to sixteen (up from ten for its fourth year), and now it looks like a sixth season could be on the way. Stay tuned for an official announcement which could come at any time.
2. The Last of Us Comes to HBO
HBO has put into development a television series based on the post-apocalyptic video game The Last of Us. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of the game:
The story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
The series will be based on the story from the original game and may also bring in some material from the sequel game The Last of Us II which is due out in May of this year. Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) will team with the game’s creator Neil Druckmann on the series, and Sony Television will be the production company. HBO will likely be looking to add this to its schedule in early 2021.
3. Cancellation Watch: Syfy Cancels The Magicians after Five Seasons
No scripted series has lasted more than five seasons on Syfy and that will hold as the network has cancelled its supernatural series The Magicians which is currently in its fifth year. I have been predicting since last Fall that this could be the final season for the show because of the five-year wall. And when The Magicians returned in January with numbers down notably from its prior year, there definitely seemed to be plenty of doubt about the show’s fate. TVLine has reported that the show will be ending with its fifth season and the series finale will be on April 1st. Keep up with the latest ratings results and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Roundup posts.
4. Syfy Heads to Horror
Syfy has given straight-to-series orders to two horror / supernatural scripted shows Day of the Dead and Surrealtor. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description for the two projects:
Day of the Dead is the intense story of six strangers trying to survive the first 24 hours of an undead invasion. This ode to [George] Romero’s famous flesh-eaters reminds us that sometimes all it takes to bring people together is a horde of hungry zombies trying to rip them apart.
In The Surrealtor, realtor Nick Roman and an elite team of specialists handle the cases that no one else can: haunted and possessed houses that literally scare would-be buyers away. Researching, investigating and “fixing” the things that go bump in the night, the team works to create closure — and closings — even as they struggle with demons of their own.
Stan Spry, Jeff Holland and Drew Brown will executive produce Day of the Dead while Lance Samuels and Daniel Iron will be onboard for The Surrealtor. Both shows have received ten-episode orders and will likely hit the network’s schedule later this year or early 20201.
5. Casting News: Y The Last Man Finds New Lead, Rose McIver Joins Ghosts, and More
Ben Schnetzer has been cast in the lead role for FX’s troubled Y: The Last Man which is based on the Vertigo comic series of the same name. Barry Keoghan was previously cast in that role but left the production, and the original showrunners have departed as well. iZombie’s Rose McIver has been cast in the lead for the CBS suppernatural comedy pilot Ghosts. Doctor Who veteran Maxim Baldry has been cast in a lead role for Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel series, though the specifics of that role have not been revealed.
THE SCHED: Westworld Returns for Its Third Season on HBO
Only one sci fi / fantasy show will join the schedule this coming week as HBO’s AI-drama Westworld returns for its third season. That one has its debut on the premium cable channel on Sunday at 9 PM EST. Apart from that it is business as usual for sci fi TV for the week, but there are still more shows set to join the schedule in March. 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.
