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. Female-Centric Star Wars Series in the Works at Disney+
A new live-action Star Wars series is in the works at Disney+ and is being developed by Leslye Headland, co-creator of the Emmy-winning Russian Doll series on Netflix. Few details are currently available for the new show other than the fact that it will be from a female-centric point of view and that it “takes place in a different part of the Star Wars timeline”. Headland will be writing for the series and will act as showrunner. Disney+ currently has The Mandalorian heading into its second season and has an Obi-Wan series starring Ewan McGregor in the works plus a Cassian Andor series on the way. With the current production delays, I would expect that none of the new shows would debut until 2021 at the earliest.
2. Netflix May Not Have a Deal with the Devil
Streaming giant Netflix saved supernatural drama Lucifer from cancellation back in 2018 when FOX dropped it from the schedule, and it currently has a fifth season in the works which was set to be its last. But rumors started to circulate that a sixth season could happen and it appeared the series star Tom Ellis had secured to deal to return for another year. But apparently not everything was worked out between the negotiating parties and that sixth season could be in doubt. Word is that discussions between Ellis and Warner Bros. Television (who owns the show) have come to a halt. It certainly seems like Ellis would want to return to the role of Lucifer Morningstar as he has shown a strong attachment to the series, especially when fans were attempting to save it from cancellation. Things may still get worked out, but if not, the creative team was already approaching the upcoming fifth season as its last.
3. Syfy Orders Three New Series and Two Pilots for Its TZGZ Animation Block
Syfy’s late-night animation block TZGZ debuted last Fall anchored by Futurama repeats and also including animated shorts and some acquired series. The network is now expanding that and has ordered a second season of Hell Den along with two new animated series and pilots for two more. Following are the descriptions of the shows:
Dr. Havoc’s Diary (Series Ordered): A mid-level supervillain having a mid-life crisis battles secret agents, superheroes and his wife.
Hell Den (Second Season Ordered): After an Uber-Apocalypse wipes out civilization, only one person miraculously survives: 12 year-old Andrew. With the last working TV and VCR in existence, he invites a motley group of apocalyptic creatures into his house to watch weird cartoons and old movies. Hell Den combines original animation of our characters with old live-action and animated clips re-dubbed by the Dr. God troupe in this new, unique, and very warped twist on sketch comedy.
Wild Life (Series Ordered): A show about animal friends just trying to stay alive after the apocalypse. Together, they come up with elaborate schemes to entertain themselves and pretty much just keep from going insane.
Plutonians (Pilot Ordered): The Interplanetary Federation has conferred and it’s official: Pluto is no longer a planet. The Plutonians are now determined to rebrand their image and prove themselves to the other planetary beings of the solar system – with the exception of Earth, who are notorious bullies and can’t find out about alien life.
Psycho Palms (Pilot Ordered): Psycho Psalms is a stop motion dark comedy following 1940s D-List cartoon character Timecrow and his misfit costars, as they attempt to navigate our postmodern internet hellscape after being yanked through a portal to our present day. These offbeat characters will take you to a dark place, but they won’t leave you there.
Since the production of animated shows is not as heavily impacted by the current shutdowns, the network can ramp these up pretty quickly and will target getting them on the air later this year.
4. HBO Renews Westworld for a Fourth Season
HBO announced this week that its AI-themed series Westworld will be returning for a fourth season. The same-day ratings for the show are down in its third season, but the premium cable channels do not pay as much attention to those stats because their business model does not rely on advertising. HBO takes into account digital and delayed viewing along with encore runs, and they also assess the number of subscribers that a show is driving to the show to determine its success. Series creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan have a contract that keeps them on as showrunners through a sixth season if HBO wants to keep it going that long.
5. Streaming News: HBO Max Announces Launch, Quibi Heads to TV
The premiere date for the HBO MAX streaming service has been set for May 27th. Owned by Warner Bros., the service will have all of the HBO originals and will also offer plenty of TV and movie selections from the WB catalog. Among the original series currently in the works for the platform are Dune: The Sisterhood, the Stephen King-inspired Overlook, and a live-action Justice League Dark series. The mobile-only streaming service Quibi, which launched earlier this month, will be making its content available for televisions in May. The programming for the service is designed to be viewed on mobile devices, but the company will be expanding that next month. The details of how that will work and where it will be available have not been revealed yet. You can see a list of some of the genre offerings from Quibi at this link.
THE SCHED: Westworld Wraps Up Its Third Season
The coming week brings no sci fi TV premieres, but two shows will be wrapping up. On Monday, the tenth and finale episode of the first season of AMC’s Dispatches from Elsewhere airs. Then on Sunday, HBO’s Westworld has its Season 3 finale. Apart from that, the pickings are slim in the current shutdown-impacted environment, but there are more shows on the way in May. 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
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