The production shutdowns related to the Coronavirus have had a significant impact on the entertainment industry and that is definitely reflected in Fall 2020 schedule, with a dearth of sci fi and fantasy set for Prime Time at the moment. The CW, CBS, and FOX have all announced official schedules for the coming season, while we are still waiting for lineups from ABC and NBC. ABC has no returning genre shows and no pickups unless it makes a last-minute announcement on one of the shows that never made it to pilot. I expect Manifest to return on NBC, but it will almost certainly have a mid-season start as it did this year (possibly later). And if either of those networks picks up a new sci fi entry, it will likely start January or later.
The CW will push its Summer shows The Outpost, Pandora, and Two Sentence Horror Stories to Fall starts and it will pad out its schedule with an encore run of DCU’s Swamp Thing along with British import Dead Pixels. Plus, The CW will air the remaining episodes of Supernatural‘s final season in Fall. That network’s regular lineup will kick-off in January. CBS appears optimistic about the return of its supernatural drama Evil and spy fi series MacGyver in the Fall, though I would expect that October is the soonest that either would start airing episodes. FOX is carrying over the AI-drama NeXt (originally scheduled for the 2019-20 season) but has nothing else to offer sci fi fans.
As far as the cable channels, there have been few official announcements on Fall premiere so far. AMC has said that The Walking Dead: World Beyond (originally scheduled to premiere Spring 2020) will debut in Fall which likely means that parent series TWD will get pushed to mid-season (though the delayed Season 10 finale ep should air in Fall). I am assuming Syfy’s Van Helsing will be back for its final season in Fall, but it could get pushed to Spring. As far as the streaming services, The Expanse (Amazon) and The Mandalorian (Disney+) are set for Fall returns, but I have not heard official word on any other streaming shows so far.
Following is the schedule as it stands with only fourteen sci fi and fantasy shows currently slotted for Fall. Expect plenty of changes between now and September (when the new season begins), and I expect more streaming entries and possibly cable shows to be added over the next few months. You can keep up with the current sci fi TV schedule at this link and you can follow the weekly listings at this link.
Fall 2020 Preliminary Schedule:
| Monday |
| 9-10 PM NeXt (FOX) NEW SERIES |
| Tuesday |
| 8-9 PM Swamp Thing (CW) Encore Run |
| Wednesday |
| 8-8:30 PM Two Sentence Horror Stories (CW) Returning for 2nd Season |
| 8:30-9 PM Dead Pixels (CW) Encore Run |
| Thursday |
| 8-9 PM Supernatural (CW) Returning for Final Episodes |
| 9-10 PM The Outpost (CW) Returning for End Season |
| 10-11 PM Evil (CBS) Returning for 2nd Season |
| Friday |
| 8-9 PM MacGyver (CBS) Returning for 5th Season |
| 10-11 PM Van Helsing (Syfy) Returning for 5th and Final Season |
| Saturday |
| No Genre Entries |
| Sunday |
| 9-10 PM The Walking Dead: World Beyond (AMC) NEW SERIES |
| 9-10 PM Pandora (CW) Returning for 2nd Season |
| Streaming Premieres |
| The Expanse (Amazon) Returning for 5th Season |
| The Mandalorian (Dis+) Returning for 2nd Season |
| You can see the complete list of streaming shows at this link |
| Mid-Season Start |
| American Horror Story (FX) Returning for 10th Season |
| Batwoman (CW) Season 2 Premieres Jan 2020 |
| Black Lightning (CW) Season 4 Premieres Jan 2020 |
| Charmed (CW) Season 3 Premieres Jan 2020 |
| The Flash (CW) Season 7 Premieres Jan 2020 |
| Legacies (CW) Season 3 Premieres Jan 2020 |
| Legends of Tomorrow (CW) Season 5 Premieres Spring 2020 |
| Roswell New Mexico (CW) Season 3 Premieres Spring 2020 |
| Supergirl (CW) Season 5 Premieres Spring 2020 |
| Superman & Lois (CW) NEW SERIES Premieres Jan 2020 |
| The Walking Dead (AMC) Returning for 11th Season |
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.
Follow our Sci Fi TV Top 5 column for the top sci fi TV stories each week.
Check back each Saturday for Sci Fi TV Retrospectives: A look back at cancelled, classic, forgotten, and more genre shows from the past.
