Just a few months back when we were at the height of the production shutdowns and the entertainment industry was pretty much at a standstill, it seemed like there would be very little in the way of sci fi and fantasy offerings (heck, any scripted series) on the Fall 2020 slate. But with this being the first official week of the new season on the broadcast networks, there are actually quite a number of shows of interest to genre fans on the schedule, with over thirty sci fi and fantasy entries as of this writing. That is down from nearly fifty last Fall, but still quite impressive considering all of the production challenges. Most of these shows had completed filming (or nearly wrapped it up) prior to the shutdowns, though some are hurridly getting new episodes produced right now in order to get on the air this Fall. (You can see the full schedule at this link.)
The Big Four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) have the least to offer to sci fi fans, but that was pretty much true last Fall as well. FOX held over its AI-drama NeXt from a planned late-season run last year, and that one has a much better chance of finding an audience on the upcoming schedule with less in the way of scripted competition. CBS has two returning genre shows this season with MacGyver and Evil currently set for Fall premieres. Those two had enough advance notice for their returns, so I believe they should be on track for their planned November debuts. CBS is also slotting in an encore run of Star Trek Discovery‘s first season to pad out the schedule (something I previously predicted). NBC’s Manifest was renewed in June, and though it was originally on the Fall schedule, it has been pushed to 2021 as expected. ABC cancelled Emergence last season and Agents of SHIELD has wrapped up after seven years, so that network has no returning genre offerings and nothing new for the upcoming season either.
The CW has pushed its shows that would have regularly premiered in Fall to mid-season starts. That includes the Arrow-verse shows (Flash-verse? CW-Verse? Berlanti-verse?) as well as Roswell New Mexico, Charmed, and Legacies. To fill up slots on the Fall schedule, the network has shifted over its Summer shows The Outpost, Pandora, and Two Sentence Horror Stories (none of those would have been ready for Summer starts anyway). And the final seven episodes of Supernatural, which were delayed due to the shutdowns, will air in Fall. The CW is also adding an encore run of the cancelled DC Universe series Swamp Thing. Whether the network will pick that show up for more seasons like it did with Stargirl remains to be seen.
As for the cable networks, scripted offerings are pretty sparse on those channels, but there are some shows to look forward to. HBO’s Lovecraft Country continues from its Summer premiere and the second season of His Dark Materials debuts later in Fall. Syfy has the fifth and final season of Van Helsing set to premiere in the coming months and Alan Tudyk’s Resident Alien could make it to the schedule as well (Syfy’s Chucky series has been pushed to 2021). The Walking Dead franchise returns to AMC in Fall with the planned Season 10 “finale” of TWD set to air in October (the tenth season has received six additional episodes which will premiere in January). That will be followed by the premiere of new spin-off The Walking Dead: World Beyond as well as the return of Fear the Walking Dead for its sixth season, both set for October. FX’s American Horror Story usually returns in Fall, but its upcoming tenth season has been pushed to a 2021 start.
On top of that, there are currently over a dozen shows from the streaming services set for the Fall schedule including new entries Utopia (Amazon), Wandavision (Disney+), and the CBS All Access reboot of The Stand. Returning this fall is Amazon’s The Expanse (fifth season), Disney+’s The Mandalorian (second season), and Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access, third season). It is also possible that shows like Carnival Row (Amazon) and Titans (the latter moving to HBO Max) could arrive by late Fall. Shows that started earlier this month include Raised by Wolves (HBO Max), The Boys (Amazon), and Away (Netflix). Expect more genre entries to be added over the next month or so as the streaming services (especially Netflix) tend to drop originals into their lineups without much advance notice.
So despite a Summer that was rather slim on genre offerings, things are picking up in Fall and we could be back to full Peak TV overload by mid-season when the Arrow-verse shows and more start hitting the schedule. You can see the complete Fall 2020 lineup with premiere dates at this link, and be sure to keep up with our Weekly Listings to know what is airing/streaming during the current week. Also, be sure to follow our Cancellation Watch posts as well as the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site to keep up with the latest ratings results and the status of your favorite shows.
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 be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
Although The Expanse will technically be Amazon’s second season I think it’s more useful to describe it as the fifth season.
Actually, that was just a gaffe on my part. Thanks for the heads up.
Fantastic update, thank you! Didn’t realize that there still would be plenty sci fi coming in spite of all the COVID-19 nonsense. 🙂
(Ha ha, and we drove to a different county last night to see Tenet, because our county still ignorantly won’t allow movie theaters to be open yet … even though malls, yes, malls are allowed to be open to 50% capacity!)