Sci Fi TV Update: Status updates, news, and developments on sci fi and fantasy television. For breaking news, be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site
Digital Ratings
Manifest remained at the Number 1 slot in the Nielsen Top 10 for acquired shows for a fifth week in a row for the week of July 5th to 11th. It pulled in an estimated 1.8 billion minutes in viewing and was the most-watched series or movie across all of streaming once again. Both NBC and Neflix are currently in negotiations to continue the series into a fourth season. In the Top 10 for original series, Disney+’s Loki slipped to the Number 2 slot, though viewership for the show improved from the prior week to 1.1 billion minutes. Netflix’s Lucifer slipped to Number 6 and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale slipped to the edge of the chart almost month after it wrapped up its fourth season. Amazon’s The Tomorrow War remained at Number 1 in the Top 10 for movies while Disney+’s Black Widow entered the charts at Number 3 (viewers had to pay an extra charge to watch that one on streaming). And the first two parts of Netflix’s horror trilogy Fear Streat were at Number 4 and 7 respectively. Following are all the sci fi and fantasy entries on the streaming charts for the week (the number in parenthesis is the prior week rank):
Digital Ratings for the Week of Jul-5 to Jul-11
Streaming Originals
2 (1) Loki (Disney+) 1.1 billion
6 (3) Lucifer (Netflix) 354 Million
10 (9) The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) 185 Million
Acqiured Shows
1 (1) Manifest (Netflix) 1.8 Billion
7 (8) Supernatural (Netflix) 328 Million
Movies
1 (1) The Tomorrow War (Amazon) 1.1 Billion
3 (n/a) Black Widow (Disney+) 541 Million
4 (6) Fear Street Part One: 1994 (Netlix) 284 Million
7 (n/a) Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (Amazon) 229 Million
Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing Through Television
Ratings Results of Interest
Freeform’s Motherland Fort Salem improved to a 0.07 rating based on same-day viewing with 182K total viewers for the week of July 26th. Those are the best numbers the show has seen this season except for its premiere, but that does not save it from Bubble status. Fans need to make a Call to Action on the social networks to bring more attention to the show and improve its chances of getting a third season. Over on The CW, Roswell New Mexico had a 0.08 rating with 613K total viewers for its Season 3 premiere. That show tends to do better in digital viewing and it has already been renewed for a fourth season. On Thursday, The Outpost slipped a tick to a 0.05 rating with 445K total viewers, though that one still has a chance of coming back for a fifth season. And on Sunday, Wellington Paranormal improved to a 0.06 score with 247K total viewers while Dead Pixels had a 0.04 rating with 189K total viewers. Ratings Source: SpoilerTV
Renewal Announcement
Disney+ has given a second season renewal to its animated series Star Wars: Bad Batch ahead of its first season finale. That spin-off from The Clone Wars debuted in May of this year and made it into the Nielsen Streaming Top 10 for its premiere week. It has been well-recieved by critics and fans so far, currently holding an 86% Fresh Rating and 84% Audience Score at Rotten Tomatoes. Disney has been using its premium streaming service to expand the Star Wars franchise with Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, the upcoming The Book of Boba Fett, and more shows on the way. The first year of Bad Batch will wrap up on August 13th with Part 2 of its season finale, and the second season is scheduled to premiere at some point in 2022.
Sci Fi TV Development
Syfy has given a ten-episode series order to the dramedy Reginald the Vampire which will star Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming). Created by Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks, Chucky), Deadline gives the following description of the project:
The series is set in a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires. Reginald Baskin (Batalon) tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle – the girl he loves but can’t be with, a bully manager at work and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers he has a few unrecognized powers of his own. A new show with a lot of heart and just enough blood, Reginald the Vampire proves the undead life is just as complicated as life itself.
Syfy will be looking to ad this to its 2022 schedule.
Sci Fi TV News of Note
A premiere date has been set for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series, though Tolkien fans will have to wait a while before it arrives. The show is set to bow on the streaming service on September 2, 2022, over a year from now. That one currently counts as the most expensive TV series ever made . . . HBO Max has passed on the J.J. Abrams-produced horror series The Overlook which focuses on the infamous hotel from Stephen King’s The Shinning. But the production is being shopped around with Netflix considered to be a likely landing spot . . . . The long-awaited sequel for Netflix’s urban fantasy film Bright is finally moving forward. The final script is close to completion and the follow-up will bring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton back in the lead roles. Be sure to follow r/SciFiTV for news, schedule updates, trailers, discussions, and more.
Sci Fi TV Schedule
The schedule for sci fi and fantasy shows picks up this coming week with five premieres and one show returning from hiatus. On Tuesday, The CW’s Stargirl returns for its second season at 8 PM EST. One hour later, FOX’s reboot of Fantasy Island will have its premiere at 9 PM EST. And on Wednesay, The CW’s Riverdale will resume its fifth season at 8 PM EST. On the streaming services, Disney+’s animated What if . . . ? will have its premiere on Wednesday and release one episode per week. Titans will have its third season premiere on Thursday on HBO Max. That show will release its first three S3 episodes on that day and then one ep per week following that. Also on Thursday, Star Trek: Lower Decks with have its second season premiere on Paramount+ and will release one episode per week. There are still more premieres on the way in August and you can see the full schedule at this link.
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.
