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
Ratings Results of Interest
FOX’s Fantasy Island reboot had its debut this past Tuesday and pulled in a 0.4 rating with just under two million total viewers based on the preliminary numbers for the same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic. Those are decent ratings for a Summer entry these days, especially considering it was going up against top-rated America’ Got Talent on NBC. But since this is a known property, the curious-onlooker effect probably drove up the early numbers. Viewers will check out shows like this when they first debut but may bow out quickly after an episode or two. I will have to see how this one tracks in the coming weeks to get a better gauge of where it stands.
Syfy’s broadcast of the Canadian supernatural dramedy SurrealEstate has averaged a 0.08 rating for same-day viewing across the demo so far over its first four episodes. Those numbers are on the low side, but this show’s fate is likely tied more closely to how it performs in its home country. Over on Freeform, Motherland Fort Salem held steadily low at a 0.05 rating with 210K total viewers for last week’s airing. That show remains firmly On the Bubble and fans should make a Call to Action on the social networks to help it get to a third season. On The CW, Roswell New Mexico has averaged a 0.09 same-day across its first two Season 3 episodes. That one tends to perform better in digital viewing and it has already been renewed for a fourth season. Ratings Source: SpoilerTV
Digital Ratings
Manifest topped the Nielsen Streaming Top 10 for acquired shows yet again for the week of July 12th to 18th, making it six weeks in a row since it began its encore run on Netflix. Its total viewership minutes dropped some from the prior week, but it still remained over a billion. Both NBC and Netflix are currently in negotiations to keep the show going. On the streaming orginals chart, Disney+’s Loki slipped to the Number 2 slot, but it still had one billion viewers for the week. Netflix’s Lucifer slipped to Number 8 with 284 million minutes of viewing as the show’s sixth and final season preps for its debut in September. The AHS spin-off American Horror Stories had its debut that week on Hulu but did not make it into the Top 10 originals yet. In the chart for streaming movies, Black Widow remained at Number 3 for Disney+ with 444 million minutes of viewing (that film requires an extra cost to watch on streaming). Amazon’s Tomorrow War slipped to Number 4 but brought in another 413 million minutes of viewing. And all three of Netflix’s Fear Street movies were in the Top 10 for the week. 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-12 to Jul-18
Streaming Originals
2 (2) Loki (Disney+) 1.0 billion
8 (6) Lucifer (Netflix) 284 Million
Acquired Shows
1 (1) Manifest (Netflix) 1.3 Billion
10 (7) Supernatural (Netflix) 273 Million
Movies
3 (3) Black Widow (Disney+) 444 Million
4 (1) The Tomorrow War (Amazon) 413 Million
5 (n/a) Fear Street Part Two: 1666 (Netlix) 280 Million
6 (7) Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (Netlix) 259 Million
8 (4) Fear Street Part One: 1994 (Netlix) 199 Million
9 (n/a) Twilight (Amazon) 184 Million
Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing Through Television
Status Update
The fourth season of Hulu’s dystopian series The Handmaid’s Tale was released this past Spring and the show has been renewed for a fifth year. While that has not been announced as its final season, it is possible that the show could be wrapping up around that point. The showrunners originally envisioned as many as eight seasons from the drama, but that timeframe appears to have adjusted now that it has four under its belt. Hulu’s head of scripted originals has said that it is “most important to us is that we close out that show in creative fashion that feels organic so we are in constant communication” with the show runners. More on that at this link.
Sci Fi TV News of Note
Alex Proyas is currently working on adapting his cult classic sci fi-noir film Dark City into a television series. He had the following to say about the project in an interview with Bloody Disgusting:
Which we’re in the very early stages [of] but I’m having to reanalyze in order to construct a new story. I’m having to go back and kind of jog my memory as to what we actually did and what I think worked and what I think didn’t work and reevaluate my own film, so that’s been a very interesting experience as well which I’ve not done before.
He has revisted the universe of the film recently with the short Mask of the Evil Apparition which palyed at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival. The television series is in the very early stages of development and no network is currently attached.
Sci Fi TV News of Note
According to executive producer Brad Winderbaum, Marvel currently has multiple animated series in the works which will be headed to Disney+ and perhaps Hulu, though no specific titles have been mentioned yet (Hit Monkey is still moving forward on Hulu). In addition, a second season of the animated series What If . . . ? is currently in development . . . According to a Tweet from Seth McFarlane, production on the long-delayed third season of The Orville has finally wrapped. That show has switched from FOX to Hulu and could finally release its new season later this year or early 2022 . . . In casting news, Billy Zane, Joseph Lee Anderson, and Timothy V. Murphy have joined Peacock’s upcoming MacGruber TV series that will see Will Forte return to the lead role he created for Saturday Night Live and the 2010 film. Also in the cast are Sam Elliott and Laurence Fishburne. Be sure to follow r/SciFiTV for news, schedule updates, trailers, discussions, and more.
Sci Fi TV Schedule
Season 3 of Doom Patrol has received a premiere date of September 23rd on HBO Max. You can see the trailer at this link. The eleventh and final season of AMC’s The Walking Dead premieres on Sunday August 22nd. That twenty-four episode season will be broken into three 8-ep parts. The first kicks off this coming week with the others airing in 2022. Also on the schedule, The CW’s Superman & Lois will have its first season finale on Tuesday. That show has been renewed for a second year, and Supergirl will be taking up the Tuesday 9 PM EST timeslot the following week to finish out its sixth and final season. 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.
