In Sci-Fi TV this week, TNT renews Falling Skies for a second season, Syfy premieres its new Monday night lineup, Robert Kirkman and Frank Darabont tease The Walking Dead season two and John Noble talks Fringe. All that plus much more, including the latest television ratings, and new images and video previews
GENRE TV NEWS
TNT renews Falling Skies for second season
TNT has renewed "Falling Skies" for a second season. The show’s second season will be 10 episodes, just like the first, and is slated to begin airing in summer 2012:
“Falling Skies is a true standout series, from its ambitious storytelling, high-profile cast and production team to its phenomenal success when it comes to international and time-shifted viewing,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). “We’re reaching new audiences with Falling Skies and look forward to seeing where this fascinating and exciting series takes us next.”
Ratings have been solid for the Steven Spielberg-produced series, averaging 4.72M viewers and a 1.6 A18-49 rating through three weeks (not including last night’s episode which ratings are not yet available for).
Syfy Tonight: Eureka and Warehouse 13 return + Alphas series premiere
Tonight is the series premiere of the new Syfy series "Alphas" (10 p.m.). Tonight also sees the return of "Eureka" for its season 4.5 premiere (8 p.m.) and "Warehouse 13" (9 p.m.) with its season 3 premiere. "Alphas" executive producer Ira Steven Behr spoke with Blastr about why he doesn’t look at "Alphas" as a superhero show:
"We don’t consider ourselves a superhero show by any means…We’re trying to take what’s already going on or what can already go on within the human brain and just up it a little bit more to extreme science. So I think that is interesting, the fact that the characters themselves are not exactly suited to the position that they’re in."
"This is a group of people who are not really your first choice to be an investigative unit or to be going out into the field and getting shot [at]," he added. "They are working for the government, but the government doesn’t totally know whether to trust them. They don’t know whether to trust the government. They’re working against this organization of Alphas called Red Flag, and Red Flag keeps telling them that they’re on the wrong side. And it’s a very precarious position to be in."
Collider, meanwhile, interviewed co-writer Zak Penn about the project. Here’s an excerpt from their extensive interview where Penn compares the show more to The Mentalist and The X-Files than other sci-fi superhero shows:
Collider: Alphas falls on the heels of things like Heroes, and other shows where ordinary people are in extraordinary circumstances, with superhuman abilities emerging. Were there any pitfalls that you saw from those other shows you really wanted to avoid?
PENN: Well, I really did try to start from a totally different paradigm. The show is probably closer to The Mentalist or The X-Files, in its pitch. That’s where we started from. And then, I got in some of the stuff I’ve always wanted to do in the superhero genre. I managed to find the real world equivalent of it. So, as opposed to Heroes, which is completely serialized, we purposely started from the totally other direction, in terms of what the show is actually like, in the same way that Law & Order is nothing like Heat. They’re two opposite ends of the genre. For me, I was less worried about that than I was about other procedural type shows that had some overlap with us. But, luckily, they all got canceled.
Read the rest of the interview with Penn here. And check out interviews with "Warehouse 13" star Aaron Ashmore and creator Jack Kenny at Blastr. In other news, Shazam has announced that Shazam for TV will be featured in the new series:
Following in the footsteps of Syfy’s “Being Human” – the first Shazamable TV series – each episode of “Alphas” will feature Shazamable moments, giving viewers access to exclusive content not available anywhere else, including sneak peeks of upcoming episodes, playlists from the show’s soundtrack and wallpaper for mobile phones. Each week the wallpaper will be refreshed with exclusive imagery from the week’s episode, while also providing fans with access to archived wallpaper content.
Check out the latest videos and images for all three shows below.
Alphas
Promotional stills the series premiere [more at KSiteTV]
What is an Alpha? [Syfy]
Eureka
Promotional stills for episode 4×12 – "Reprise" [more at SpoilerTV]
Sneak peek at Alicia Day’s character [YouTube]
Sneak peek [Syfy]
Sneak peek [Syfy]
Webisode 2 [YouTube]
Robert Kirkman and Frank Darabont talk The Walking Dead
The end of "The Walking Dead" season one featured the character Dr. Jenner whispering something to Rick Grimes. But what did he say? TV Guide presented two possible theories to comic book series creator Robert Kirkman:
THEORY NO. 1: Jenner said that Lori is pregnant.
THEORY NO. 2: Jenner told Rick that everyone is already infected.
"It’s possible that one is close. … Your theories are may be touching upon the larger piece of what [Jenner] said. … One of [the theories] said part of the main thing that he said."
In other news, Frank Darabont has confirmed that Michonne will be appearing in the show, but not until the third season:
"When she [appears], she’s gonna rock your world. I can officially tell you Michonne is coming in the third season."
Darabont also confirmed that discussions are underway with Stephen King and Joe Hill to co-write a season two episode.
Set images [more at SpoilerTV]
Robert Kirkman touring the season two set [YouTube]
John Noble expects Fringe to last five seasons
"Fringe" star John Noble told Digital Spy that he expects the Fox show to run for five years and would be surprised if it lasted beyond that point:
"When we first joined the show, [co-creator] JJ Abrams said that he thought it was a six-year show, but that’s like saying you’re going to climb Mount Everest," Noble told Allocine. "It’s very hard to even [get a show] on, let alone to do six years."
"Six [years] is a very long time," he said. "But if we don’t maintain the level of our production and our stories this [fourth] year, then there won’t [even] be another year."
Noble also talked about the difficulty in getting new viewers to the show:
"I don’t know why they’re saying that. We have a mythology now that needs to be unraveled a little bit for new viewers. I defy people to come in at the end of season three and understand—they might find it really interesting, but to understand it might be hard. So we need to unravel some of that mythology a bit, and I think that might be what they mean—give it a restart, from the same place, but for example without Peter or that intangible Peter [who seemingly ceased to exist at the end of the season finale], and we have to retell some of the story."
"Fringe" returns for season four on Friday, September 23.
Interview with Anna Torv [YouTube]
PREVIEW Videos & Images
Haven
Promotional stills for episodes 2×01-03 [more at Multipleverses]
Teen Wolf
Promo for episode 1×07 – "Night School" [YouTube]
Terra Nova
Promo [YouTube]
Torchwood: Miracle Day
Promo for episode 4×02 – "Rendition" [Blogtor Who / YouTube]
Torchwood: Web of Lies
Episode 1 [YouTube]
True Blood
Promotional stills for episode 4×04 – "I’m Alive And On Fire" [Area5 via Spoiler TV]
TV BITES
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The fourth season premiere of "True Blood" drew 5.42M viewres and a 3.0 A18-49 rating. That was just slightly below the series-high 5.44M viewers and 3.2 A18-49 rating notched for the penultimate episode of season three… [YourEntNow]
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…However, episode two fell by almost half, drawing 2.90M viewers and a 1.5 A18-49 rating. One possible explanation for the huge decline? The show was available to HBO subscribers for a full week online via HBO Go.
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"Torchwood: Miracle Day" premiered with 819,000 viewers and a 0.3 A18-49 rating Friday night on Starz… [TV by the Numbers]
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…Check out an interview with star Mekhi Phifer discussing his character Rex Matheson at Digital Spy…
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…And another interview with Phifer and fellow castmembers John Barrowman and Eve Myles at TV Guide.
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Cartoon Network has announced that "ThunderCats" will premiere with a specila hour-long episode on Friday, July 29 at 8 p.m. [Cartoon Network]
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NBC has set premiere dates for its fall 2011 schedule. The fifth and final season of "Chuck" will premiere on Friday, October 21. "Grimm" will also launch on the 21st, airing at 9 p.m. [NBC]
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"Game of Thrones" writer/producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss tease that the second season of the hit HBO show will be "the season of the love story". [via Winter Is Coming]
Episode synopses/descriptions
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"True Blood" – 4×07 – "Cold Grey Light of Dawn". [SpoilerTV]
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"True Blood" – 4×08 – "Spellbound". [SpoilerTV]
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"True Blood" – 4×09 – "Run". [SpoilerTV]
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"True Blood" – 4×10 – "Burning Down the House". [SpoilerTV]
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"Teen Wolf" – 1×07 – "Night School". [KSiteTV]
CASTING BITES
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"Game of Thrones" creator George R.R. Martin has revealed that Gwendoline Christie has been cast in the role of Brienne Tarth. [George R.R. Martin via EW]
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Dichen Lachman has joined the cast of Syfy’s "Being Human". [Syfy]
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Dennis O’Hare revealed that his "True Blood" character Russell Edgington will return at the beginning of season 5. [Film School Rejects]
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Producers of "Fringe" are currently looking for a new recurring Asian Female character for the upcoming fourth season premiere which begins filming on July 14. [SpoilerTV]
SCI-FI RATINGS (Based on final national numbers unless otherwise noted) [@TravisYanan]
CHART (6/13/2011 to 6/19/2011)
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CHART (6/20/2011 to 6/26/2011)
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Follow Russ on his blog: Your Entertainment Now and on Twitter: Twitter.com/YourEntNow.
Eureka, Warehouse 13, and Haven are back finally!
Life is good!
Um, are you sure your reporting on Torchwood ‘s ratings is correct? According to this article at Airlock Alpha http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/8600/torchwood-opens-to-audience-as-big-as-camelot.html Torchwood opened to an audience equaling that of Camelot, and Starz has not commented on why it canceled Camelot yet. Still, I can’t say that there’s nothing to watch during the summer! Torchwood, Eureka, Warehouse 13 are all back! Not to mention my favorite non-SF show Deadliest Catch with After the Catch are still running, and I haven’t checked out Alphas yet but Airlock Alpha loved it.
one of my fave features on trekmovie :) thanks
it’s gonna be a looooooong wait for Chuck final season :(
and it’s even harder with no Star Trek / Stargate series either.
Can’t wait for season 2 of “Walking Dead”; at least I have the graphic novels to fill the “dead” zone between seasons. I am addicted to BOTH formats; they’re like parallel versions of the same story.
Am planning on going to the Comic Con panel on Friday the 22nd, too. Panels on Torchwood, Big Bang Theory and Walking Dead all in a row in the same auditorium, same day…. wow~!
Can my old heart stand the excitement?
;-)
FALLING SKIES is sub-moronic, 2.5 minute segments of crap let loose on TNT from under a giant turd inside a 70 year old container of putrid farts. Everyone associated with the show in any form ought to be ashamed. TORCHWOOD – the same.
Happy “A DANCE WITH DRAGONS” release day everybody!
#4 Why are you holding back? Tell us how you really feel
#5.
I admit, I wasn’t too keen on early Torchwood (the first couple of years felt like half-baked X-Files leftovers to me), but watching season 3 “Children of Earth” and the series 4 premiere (“Miracle Day”) won me over. A vast improvement over the previous material.
Love your ‘colorful metaphors’ though; gave me a chuckle…. ;-D
I love Fringe!!
“Falling Skies is a true standout series, from its ambitious storytelling, high-profile cast and production team to its phenomenal success when it comes to international and time-shifted viewing”
I’m finding Falling Skies ok to watch, but in my opinion the story telling so far has been far from ambitious and is overburdened with a little too much unneeded groan inducing emotional schmaltzyness. Less navel gazing and more action and plot twists please……
Well, there are a number of SF-themed shows out there, that’s for sure, but whatever happened to shows about space exploration?
I’m old enough to remember watching Lost in Space, a comic take on space exploration that ran in the 1960’s.
Today, the dominant SF theme is no longer space exploration, but more toward time travel, personal interactions, and related matters. I wonder if this reflects our culture’s lack of interest in exploring the great unknown?
I do think that UFO theories that paint a dark picture of the forces “out there” may have something to do with it.
Falling Skies is unwatchable in my opinion because of Noah Wyle. He’s overrated.
My wife and I were instantly hooked on Falling Skies. And Eureka. And Torchwood. And Fringe. And The Walking Dead. We’re hoping the Alphas is equally as addictive.
We know wether or not someone likes a show is subjective. I’m not sure where all the vitriol comes from with some people.
11.
Good point.
We live in times of such uncertainty in the US (two wars, bad economy, etc) that the ‘can-do, new frontier’ spirit of ’60s optimism seems (for many) to be largely outdated or naive. Most scifi now tends to deal in conspiracies, paranoia, mutants, etc. Inner space seems more important than outer space (even NASA seems to be an agency without an agenda these days).
But it’s also interesting that ST09, which (despite the dark 9/11 allegory with the destruction of Vulcan) seemed to aim for some of that perhaps ‘outdated/naive’ ’60s optimism and it was a HUGE success at the box office. And yet we see no other big space operas following in it’s footsteps.
Maybe it stands to reason that after all of the X-Files/Fringe styled gloom-and-doom conspiracy shows of the last couple of decades, audiences may be hungry for that old can-do optimism these days (speaking for myself, I know I am). I wonder how a can-do, optimistic STAR TREK-styled show would do these days if one were just magically plopped right in the middle of the programming schedule.
Would it be laughed off the screen, or would it be a big surprise hit?
I am now a Big fan of falling Skys. I think it is a great show with top notch actors and great Fx The Writting is also top notch.. Finally i get a great show that is in no danger of being canceled and in fact is getting renewed. Can’t wait to see where this show goes.
The fourth season of ‘Breaking Bad’ premieres this Sunday at 10p on AMC.
If you’ve never watched it before, get the DVD’s and catch up. You will not be disappointed. It may not be SF (although it does have a bit of a ‘Twilight Zone’ vibe) but it is simply, one of the greatest shows ever made.
Unfortunately, space-based shows are seen as outdated, naive and quaint. People want “reality” in their shows, which means current day settings on Earth, and a reduction in the fantasy element. Plus studios are looking to save as much money as possible by reducing the need for elaborate sets, costumes, make-up, visual effects and special effects.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a space-based show called “Star Trek” again.
17 – Yep
Why is the Fringe Clip dubbed in French?
17.
Sadly, judging by how BSG and SGU struggled mightily in the ratings?
I’d have to agree. As much as I loved space opera as a kid, it seems the era of derring-do space operas (at least on TV) is in a state of severe hibernation. Personally? I loathe most reality TV (unless you count Mythbusters; those guys are great!). I miss the optimism…
However, maybe the next Trek movie might go a ways towards changing this mindset. “There are always… possibilities.” ;-)
#17- Amen brother. CBS owns TV rights independently of Paramount. My only fear is that CBS would turn it into a procedural, murder investigation a week in space. Haha..
As for Falling Skies, it looks like they are going to take Trek’s ‘less often is better’ approach. Probably based on Noah Wyle’s lack of work ethic from what I have heard about his departure from ER. Can’t really blame him, family is always first for me too. Falling Skies won’t hold interest with 10 episodes every summer, not with half the viewers already fleeing in the first 4 weeks. It sure ain’t ‘Closer’ or ‘Rizzoli and Aisles’ ratings….
no falling skies aval. in canada WTFbrain
I’ve tried three separate times to watch the first episode of Falling Skies….I just can’t get through it.
The visual effects look terrible to me I can’t say I care for the lead actor and it seems like a whole lot of nothing happened in it. The very start of the show hooked me in and then I spent the whole rest of the episode waiting for something else to happen.
@20 – CBS would name it Star Trek: CSI. Every week we get to see the team figure out how the unlucky red shirt of the week died.
Q UESTION????? Does Syfy know that there are MORE than 2 Star Trek series other than Enterprise and TNG? They are wearing those 2 OUT! :-(
Star Trek: CSI would be something though. It would be hella better than the steaming pile of NOTHING we’re getting this summer and now also NEXT summer.
.
A procedural/anthology set in the timeframe after Voyager… perhaps with a Temporal Investigator onboard… they could be investigating not just strange interstellar deaths, but “anomalies”. For example, they find a tombstone on Delta Vega marked James R. Kirk, and must solve the mystery. Or, they find a planet called Rigel, that has interdimensionality: multiple cultures and worlds overlapping. Etc.
A second season of “Falling Eyelids”?
I love Falling Skys. ( Standing ready with the Agoniser!)
The first episode (two hour) and the second of Falling Skies was a bit slow, but now I am hooked. The last one (7/10/2011) blew me away.
As for Fringe it is perfect, ready for fall.
@26: I always said they NEED to put DS9 episodes on SyFy (they long ago had had a plan to do so) as well as Voyager…
Since when does 10 episodes constitute a season???
But did you see the episode of Warehouse 13? There is a great little Star Trek reference in there…right around the 38 minute mark.
#2 – I believe the difference is down to how they’re measured. Starz counts the total viewings of the first-run and all repeats within the first week when considering if a show did well. I suspect TrekMovie are looking at the number of live viewers for the first-run. By Sunday night, 2m had watched Torchwood on Starz, and it would only have climbed from there.
“Alicia Day”? Is she Felicia’s identical twin sister?
hmmm…
after something about 11 or 12 years TV with no stargate… i don’t like this…