Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

The web series Pioneer One has reached its target of $20k in donations in just one week and will now begin work on the next three episodes.  The first episode is available for free download through BitTorrent and the producers have asked that viewers donate if they liked it so that they can complete the planned first season of seven episodes.  The $20k they have received so far will cover episodes 2 – 4 and they still have donations flowing in which will hopefully carry the series through its first full season.  The producers also have and additional four seasons mapped which would follow sometime after the completion of Season 1.  You can read Johnny Jay’s review of the first episode at this link then be sure to go to the show’s website to download the first episode and see it yourself.

The fans of two of the Science Fiction and Fantasy series that received the axe this past season are working hard to win a continuation of their shows.  The fans of FlashForward, which ABC cancelled due to low ratings though it has a large international following, plan on staging their own “backouts” in front of the offices of several ABC affiliates around the country.  Here is the info on that from their Facebook page:

“Help SAVE FLASHFORWARD!

www.preventtheblackout.com

All over the world, people are getting together to “Blackout” for 2 minutes and 17 seconds in front of the various ABC Network stations, in hopes of catching the attention of the Producers, and Stephen McPherson.

Basically for the June 10th demonstrations, gather as many friends, family members as you can and Go to your local Abc station, or as close as you can, and hold up signs saying ‘Save Flashforward“, tshirts of Flashforward, any merchandise of Flashforward. The protest could even be a 2:17 second fan blackout. This will get the media’s attention!”

You can get more information at their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128601070491603&ref=nf

Legend of the Seeker received notice a few months ago that its syndicator would not pick it up for a third season.  Fans have already raised nearly $10 thousand for adds in several major entertainment publications pleading for a continuation of the show.  Now they have started a donation drive to raise money to buy the DVDs of the show to donate to libraries.  Following is the latest from the SaveOurSeeker site:

“Legend of the Seeker is a fantasy TV show, based on author Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” book series. Produced by Disney-ABC, the show currently airs in syndication. With little to no promotion, and an erratic airing schedule, the show has averaged 2.5 million viewers weekly, plus boasts a rapidly growing international fanbase. For more information on the show, please visit the official website.

Though no official statement has been made, as of April 26th, Ausiello reported that the show would be cancelled, since Tribune/WGN America had not purchased distribution for season 3.

The “Save Our Seeker” campaign aims to promote the show by demonstrating the unity and strength of its fanbase. In its first week, the campaign has raised nearly $10,000, proving how passionate and active all of us fans can be in an effort to keep this refreshing show on the air. And we won’t be stopping here – our next project is already in gear: a massive donation of “Legend of the Seeker” DVDs to public libraries.”

You can find out more at their main site: www.saveourseeker.com

And you can see Johnny Jay’s thoughts on all of this past season’s cancelled shows at this link.

The Sci Fi Scroll is our Reddit.com page where we post links to news, updates, commentaries, reviews, etc. from around the web covering the worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.  Click on over to see to see what you are missing and also submit some of your own links or join up in the conversation.  Following is a sampling of some of our latest posts:

What if… Jaws was made Today?

5 reasons why FlashForward deserved to fail

Top 8 Most Ridiculous Moments in Science Fiction and Fantasy Film in the 21st Century

William Gibson’s list of favorite Science Fiction novels

Canceled TV Shows That Could Have Been Saved by Zombies

Jonathan Frakes wants to do a ‘Star Trek: Titan’ miniseries

Guillermo del Toro exits The Hobbit due to MGM’s uncertain future

Don’t hold your breath for “the next Lost” on television

The part time network announced their schedule today which contained no major surprises as we already knew that Supernatural, Smallville, and Vampire Diaries were coming back and the announcement of their pickup for Nikita came earlier this week.  Perhaps the only surprise came with their decision to move Supernatural to 9 PM CST Fridays, pairing it once again with Smallville (Nikita will take over Supernatural‘s current Thursday 9 PM EST timeslot).   The superhero show has actually done pretty good on Fridays this season, by CW standards at least, and I assume they expect similar performance from Supernatural next season.  There was also word that next season will officially be Smallville‘s last, but then we have heard that before.  With the addition of Nikita, 40% of the CW’s programming now has a genre angle, though with a fairly young target audience.  That network had also eyed to other properties with genre elements, Nomads and Betwixt, but they did not make it to the Fall schedule.  No word at this point on whether they are waiting in the wings as potential mid-season replacements.

NBC announced their Fall schedule on Sunday, followed by FOX on Monday, ABC on Tuesday, and CBS yesterday.  Stay tuned as we will compile together the full schedule of Science Fiction and Fantasy shows for next season and give our initial thoughts on what to expect.

CBS is not set to announce their Fall schedule until tomorrow (Wednesday) but word has already leaked on the fate of several of their shows.  Among those are two genre shows, as Ghost Whisperer received its walking papers but Medium (which CBS saved from cancellation over at NBC last season) will live one more year.  Both shows aired on Friday nights this past season, and even though they typically won their timeslots, their numbers declined throughout the year.  Apparently CBS decided to keep one of the two, though, and Medium received the winning card.  No word yet on whether it will remain on Friday nights or get a new timeslot next year.  Over at the fifth place network, the CW announced that they would pick up the spy series Nikita for next season.  The series is based on the French film La Femme Nikita and will be the second time that it has been adapted for television.  The previous, Canadian made, version had a successful run on the USA cable channel from 1997 to 2001.  That network is also looking at two other genre shows, Nomads and Betwixt, but has not made an announcement on either them yet.  The CW had previously announced that they would renew all three of their current genre shows: Supernatural, Smallville, and Vampire Diaries. They will reveal their Fall schedule on Thursday.

Update 5/19: CBS revealed their schedule for Fall 2010 which has Medium still on Fridays but now an hour earlier in the 8 PM EST timeslot.  As expected, the network has no other genre shows on their schedule, though they will air Shit My Dad Says (aka $#*! My Dad Says) which may interest genre fans since it stars William Shatner.

ABC announced its schedule today, preceded by FOX yesterday and NBC on Sunday.

Updated 11:25 CST

ABC has announced its schedule for the upcoming Fall season and this time around it has far fewer shows in the Science Fiction and Fantasy vein than prior years.  The alphabet network has continued to try and replicate the success it had with Lost for the past several years and has had multiple entries in the genre each season since 2004 including shows like Invasion, Pushing Daisies, Life on Mars, and this past season’s FlashForward and V.  But none of these has managed to pull numbers anywhere close to what Lost has enjoyed over its six-year run, apparently prompting ABC to back away from the genre going into next season.  With no Lost on the schedule, it currently only has the one genre series No Ordinary Family, a superhero drama starring Michael Chicklis (Fantastic Four, The Shield), slated for Fall.  V is not currently on the Fall schedule, which means it may wait until a January start but there’s also a possibility it could return as early as November.  That series could take over the slot currently held by the Dancing with the Stars results show which would give it No Ordinary Family as its lead-in.  ABC wants to give the returning series some extra time before scheduling it because it relies heavily on its special effects and this increases production time.

Tomorrow, CBS will announce its schedule for next season followed by the CW on Thursday.  NBC revealed their schedule on Sunday and FOX announced their plans yesterday.

FOX announced their schedule for the upcoming season today at the upfronts which had no surprises as we already new that Fringe and Human Target were coming back and that they had Steven Spielberg’s time travel/dinosaur series Terra Nova on the radar.  Fringe will remain in the Thursday night timeslot that has pummeled it all season long, though it did manage to at least post some gains for FOX on that night and should continue to hold on to its audience next season.  Human Target got the bad news that it will get relegated to Friday nights at 8 PM EST, the low-viewership evening that killed off Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last season and Dollhouse this season.  This suggests that FOX does not have a whole lot of confidence in that series (though Robert Seidman at TV by the Numbers sees it differently) and that it will likely not live past the thirteen episode order for its second season, though they do still show it in that slot through mid-season.  The Spielberg series has been in the works for a while and it will get a place on the schedule (timeslot currently undetermined) at mid-season.  Following is the official description of the show:

From executive producers Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Brannon Braga (24, “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and David Fury (“Lost,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) comes an epic family adventure 85 million years in the making. TERRA NOVA follows an ordinary family embarking on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a massive experiment to save the human race. In the year 2149 the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped, overcrowded and overpolluted. With the majority of plant and animal life extinct, devotion to science has brought mankind to the brink of destruction, but has also provided its only hope for salvation. Knowing there is no way to reverse the damage to the planet, a coalition of scientists has managed to open up a fracture in the space-time continuum, creating a portal to prehistoric Earth. This doorway leads to an amazing world, one that allows for a last-ditch effort to save the human race…possibly changing the future by correcting the mistakes of the past. The series centers on the Shannon family as they join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to TERRA NOVA, the first colony of humans in this second chance for civilization. JIM SHANNON, a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new land of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim’s wife, ELISABETH SHANNON, is a trauma surgeon chosen through a global lottery as a new addition to Terra Nova’s medical team. JOSH SHANNON is their son, mourning the girl he left behind, as he’s torn between two role models – his father and the charismatic COMMANDER FRANK TAYLOR, the leader of the settlement, and the heroic first pioneer through the time portal. MADDY SHANNON, Jim and Elizabeth’s teen daughter, is as independent and adventurous as her parents, but her distrust of authority soon leads her on a dangerous path. In addition to blue skies, rolling rivers and lush vegetation, TERRA NOVA offers new opportunities and fresh beginnings to its recent arrivals, but the Shannons have brought with them a familial secret that may threaten their citizenship in this utopia. Additionally these adventurers soon discover that this healthy, vibrant world is not as idyllic as it initially appears. The areas surrounding Terra Nova are filled with dangerous dinosaurs, and other prehistoric threats, as well as external forces that may be intent on destroying this new world before it begins. But perhaps even more threatening than what lies outside the protective walls is the Shannons’ realization that something sinister may be happening inside TERRA NOVA as not everyone on this mission has the same intentions of how best to save mankind.

NBC announced its schedule yesterday and tomorrow ABC will announce their schedule, followed by CBS on Wednesday and the CW on Thursday.

NBC announced their upcoming Fall schedule early as planned and seeing as most of the major announcements preceded this, their were no surprises.  Chuck will return to its usual Monday 8 PM EST timeslot to lead off an action-adventure night.  It will be followed by the conspiracy-laden series The Event which may hold some interest for Science Fiction and Fantasy fans.  Then on Wednesday nights, J.J. Abrams’ new spy drama Undercovers will air which may have some genre elements as well.  At Mid-Season, the peacock network will roll out the quasi-superhero series The Cape which will co-star genre favorite Summer Glau.  With Heroes getting the axe, as announced on Friday, their are no other sci fi/fantasy shows on NBC’s Fall or Mid-Season schedule.   There was also no confirmation on the rumors that Heroes will get some sort of wrap-up movie, though Hollywood Reporter indicated that NBC would talk with series creator Tim Kring after the upfronts about some sort of finale for the show.  Stay tuned as we bring more updates from the upfronts over the coming days.

The 2009-10 television season is winding down and we will shortly be facing the Summer months which usually have a dearth of offerings on the tube for Science Fiction and Fantasy fans. Syfy, though, will at least have a few choices to sift through which includes their Summer staple Eureka. That show will return with new episodes for its fourth season starting on 9 PM EST Friday, July 9th when James Callis (Baltar from Battlestar Galactica) will jump on board as former town resident Dr. Grant who stirs up some bad feelings among the other townspeople. Warehouse 13, a huge success for Syfy last year, returns for its second season at 9 PM Tuesday, July 6th and continues the paranormal investigations of Myka, Pere, and Artie. New series Haven will pair up with Eureka and debut at 10 PM Friday, July 9th. This one is based on the Stephen King novella The Colorado Kid and gives us a supernatural spin on its lead-in. Syfy also has its slate of “reality” shows returning in Summer which includes Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International and with two new entries Mary Knows Best and Paranormal Investigators. Click on the link above for more info on those shows. Also, the cable network has a slate of original movies set for the Summer which includes titles like Lake Placid 3, Stonehenge Apocalypse, Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit, and Goblin. Well . . . at least we can look forward to the return of Eureka and hope that this year will improve on that show’s tepid third season. And Haven looks mildly interesting as well. -JJJ

Buy Eureka and Warehouse 13 on DVD from Amazon.com: