Fall 2009 Sci Fi TV Preview
Following is the list of Science Fiction and Fantasy shows currently scheduled to air in the Fall 2009 Season (all times are EST). These are listed in order of there Debut/Return date and the links are to the entries for each show at TV.com. Also check out the previews to many of these shows at our Trailers page and our pre-season predictions on which shows will get cancelled at our Cancellation Watch page.
Also See the Spring 2010 Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Preview
Vampire Diaries
Debuts: September 10th
Where to Find it: CW, Thursday 8 PM
What is it: Based on L.J. Smith’s novel series of the same name, this new entry from the CW follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) who is the object of desire of two vampire siblings (played by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder). One is good and the other is evil and both have their sites set on Elena.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: Seeing as the CW primarily courts the young, female audience, this Twilight-for-the-small-screen seems like the perfect fit. I’m a bit removed from their target demographic, though, so I may tune in for the premiere, but I’m not expecting to stick around.
Supernatural
Returns: September 10th
Where to Find it: CW, Thursday 9 PM
What is it: This CW mainstay about two brothers doing battle with malevolent supernatural forces returns for its fifth season as Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) must face Hell on Earth. Literally. The Season 4 finale saw the two in quite a predicament as it left them about to go toe to toe with the dark one himself, so get ready for a wild ride ahead.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: This one made it onto my must watch list last season and it’s staying there for now. I’m hoping they didn’t overstep their bounds with the Season 4 finale because it will be hard to make good on what they suggested is coming.
Fringe
Returns: September 17th
Where to Find it: FOX, Thursday 9 PM
What is it: FOX’s freshman hit about a group investigating fringe science incidents returns for its second season. At the end of Season 1 the series took a game-changing turn as Olivia (Anna Torv) discovered first hand that the parallel universe they had uncovered clues about really does exist. Now we will see what they do with that knowledge.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: This one was a bit shaky at times last year, but really went out on a strong note and I look forward to its return. I’m somewhat nervous about its move to Thursday nights, though. Sure, it held its own against CBS’s freshman hit The Mentalist, but now it will be facing off against juggernauts CSI and Grey’s Anatomy. Here’s hoping FOX will be patient with it.
Dollhouse
Returns: September 18th 25th
Where to Find it: FOX, Friday 9 PM
What is it: Joss Whedon’s tale about an underground organization that can program its “actives” for whatever mission or service is required received an unexpected renewal after posting lackluster ratings during its freshman season. Now the master of story-telling gets a chance to take his newest series to the next level and the FOX executives have promised to leave him alone during the show’s second season.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: I loved this show and considered it the best new entry from last season. I’m not too happy that FOX is leaving the show on Friday nights where it struggled in Spring, but maybe that means they will not expect too much from the show this year ratings-wise. Let’s hope so because we all know that Joss Whedon shows only get better with age.
Heroes
Returns: September 21st
Where to Find it: NBC, Monday 8 PM
What is it: Once a flagship show for NBC, the struggling series about people with special abilities returns for its fourth season airing one hour earlier than it has over the past three years. The main group of heroes, which decided to form a new “Company” at the end of last season, meet up with a traveling carnival that recruits people with powers.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: This show keeps teasing us into thinking it is returning to what made it strong in its first season only to take yet another left turn into the absurd and turn away yet more fans. Bryan Fuller abandoned ship quickly after returning to the fold late last season, which is not a good sign. This one either gets it right this year or gets shown the door.
Eastwick
Debuts: September 23rd
Where to Find it: ABC, Wednesday 10 PM
What is it: The devilish Darryl Van Horne (Paul Gross) arrives in the town of Eastwick and unleashes the powers of three modern-day witches while he also sets to the task of seducing them. This is based on the John Updike novel which also spawned the 1987 movie The Witches of Eastwick starring Jack Nicholson. Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price, and Jaime Ray Newman will star in the TV series as the witches.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: This concept has been tried twice before on television without success. I was dubious at first, but the preview definitely makes it look intriguing.
Flash Forward
Debuts: September 24th
Where to Find it: ABC, Thursday 8 PM
What is it: The entire population of the world blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds during which time they have visions of what will happen in the future. This series from David Goyer (The Dark Night) and Brannan Braga (Enterprise, Threshold) will chronicle the efforts of a team lead by Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) to determine why this happened.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: This one is being billed as the next Lost and I definitely think it looks intriguing. I will tune in, but I wonder how well the show will do in the Thursday 8 PM slot.
Smallville
Returns: September 25th
Where to Find it: CW, Friday 8 PM
What is it: The CW mainstay returns for yet another season (it’s ninth) and promises to finally let us see the Man of Steel in costume. However, for a show that started off with the intention of chronicling Superman’s formative years, its main characters seem to be getting a bit long in the tooth.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: I’m kind of surprised that they did not pair this one up with Vampire Diaries because I would think they both have the same core audience. Then again, I’m so far removed from that generation, what do I know?
Ghost Whisperer
Returns: September 25th
Where to Find it: CBS, Friday 8 PM
What is it: This CBS Friday night mainstay returns for its sixth season. It’s one of the few Prime Time shows that still delivers consistent ratings on that night, so don’t expect them to veer too much from the established formula.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: This show will get Medium as its lead-out this year and rumor is that a possible cross-over could occur during the upcoming season.
Medium
Returns: September 25th
Where to Find it: CBS, Friday 9 PM
What is it: NBC decided to cut ties with this supernatural procedural after last season, but CBS was quite willing to snatch it up and pair it with the similar Ghost Whisperer on Friday nights.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: The Friday 9 PM hour has been a death slot for the past few years, so Medium better hope it can take advantage of its Ghost Whisperer lead-in and that CBS will be patient with it (unlike they were with Moonlight two seasons ago).
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Debuts: October 2nd
Where to Find it: The Cartoon Network, Friday 8 PM
What is it: The animated adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, Yoda, R2-D2, C-3PO, and the rest of the familiar Star Wars prequel faces return for a second season. George Lucas previously promised that he would do at least 100 episodes of this series and he is already almost a quarter of the way there.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: The first season of this one was actually not that bad. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but worth a look. I’m assuming more of the same with Season 2 (and hoping for even less Jar-Jar Binks).
Stargate: Universe
Debuts: October 2nd
Where to Find it: SyFy, Friday 9 PM
What is it: The newly dubbed SyFy will give us the third installment in the Stargate television franchise this fall as they send a new group of explorers to the other side of the universe on an ancient spaceship. Robert Carlyle, Justin Louis, and David Blue will head up the cast and, despite the fact that this team is on the far side of the universe and cannot return to Earth, word is that we will see some crossovers with the cast of the previous two Stargate shows.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: I will tune in for the premiere of this one, but I can’t say that I have ever been a huge fan of the Stargate franchise. Still, I’m sure this one will be worth a look or two.
Sanctuary
Returns: October 9th
Where to Find it: SyFy, Friday 10 PM
What is it: SyFy’s freshman hit from some of the creative talents behind Stargate returns for its sophomore season. The series will continue to follow Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanada Tapping) and her team in their efforts to track down non-human abnormals and either help the benevolent ones or lock away the ones that might harm others.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: The first season was good, though not spectacular. I will definitely give the second season look-see.
V
Debuts: November 3rd
Where to Find it: ABC, Tuesday 8 PM
What is it: Based on the 1980’s mini-series turned weekly series, this show chronicles the arrival of alien visitors who at first seem benevolent but turn out to want humans for . . . wait . . . I guess those who never saw the original may not want that spoiler. Even though ABC gave a bit of a reveal in their teaser trailer. Let’s just say that these aliens are not as nice as they first appear to be. But then who would watch the show if they were? Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Joel Gretsch (The 4400), Morena Baccarin (Firefly), and Alan Tudyk (Firefly) will star.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: I liked the first mini-series, but quickly lost interest after that. I will tune in for the premiere of this, though, if for nothing else than the Science Fiction television pedigree of its cast. The show’s single letter title will definitely be giving search engines a headache for the next few months.
Legend of the Seeker
Returns: November 7th
Where to Find it: Syndication (Times will vary, Saturday evenings in most markets)
What is it: This freshman hit in the syndicated market returns for its second season. Based on Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth novels and produced by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, the series will continue to explore the fantasy world set up in those books.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: Legend of the Seeker seemed determined to cover as many Fantasy clichés as possible in its first season and now returns for a second go around to hit those that it missed. Still, the show was fun and Bruce Spence was spot on as the wizard Zed.
The Prisoner (Mini-Series)
Debuts: November 15th
Where to Find it: AMC
What is it: AMC will do the unthinkable and remake the classic series from the sixties which Patrick McGoohan produced and starred in. James Caviezel (The Passion of Christ) will star as Number 6 and Sir Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, The X-Men) will star as Number 2 in the new version which by all appearances will diverge significantly from the original.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: The Prisoner is an all-time classic of Science Fiction and Fantasy television and just does not need to be remade. Still, I acknowledge AMC’s dedication to quality with shows like Mad Men and they have put together two impressive headliners for the revival. I’m remaining skeptical, but the preview trailer shows some promise (btw, Rover is back).
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (Movie)
Debuts: November
Where to Find it: SyFy, Night and Time tbd
What is it: This movie will cover the events from the television series, but from the Cylons’ point of view. Many of the actors from the original series will reprise their roles, including Tricia Helfer , Edward James Olmos, and Grace Park. The movie will first come out on DVD in October, then air on SyFy in November.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: Should be worth watching, but if this is some attempt by Ronald Moore to try and make up for the Battlestar Galactica finale and to try and convince us that he was not really making it all up as he went along, I don’t want to hear about it.
Alice
Debuts: December 2009
Where to Find it: SyFy
What is it: This four hour mini-series (or “movie event” as SyFy calls it) gives us a re-imaging of Alice in Wonderland from the same crew who re-worked the Wizard of Oz in 2007’s Tin Man. Caterina Scorsone will play Alice and the cast also includes Tim Curry, Kathy Bates, Harry Dean Stanton, Colm Meaney, and Matt Frewer.
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts: Yet another savaging of literature from schlock mini-series moguls Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr. with Tin Man’s Nick Willing writing and directing. Expect lavish production with little or no heart and soul, just like Tin Man and other productions from the Halmi clan.
Debuting/Returning Mid-Season or Later:
Lost, Human Target, Caprica, Day One, Past Life, Chuck
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