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you get points for mentioning the walking dead and the clone wars but you forgot about the return of Sons Of Anarchy that starts in about a week. I have no intrest in seeing anything else on this list with the exception of Dexter.
Fall TV is here, filled with earnest hopes, high ambitions and a strong array of returning series… oh wait, that was last year. Before the bloodbath. Before genre television got kicked square in the nuts and was sent reeling back to the dark corner from whence it came. The summer gave us a brief reprieve with old standbys like True Blood and Warehouse 13 (as well as a few new hits like Falling Skies). But now, as the cool days of autumn approach, we’re forced to face the facts that the major networks have no interest in genre programming, and that whatever we find out there needs to be cherished like precious diamonds lest things get even worse.
The silver linings are few and far between. That hideous David E. Kelly Wonder Woman pilot has been put out of its misery. The Walking Dead is coming back guns blazing. And a number of veteran shows deftly avoided the cancellation axe, letting the likes of Supernatural and Star Wars: The Clone Wars keep hope burning in the hearts of the faithful. Despite their presence, we’re still looking at a pretty bleak fall as far as fantasy and sci-fi goes. How bleak? Let’s have a look.
(Note: this includes only shows scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2011. Mid-season replacements will wait until our winter TV update.)
Yes Virginia, The Brave and the Bold lives… at least for now. It won’t be renewed for a fourth season (though a new Batman show is apparently in the mix), leaving Season Three to close the series out for good. Eight more episodes are still on the docket, featuring such guest stars as Green Lantern (the Hal Jordan version), Wonder Woman and Batmite. Keep an eye on the schedule, because we have no idea how long they’ll keep airing this in its stated time slot.
This doesn’t quite count as genre, but we’re including because 1) the copious geek references are eternally amusing and 2) we’re really, really desperate. Plus, it’s a reliable hit, so we can be assured that Sheldon and the gang will keep tickling our funny bones for some time to come.
You can’t kill it; don’t even try! At this stage, one has to wonder if Chuck’s continuing good fortune stems from the actual quality of the show, or the fact that NBC has absolutely nothing better to replace it with. It’s probably a little of both, but the ominous move to Friday nights herald what has officially been announced as the final season. Fans likely don’t care, however; they’ve been living on the razor’s edge for so long that another 13 episodes is like manna from heaven. Enjoy it kids… and let no man say you didn’t earn it.
The fall season officially kicked off a few days ago with Death Valley, MTV’s comedy-horror about a team of zombie-busting cops. The premise is clever, the execution seems solid and without a lot of competition out there, it has the potential to really throw us suffering souls a lifeline. A pity it blew dead bunnies. Hopefully, things will improve… at least long enough for the big undead attraction to show up in October.
Showtime’s serial-killer-with-a-heart-of-gold-series returns for a sixth run in October: welcoming Colin Hanks and Edward James Olmos to its ranks as a new pair of villains. How they fare against Michael C. Hall’s Dexter remains to be seen, but the fact that the show is attracting such talent to its ranks suggests that it’s not out of bloody tricks by a long shot.
Like Chuck, Fringe seems to be hanging on by the skin of its teeth: picked up for a fourth season seemingly because Fox doesn’t want to roll the dice on another new show. Fans know what to expect, of course, and the network seems content to keep its core audience rather than trying to reach out to any new ones. That’s good news for fans of the show, who can expect the twists to focus on the intriguing cases and not the addition of any gimmicky ratings boosters.
Warners greenlit this series back before the live-action movie bombed like the Enola Gay. It’s tentatively scheduled for release in November, but who knows if Cartoon Network will follow through? The series features some slap-dash CG animation, counterbalanced by a tongue-in-cheek tone and a playful approach to Hal Jordan’s adventures (courtesy of the always-reliable Bruce Timm). Like Brave and the Bold, this one might require some sharp eyes to catch, as the vagaries of the network front office keep its start time eternally vague.
Ah, NBC: unparalleled repository of truly desperate programming. Desperation can breed genius, of course, but judging by their output of late, this network is more short bus than valedictorian. Will Grimm break their hex? Hard to say. The premise is derivative and gimmicky, but it has some potential: the monsters from Grimm’s Fairy Tales are real and threatening the modern world. A seemingly normal homicide detective learns that he is part of a long line of hunters – called “Grimms” – that fight to keep the world safe.
The CW’s updating of La Femme Nikita enters its second season with a slightly new dynamic : Maggie Q’s Nikita and Shane West’s Michael find themselves back on the same side, while Lyndsy Fonesca’s Alex now has it in for her former mentor. The shake-up may prevent the show from becoming stale, but the change from Thursdays to Fridays suggests that the network may not have much faith in it… especially without The Vampire Diaries to help bolster its ratings.
Like Grimm, Once Upon a Time endeavors to update classic fairy tales for the modern age. And like Grimm, it appears to be coasting on a wing and a prayer. Jennifer Morrison stars as a bail bondsman who may be the lost daughter of Snow White. She finds herself in an idyllic New England town whose residents may actually be amnesiac fairy tale characters now living in the “real” world. Sound like must-see TV? I didn’t think so… though some of the creative types associated with Lost are behind it, if that makes any difference.
Primeval suddenly has some big competition in the dinosaur department with Terra Nova. That may explain why BBC America is playing coy with its release. If Terra Nova drops the ball, expect a rapid scheduling of the new season to pick it up. Otherwise, they may wish to hold off on it until the American dino-drama finishes its run. Either way, it’s already aired in the UK, so its broadcast here is a question of “when” rather than “if.”
Syfy’s CG-heavy supernatural show is about as reliable as you can get in these bleak days. Rarely great, but often watchable, its big shakeup this season involves the arrival of numerous refugees from the Hollow Earth. That forces Dr. Magnus and her team to pull out all the stops in keeping the supernatural world safe from the mundane (and vice versa).
A perfectly normal teenage girl suddenly discovers she has magical powers, leading her to confront her destiny as the – wait, this is another quickie attempt to cash in on the Twilight formula, isn’t it? Moving on…
Lucasfilm is keeping quiet about new developments for the fourth season of The Clone Wars: the press release contains vague references to “uncharted corners of the galaxy” and “fearsome foes returning to battle our heroes.” Despite that, the show has proven a reliable hit, with a unique look and a terrific take on the Star Wars universe that restored the faith of many fans burned by the prequel trilogy. Don’t expect that winning formula to change this fall.
The adventures of the Winchester Brothers was supposed to end a couple of seasons ago, but solid ratings and plenty of gas in its tank have kept it going strong ever since. The seventh season promises a big shake-up, with a new enemy that renders the brothers’ abilities completely useless. Considering how well the show has done, it ranks as one of the few safe bets this fall.
If there’s one new genre series that seems to be going all-in, it’s Terra Nova: a massive Steven Spielberg produced dino-fest that Fox is betting will translate into big ratings. A century in the future, the Earth lies dying: poisoned by pollution and overpopulation. Then a miraculous rift opens in space-time, allowing small groups of humans to return to the planet’s prehistory (the late Cretaceous Period to be precise). The show follows an “ordinary family” as they arrive in their new home of Terra Nova: a colony set amid the verdant jungle and representing the last, best hope for humanity (as well as the fall season’s new shows).
Are we all sick of vampires yet? No? Then The Vampire Diaries has what you need: a slightly less insipid variation on the Twilight playbook: focusing on the Original Family this season, as well as their mysterious connection to Stefan. I don’t see any chance of improving the quality here, but the kids sure love it, and with the addition of The Secret Circle to the Thursday night line-up, it promises to create an unbreakable wall of moony tweener soapiness that even the mightiest snark cannot damage. God help us all.
Even if absolutely nothing else goes right this season, we still have The Walking Dead to look forward to. The hit show found an impressive way to bring full-bore horror to the airwaves, and with a lengthy line of comic books to draw from, there’s no reason it can’t keep it up for many seasons to come. The departure of series guru Frank Darabout constitutes a cloud in its otherwise sunny skies, but even with that development, every geek worth his Zombie Survival Guide has the premiere date for this sucker circled in red on his calendar.
Like its companion show, The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice has a few more episodes to burn off starting in mid-September. Unlike The Brave and the Bold, it has apparently been renewed for another season, meaning that the brief taste this fall won’t be the last.
you get points for mentioning the walking dead and the clone wars but you forgot about the return of Sons Of Anarchy that starts in about a week. I have no intrest in seeing anything else on this list with the exception of Dexter.
DEath4sale: As usual Mania is the last horse to cross the finish line..lol They dont seem to be all that up on the genre news. More like they suck the teet of other sources days or weeks later. I just stay because of the playful banter with good people. :)
Yeah, I knew that this is Chuck's last season too. From reading it in TV Guide. You can't get much more square and mainstream than that.
I'm a little perplexed by this sudden influx of shows about fairytales. Where did THAT come from? But I suppose it isn't the worst premise they could build a show around. I'm willing to give these shows a chance.
I hope BBCA gets off their butts and shows Primeval soon because I doubt the DVD of seasons 4&5 will become available in the US until they do. BTW, Mania's picture is out of date. Professor Cutter left the show in season 3.
This is one of the weakest fall seaons I've seen in years. I see 3, maybe 4 shows I'll have on my DVR this fall from that list.
Calibur, Sons rules but it isn't genre thus you will never read about it on this site unless you do the posts.
I haven't seen Prmeval in a while but I was impressed with the show when I did watch it.
There is a show coming out this year, I think, with the guy who played Jesus and Ben from Lost that looked kind of interesting. Forgot what it's called but Ben plays a rich guy who wants to fight crime as the brains and money behind the scenes and has the guy who played Jesus doing the fighting with guns and fists.
Many people were not fans... I had my issues... but... I am sad not to see Smallville on this list. My fingers are crossed for next year to see "Gotham" on the list. But that is just my wish.
Hobbs that show is called Person of Intrest or something like that.
Some of these look interesting I might check out the two Fairy Tale ones, at this point I've missed so much Fringe that I'm going to wait until it's over and just start watching it again. I haven't seen it since about half way through season 1.
I don't know if I'm in the minority or not but I acttually like The Vampire Diaries. I watched the first episode figuring I'd just make fun of it and was surprised at how unlike (what I've heard about) Twilight it was. Also looking forward to The Secret Circle to see how it is since I like witches.
Looking forward to Supernatural and seeing where they go with Castiel going all god.
Loved Nikita last season.
The Green Lantern series actually looks pretty good. I've seen some previews, plus Bruce Timm how can you go wrong? Hopefully it won't get canned because of the movie. Young Justice and Walking Dead are also a couple to keep eyes on, for me anyway. Terra Nova also has me interested.
That zombie-chick in the Walking Dead picture looks like Gollum's long lost soul mate...
I'm so aggrivated with CN for jerking around Batman B&TB and Young Justice. Both are awesome in their own way. I was really surprised at how good Young Justice is.
And on that note, is anybody watching the new Thundercats? It is actually pretty good. I was kind of turned off by the anime-looking style, but it has been quite good. Anime usually has a "creepy factor" to it that I don't like. Thundercats has it's creepy anime moments from time to time, but I suggest checking it out if you haven't (and you liked the old Thundercats).
Sons of Anarchy is definately not a Genre show. Sedriously, that was a wasted statement here.
This season of Chuck has already been confirmed as it's last season. This was confirmed at Comic-Con, I attended the panel and the preview they showed as well as all of the posters and the shirt I received all say "Chuck: The Final Season."