It’s been a pretty harsh few weeks for people who love their scifi and fantasy shows… Smallville ended. Stargate closed on SGU. Chuck renewed (but only for one final season). V, No Ordinary Family, & The Event cancelled…
So what’s going to fill the void left by this hacking down of scifi shows? Have the US given up on genre tv? Well, no it seems they haven’t. Here’s a few shows that are coming soon, or have been picked up for the US Fall 2011 season.
Falling Skies
Created by the legendary Steven Spielberg & Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodat, the story follows a group of survivors in the aftermath of an alien invasion of Earth. ER’s Noah Wyle stars as leader of the 2nd Mass resistance movement Tom Mason, a history professor pre-invasion, who uses his knowledge of military history to outwit the invaders.
Falling Skies will air on FXUK – 5th July at 9pm.
Terra Nova
Terra Nova starts in 2149 as the Earth is dying. So to try and save the human race, scientists manage to send a group of settlers back through time 85 million years to prehistoric Earth. It’s a set up that’s sounding rather like Outcasts with dinosaurs, although i suspect will fair rather better than both. It’s exec producers include Steven Spielberg with Brannon Braga (Star Trek, 24) as showrunner, so it’s got some talented backing. The lead is being taken by Jason O’Mara – arguably one of the better parts of the Life on Mars US car crash, and Steven Lang, who knows something about fighting creatures in jungles, after battling giant smurfs in James Cameron’s Avatar. No UK network announced yet (although i’d guarantee we’ll get it soon rather than later), it’ll air on Fox as part of the Fall 2011 season.
Grimm
In an intriguing twist on the cop show genre, Grimm takes place in a reality where Grimm’s Fairy Tales characters exist. Not a lot more is know about the show at the moment, but the reason it’s got me interested is because it’s writers and showrunners are Whedon alumni David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf (Angel, Buffy). Stars include Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy, Law & Order), Silas Weir Mitchell (My Name Is Earl), and Reggie Lee (No Ordinary Family, Prison Break). It’s currently shooting and slated for Fall 2011 season on NBC.
Person of Interest
James Caviezel
By rights, Person of Interest should be brilliant, as it’s written by Memento & The Dark Knight scribe Jonathan Nolan and exec-produced by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe, Alias), so you really couldn’t ask for a better pedigree! The story follow an MIA ex-CIA agent played by James Caviezel (The Prisoner, The Passion of the Christ) who teams up with a mysterious billionaire, played by Lost’s Michael Emerson, to fight crime in New York City. Is it me, or is this sounding a little bit Batman-esque (not that that’s a bad thing!) Person of Interest is slated for Fall 2011 season on CBS.
Touch
This is Kiefer Sutherland first post-24 tv show, and sees him play Martin Bohm, a ex-journalist and father of Jake – a mute and autistic boy who can seemingly predict future events. It’s created by Tim Kring, the man behind NBC’s Heroes, so there’s some hope it’ll at least start off well. ;) Touch goes into production in June and will be part of Fox’s Fall 2011 lineup.
Awake
Hello to Jason Isaacs
Described as an ‘Inception-style’ drama, Awake stars Jason Isaacs who finds himself living in 2 alternate realities after a car accident with his wife Hannah and teenage son Rex. In one reality his wife is alive, in the other his son is alive. Not sure about the ‘Inception-style’, but it sounds a little ‘Life on Mars’, a little ‘My Own Worst Enemy’. It’s created by Lone Star writer Kyle Killen, and also stars Cherry Jones (24), Sasha Roiz (Caprica), Wilmer Valderrama (The 70s Show), Michaela McManus (One Tree Hill, The Vampire Diaries) & B.D. Wong (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Oz). Awake is due on NBC as part of the Fall 2011 season.
So there are a number of of ‘genre’ related show in production, although a lot of them we may not see in the UK till 2012. There’s also no guarantee all these shows will make it out of the brutal US schedules. Whilst there’s no real out and out space scifi in the new Fall season crop so far, there are some interesting ideas coming through. It’s just a case of ‘wait and see’ which ones make it.
For more on renewed and cancelled show, click here to view our Renewed/Cancelled Shows 2011-2012 Season list.
For UK air dates for all your scifi & other tv shows, check out our UK Air Dates page.
