Sci Fi Lightens Up Fare Next Season
JayBird
Sci Fi Channel's 2000-01 plans call for two six-hour original miniseries,
two original action-comedies, a "Biography"-like show, fighting robots and
no repeats this summer, the network announced Thursday.
"We're being experimental," Sci Fi Channel vp and general manager Bonnie
Hammer said. "We want to build momentum, so both our fans who are
appointment viewers and new viewers who will sample us will have something
new and fresh to come to. ... In the past, Sci Fi had a rap of being dark,
and we're trying to lighten up the channel and broaden it but not lose the
genre."
Hammer sounded especially excited about "Dune," the network's six-hour
original miniseries based on the Frank Herbert novel. It stars William Hurt
and will air in December. "We have done an amazing miniseries ... that we
think and hope will be the definitive portrayal of the book," Hammer said.
Another six-hour miniseries, which will bow July 31, is "Ultraviolet,"
which the channel describes as "a story about vampire infestation, with a
contemporary edge." [Isn't that called 'Buffy'?]
[Well how is it that a network such as the Sci Fi Channel can air all new
episodes throughout the summer with their paltry budget, yet the WB can't
show more than three new shows in a row without having to slap in a string
of reruns?]
Dancer
>The Hollywood Reporter:
> Sci Fi Channel's 2000-01 plans call for two six-hour original miniseries,
>two original action-comedies, a "Biography"-like show, fighting robots and
>no repeats this summer, the network announced Thursday.
Yes, we need another "Biography"-like show
Brad
Jeremy Billones
JayBird <nob...@home.com> wrote:
>[Well how is it that a network such as the Sci Fi Channel can air all new
>episodes throughout the summer with their paltry budget, yet the WB can't
>show more than three new shows in a row without having to slap in a string
>of reruns?]
Because all the Sci-Fi "original series" are actually produced for other
networks, and were all completed and in the can when Sci-Fi bought them.
Real networks buy shows that are produced during the season, and for
shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" the final cut is occasionally
dripping wet from the film developers when they ship it out.
--
Jeremy Billones
"Don't give me all that sabermetric crap.... It gives me a headache."
- Brian Sabean, Giants GM
Dwayne Allen Day
: new and fresh to come to. ... In the past, Sci Fi had a rap of being dark,
: and we're trying to lighten up the channel and broaden it but not lose the
: genre."
Dark? These are the guys who show dreck like The Incredible Hulk and
Wonder Woman?
D
Dancer
Dreck? That's the best part of the channel (well, that and MST3K)
Brad
Dwayne Allen Day
:>Dark? These are the guys who show dreck like The Incredible Hulk and
:>Wonder Woman?
: Dreck? That's the best part of the channel (well, that and MST3K)
MST3K and the original Trek were the best parts of the channel.
Otherwise, SciFi has careened all over the map with its programming. They
clearly don't know what they want to do or how to do it. This latest
announcement from them seems to be in line with that. The whole thing
reads like "Well, let's see if this works..."
D
LA...@la.com
>JayBird <nob...@home.com> wrote:
>: new and fresh to come to. ... In the past, Sci Fi had a rap of being dark,
>: and we're trying to lighten up the channel and broaden it but not lose the
>: genre."
>
>Dark? These are the guys who show dreck like The Incredible Hulk and
>Wonder Woman?
The Incredible Hulk is WAY better than all their "original" shows put
together.
>
>
>
>D
Tiny Dancer
>The Hollywood Reporter:
> Sci Fi Channel's 2000-01 plans call for two six-hour original miniseries,
>two original action-comedies, a "Biography"-like show, fighting robots and
>no repeats this summer, the network announced Thursday.
<snip>
>Another six-hour miniseries, which will bow July 31, is "Ultraviolet,"
>which the channel describes as "a story about vampire infestation, with a
>contemporary edge." [Isn't that called 'Buffy'?]
Interesting. Ages ago I picked up the following tidbit for my XF site re: FOX.
Sounds like the project has moved to the Sci-Fi Channel:
The show will be called "Ultraviolet" and is being developed by Howard Gordon
and Chip Johannessen ("Millennium"). It is being billed as a sexy vampire soap
opera and is based on a British project of the same name. The official site for the
British production of "Ultraviolet", a 6-part series, is here:
http://www.world-productions.com/ultraviolet/index.htm
Cheers,
TD
Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.
Jim Morrison
Webmistress of Tiny Dancer's X-Files Episode Guide
http://www.insanity.com.au/td/
The Sesame Street Lyrics and Sounds Archive
http://i.am/tinyd
David Thiel
news:3909b641...@news.erols.com...
> >Dark? These are the guys who show dreck like The Incredible Hulk and
> >Wonder Woman?
>
> Dreck? That's the best part of the channel (well, that and MST3K)
Yeah...for all those years that I couldn't get SFC, they were showing guilty
pleasures like "Buck Rogers" and even more intriguingly, lots of long-lost
series that had produced so few episodes that they could never be sold in
regular syndication. Was most of it junk? Sure, but it was fun, nostalgic
junk--the sort of thing that built "Nick at Nite" into a franchise.
Finally, years later I got SFC--just in time to catch MST3K after it moved
from Comedy Central--but discovered that most of the stuff I was interested
in was gone in favor of "seaQuest" and "Friday the 13th." At least Classic
Trek was worthwhile, even if the 90 minute slot was annoyingly long. Now
MST3K is all but gone, and Trek relegated to midday--and the schedule is
loaded with new shows that frankly don't interest me. (I've tried to watch
"Farscape" a few times, but can't get into it. Seems a cut above the rest of
the SFC originals, but I'm unsure what the fuss is about.)
Of course, part of the problem for me is the glut of SF/fantasy programming.
There was a day when we were lucky to get *one* series a season--and it was
usually cancelled after 13 weeks. These days, there are roughly *30* ongoing
shows with SF/fantasy trappings...and that's not counting the cartoons. I
would've been a rabid follower of "Xena," "Farscape" or "Earth: Final
Conflict" if they had aired in the mid-80's, but now I barely ever catch
them because I'm too busy with "Buffy," "Angel," "X-Files," "Futurama"
and...well, having a life.
--
David Thiel
Champaign, Illinois
d-t...@uiuc.edu
www.geocities.com/dodonna1
Ruefrex
>FOX.
>Sounds like the project has moved to the Sci-Fi Channel:
>
>The show will be called "Ultraviolet" and is being developed by Howard Gordon
>
>and Chip Johannessen ("Millennium"). It is being billed as a sexy vampire
>soap
>opera and is based on a British project of the same name.
I'm assuming the miniseries they're showing is the British miniseries, since
the American show is only a pilot presentation right now.
"The fleet can only move as fast as its slowest ship."
-- Rue's Razor
EBelcher
EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS.They could start running their anime movies again.
Tiny Dancer
>I'm assuming the miniseries they're showing is the British miniseries, since
>the American show is only a pilot presentation right now.
Aha! Didn't even occur to me, thanks for the tip, sounds about right.
Cheers,
TD
Truth has no special time of its own.
Its hour is now - always.
Albert Schweitzer
Paul G. Barnes
JayBird wrote:
>
> Hammer sounded especially excited about "Dune," the network's six-hour
> original miniseries based on the Frank Herbert novel. It stars William Hurt
> and will air in December. "We have done an amazing miniseries ... that we
> think and hope will be the definitive portrayal of the book," Hammer said.
Well, the movie was the definitive betrayal of the book...
--
pgb - gop, Pm, KPS
"If you always do what you always did,
you'll always get what you always got."
- Larry Langford's mother
TedJ...@mindspring.com
Dancer wrote in message <39099baf...@news.erols.com>...
miniseries,
>>two original action-comedies, a "Biography"-like show, fighting robots and
>>no repeats this summer, the network announced Thursday.
>
Since it's the Sci-Fi Channel, they could do parallel-universe biographies,
like famous landscape artist Adolph Hitler and President Robert Kennedy.