Cancellation Watch: Final Wrap Up on the Sci Fi Shows from the 2011-12 Season

The 2011-12 season is for all practical purposes over now.  Following are my thoughts on the ratings results for each of the sci fi/fantasy shows that aired this past year. 

Alcatraz (FOX, Status: Cancelled) - This one looked solid in the ratings early on, but viewers started to lose interest shortly after its first month.  That's a shame because it had potential if it could have broken from its escaped-convict-of-the-week formula.

The American Horror Story (FX, Status: Renewed for 2nd Season) - This one delivered a big win for FX as they managed to find a show that appealed to the niche horror audience.

Awake (NBC, Status: Cancelled) - This one was asleep in the ratings almost from the time it started.  Its concept seemed to have limited potential anyway.  Might have made a good movie, though.

Being Human (Syfy, Status: Renewed for 3rd Season) - Didn't pull spectacular ratings in its second season, but it did good enough for an inexpensive Syfy show.

Fringe (FOX, Status: Renewed for 5th/Final Season) - A rare instance where a genre serious flouted the ratings for years and beat the odds to end on its own terms.  Let's just bask in the moment.

Game of Thrones (HBO, Status: Renewed for 3rd Season) - Improved on its first season ratings and looks set to be a mainstay genre entry on HBO just like True Blood.

A Gifted Man (CBS, Status: Cancelled) - CBS tried to find a supernatural series that would appeal to the same audience that once tuned in for The Ghost Whisperer on Fridays each week.  This one came up short.

Grimm (NBC, Status: Renewed for 2nd Season) - \I had this series pegged for an early exit, but it turned into a surprise winner on Friday nights crowded with genre shows.  It was no ratings barn-burner, but as long as it keeps up similar numbers it should be safe on fourth place NBC.

Nikita (CW, Status: Renewed for 3rd Season) - Saved from cancellation because of its significant international following.  That's rarely a factor for shows that air on the broadcast networks, but The CW will apparently take what it can at this point.

Person of Interest (CBS, Status: Renewed for 2nd Season) - It was never a ratings powerhouse, but it picked up its stride at mid-season.  The late season slump has to be a concern going into next year, though.

Once Upon A Time (ABC, Status: Renewed for 2nd Season) - I thought for certain this one would be one of the season's early fatalities, but it beat the odds and grabbed the family audience that Terra Nova coveted.  But with its tendency toward bad camp, how many more seasons can it survive.

The River (ABC, Status: Cancelled) - This one's ratings sprung leaks from the point it set sail.  There's still a (slight) chance that Netflix could keep it afloat, though.

Sanctuary (Syfy, Status: Cancelled) - This one slipped enough in its fourth season that Syfy decided to call it quits.  At least they gave them the opportunity to wrap up most of the show's storylines.

The Secret Circle (CW, Status: Cancelled) - When it started, it looked like it would ride the coat tails of Vampire Diaries' success, but it ended up stumbling as the season progressed.

Supernatural (CW, Status: Renewed for 8th Season) - It took a significant slide in the ratings this season, but was still one of The CW's better rated shows.  How about letting it go out on its own terms next year, though?

Terra Nova (FOX, Status: Cancelled) - It shot for a family audience, but found itself too burdened by tired, hackneyed scripts that not enough people stayed with it.  It had good international appeal, though, and its studio is still trying to find a new home for it (it won't be Netflix, though).

Touch (FOX, Status: Renewed for 2nd Season) - This one started strong then set off on a steady decline.  FOX decided to keep it around, though, and we'll have to rely on Jake to calculate the odds of that.

Vampire Diaries (CW, Status: Renewed for 4th Season) - The CW's top rated show, but then that's not saying much. It just has to hope that its network can remain viable.

The Walking Dead (AMC, Status: Renewed for 3rd Season) - This has delivered the biggest ratings success among genre shows in years (making even the broadcast networks drool over its numbers).  It should have along life for AMC.

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New in Comics: Vincent Price House of Horrors, Grim Leaper, and More

A few choice selections from the comics due out March 30th:

Vincent Price House Of Horrors #1 (of 4)
Bluewater Productions

Description: An all-new 4 issue mini series from the Master of Horror. Nicholas Stastny is a saintly lad. He loves his maker, his family, and above all, his animals. He loves 'em to death! Experience the most disturbing story from Bluewater yet as we learn the gruesome truths to becoming a 'Good Boy.'

By: Jay Katz, Stefano Cardoselli, LP Dopp

Grim Leaper #1 (of 4)
Image Comics

Description: A brand new series from the mind of critically acclaimed writer KURTIS J. WIEBE (GREEN WAKE, PETER PANZERFAUST), GRIM LEAPER is a gory romantic comedy. Lou Collins is caught in a cyclical curse of violent, gruesome deaths and new beginnings in the bodies of strangers. With no clue why, Lou desperately searches for a way to break the curse and cross over peacefully to the other side. Then equally doomed Ella comes along. It's a love story to die for.

By: Kurtis J. Wiebe, Aluisio Santos

Secret Lives Of Julie Newmar #1 (of 4) 
Bluewater Productions

Description: Julie Newmar! Time travel! Rogue scientists! Julie Newmar! Abraham Lincoln! Space aliens! Jim Morrison! And last but not least, Julie Newmar! The wacked out adventure begins in March with The Secret Lives Of Julie Newmar written by New York Times bestselling author Marc Shapiro with out of this world illustration by Cindy and an eye popping cover by V. Kenneth Marion. Watch out for cross species breeding!  A spin-off from The Misadventures of Adam West comic book series

By: Marc Shapiro, Cindy Mehrlich, V Kenneth Marion

Zombie Proof HC 
Moonstone

Description: Collecting the original three-issue mini-series with a brand new 46-page story! Is your home zombie-proof? It better be, because the zombies are coming! Billy Bob Driwahl, the only locksmith in the isolated town of San Rosina, Texas, has known they were coming for 20 years. His only mistake was trying to tell people. Now, as the civilized world starts to collapse, a town full of eccentric people who for two decades have thought he was crazy have suddenly turned to this unlikely hero to save them. From the creator of Vampire, PA and writer of 24!

By: J. C. Vaughn, Vincent Spencer  

More of This Week's Comics at This Link

Web Series Review: The Black Dawn

Credits: William Hellmuth (Creator/Writer/Director, Abraham Sherman (Creator/Writer), Jordan Warren (Adam), Eamon Glennon (Lee), Misty Madden (Julie)

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: The Black Dawn is a 24-part post-apocalyptic web series that focuses on a group of college students who survive after a virus has been unleashed and decimates most of the population of Los Angeles and apparently much of the world as well. As the series begins, thirteen students from the same college take refuge together after a watching a strange black cloud cover the city and unleash a virus that kills off all of the other students as well as most of the city. They find one more survivor, also a student, and they also see a news broadcast stating that these black clouds have appeared over most of the world’s major cities with tragic consequences (and the news announcer herself dies mid-broadcast). The students come together at first but then split into two camps, one lead by the maniacal Lee who believes they survived for a reason and the other lead by the more level-headed Adam who just wants answers. They eventually find that they are not the only survivors in the city, but the others who remain have more sinister designs.

Review/Commentary: I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic stories, especially when they are well-done, and Black Dawn definitely falls into that camp. It delivers a riveting, tension-filled tale wrought with paranoia and anxiety and keeps the viewer coming back for more and looking for the same answers that the characters in the story seek. And it does a good job of delivering those answers without leaving too many dangling threads. In a sense, it is a scaled down mystery/sci fi series along the lines of Jericho or FlashFoward where a cataclysmic event occurs and the survivors try to piece together the facts and determine what exactly happened. However, since this series originally only ran for 24 episodes of approximately 5 minutes each, it did not meander or pad its tale. Definitely an advantage that the web series format has over traditional network programming which insists on a twenty-plus episode season.

Of course Black Dawn must face many of the same hurdles that most web productions must contend with such as low production values and adequate at best acting. But it does rise to the challenge as it never really drops below the production quality of one of the lower budget cable shows, and several of the actors deliver decent, if not exceptional, performances. It does have a few loose ends and leaps of logic that may bother you, though. Like why the heck didn’t these guys immediately start surfing the internet to find information on survivors in other parts of the world? (This same thing drove me crazy in Jericho.) It’s not like they didn’t have internet connection or power (and how did the power keep working for the full time covered in the series?). And how was it that Lee got to be such a bad-ass that he could go in and take on all those Black Dawn guys? None of this acted as a deal breaker for me, though some viewers might take issue with these and a few other minor lapses.

And I assume the device of the back cloud over the city was a contrivance to give the producers an excuse to film at night (even though it’s supposed to be the middle of the day) when the areas they filmed in would be vacated. But this doesn’t feel contrived and actually lends to the atmosphere of the series. It's a brilliant example of the creative team relying on ingenuity and making the most of their limited resources, something that we saw a lot more of back in the days of limited sfx technology. Nowadays, television shows tend to give us great visuals with CGI effects which simply mask the vapid stories and lack of creativity they offer. Give me a good story like The Black Dawn over cool special effects any day.  The series delivers a mostly complete tale over 24 episodes, though it does not answer all of the questions raised and it leaves itself open to potentially continue with a sequel series.

Links/More Information:  As mentioned, The Black Dawn originally spanned 24 webisodes, but it has since been edited into seven half hour episodes and was even syndicated on television.  You can watch those episodes on the show's website and/or on Hulu.com.  You can also download the full series from the show's website.  It was also edited into a feature-length movie which is available from Amazon.com.  They also did a companion online comic with the web series which is now available in a print edition which you can purchase at the show's website.

Visit The Black Dawn website at this link where you can watch/download the series and order the comic book.

Watch The Black Dawn at Hulu.com at this link.

Download/Stream The Black Dawn movie from Amazon.com at this link.

New on DVD: True Blood Season 4, Dragon Age Dawn of the Seeker, and the One You've Been Waiting For . . Lancelot Link Secret Chimp

DVDs Due Out on or Around May 22nd:

   

More New and Recent Releases at This Link

A First Look at Next Season's New Genre Shows: What's Worth Watching and What to Pass On

During the 2010-11 season, I suggested that we might be on the verge of a Sci Fi-Pocalypse as it looked like quite a number of genre shows were headed toward cancellation and it didn’t seem that the networks had too much of interest in the pipeline.  That never came about, though, as more shows than expected dodged the network executioner and we got several new genre entries for the 2011-12 season (though a fair number of those ended up getting cancelled).  Now that the networks have set their schedules for the 2012-13 season, we have yet again a healthy offering of shows with genre elements.  Here’s a quick rundown on those shows with my thoughts on each.  You can see the full official descriptions of each of these shows along with trailers (where available) at this link.

(Links are to the official description of the show and trailer if available.)

Revolution (NBC, Mondays 10 PM EST) – J.J. Abrams goes the post-apocalyptic route, and this series about a world without technology looks like it could be one of next season’s best genre entries.  I’ve enjoyed most of Abrams’ television work of late including Alcatraz, Person of Interest, and even 2010’s Undercovers, so I expect this one to keep up the same level of quality.

Verdict: It tops my must-watch list, but I’m not excited about its timeslot which has been less than friendly to genre shows for NBC the last few years.

Arrow (CW, Wednesdays 8 PM EST) – Hey, it’s the Green Arrow!  Though I am baffled as to why they are starting over from scratch instead of just moving Smallville’s Green Arrow into his own series.  If they did that, then there’s plenty of opportunity for crossover from the characters from that long-lived show.  But still, it’s the Green Arrow!

Verdict: Another must-watch entry.

Defiance (Syfy, TBD) - This television/video game hybrid will finally bring epic sci fi back to Syfy.  But let's hope that the gimmick of the game doesn't drag down the potential of the series.

Verdict: Definitely looking forward to this one even if I do have reservations seeing as it airs on Syfy.

The Following (FOX, Mid-Season) – This series about a serial killer setting up a network of killers across the country may have little or no genre elements, or it may step into Millennium territory.  It has Kevin Bacon in the starring role, so that make’s it worth checking out.

Verdict:  Worth a look, and could be a sleeper.

Hannibal (NBC, Mid-Season) – And speaking of serial killers, NBC has this series as well on the subject that may or may not have genre elements.  But it was created by Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies), so you know it will have a unique twist to deliver.

Verdict:  A must-watch series simply because of Fuller’s involvement.

666 Park Avenue (ABC, Sundays 10 PM EST) – This series just looks like a supernatural soap opera, and ABC didn’t have much success with that in 2010’s Summer entry The Gates.  But it has Terry O’Quinn onboard, and that alone makes it worth checking out.

Verdict: I’ll tune in, but may drop out quickly if it is more soap than supernatural.

The Last Ship (TNT, TBD) – Not to be confused with ABC’s Last Resort, this gives us yet another Prime Time post-apocalyptic drama as the one ship that survives a pandemic searches for other survivors.  It’s uncertain at this point whether TNT is targeting this for the Fall schedule or if it will arrive at mid-season.

Verdict: I’ll definitely tune because who doesn’t love a good post-apocalyptic series?  I have to say that I am more pumped about Abrams’ Revolution at this point, though, especially with Michael Bay's name attached to The Last Ship.

Zero Hour (ABC, Mid-Season) – This conspiracy series sounds sort of like The X-Files meets The Da Vinci Code and could deliver some interesting stories.

Verdict:  I’ll tune in because it would be great to get a good conspiracy series running again.

Cult (CW, Mid-Season) – This is yet another conspiracy series that may or may not have genre elements.  But it comes from Farscape creator Rockne S. O’Bannon, so that’s a plus.

Verdict:  I will check it out simply because of O’Bannon’s involvement.

Crossbones (NBC, Mid-Season) – Arrgh, Matey!  This here’s a pirate series buccaneering its way onto the Prime Time schedule!  And which of you land-lubers doesn’t like a good pirate tale?

Verdict: Worth a look, though it may only have minimal genre elements.

Legends (TNT, TBD) – The series description, which is rather vague at this point, makes it sound like Pretender meets Human Target, but it’s hard to get a good feel for this one.

Verdict: The jury is out right now.

Last Resort (ABC, Thursdays 8 PM EST) – Not to be confused with TNT’s The Last Ship, this odd series about a submarine crew on the run after they refuse an order to nuke Pakistan looks like it might have some genre and conspiracy elements to it.  But it also looks like it could have a fair amount of soap opera as well. 

Verdict:  I will check it out, but don’t have my hopes too high.

Elementary (CBS, Thursdays 10 PM EST) – CBS gives us a modern take on Sherlock Holmes, which kind of makes sense seeing as his cases act as the inspiration to the procedural genre which dominates this network’s schedule.  Would have loved it, though, if they had just given us a well done series based on the original character.

Verdict:  I love Conan Doyles’ Sherlock Holmes, so I will probably tune in for this one seeing as it comes on right after Person of Interest.

Do No Harm (NBC, Sundays 10 PM EST) – NBC tries a modern work over on the Jekyll and Hyde theme again (after misfiring a few years ago with My Own Worst Enemy).  The premise has potential if done right.

Verdict: Worth a look, but not topping my list of new shows.

Beauty and the Beast (CW, Thursdays 9 PM EST) – This is a reboot of the late 80’s CBS series that originally starred Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman (and which George R.R. Martin wrote for, by the way).  I was never a big fan of that show, so this one isn’t rising too high on my list, and since it's on The CW it will probably skew to a younger demo.

Verdict:  May give it a glance hoping that it’s more Supernatural than Vampire Diaries.

The Neighbors (ABC, Wednesdays, 9:30 PM EST) – A family moves to a suburb to discover all of their neighbors are aliens, and hijinks ensue.  Sorry, but sci fi and sitcom rarely work well together.  Alf was a great character bogged down by sitcom cliches, I wasn’t a big fan of Third Rock from the Sun, and let's not even mention Homeboys in Outer Space.

Verdict: Pass

Zone Lord (TBS, TBD) – Along with The Neighbors above, this will give us two sci fi sitcoms with aliens on Prime Time.  That’s not necessarily a good thing.

Verdict: Pass again.

Download Sci Fi TV from Amazon Instant Video or Stream for Free with Your Amazon Prime Membership 
 

Why Weren't They Cancelled? Fringe, Touch, Nikita, and Grimm

There were several bubble/low-rated shows this season that ended up getting renewed when typically we would expect the networks to have just cancelled them.  Here are my thoughts on why they survived and you can also see my thoughts on this season's cancelled shows at this link.

Fringe (FOX) - Why wasn't Fringe cancelled?  Especially considering its atrociously low ratings this past season (there were times when repeats of Kitchen Nightmares outperformed it) and the fact that it already had enough episodes to make a nice syndication package?  Well . . . maybe because the network executives, especially Kevin Reilly, really feel strongly about the series and wanted to keep it running?  Wait, this it television we are talking about, specifically FOX!  That can't be the reason.  Maybe . . . the studio that produces the show (20th Century FOX), which basically gave it to the network for free for its fourth and fifth seasons, cared enough about the fans to ensure the series delivered a satisfying resolution for all its storylines?  But at a cost to them of millions of dollars that they won't recoup for years?  No, that can't be it.  Okay . . . I got nothing.  Let's just bask in the moment when for once a sci fi series beat all the odds and is actually given the chance to survive through five seasons and wrap up on its own terms despite years of pitiful ratings.  We likely won't see this again for a while, so let's not ask too many questions.

Prospects for Sixth Season:  None.  FOX is letting this come back for thirteen episodes to wrap up its story and then they're almost certainly going to go back to low-cost reality shows to fill up the schedule for Friday nights from there on out.

Touch (FOX) - Can't give you a whole lot of wisdom on why this one is coming back either.  Maybe its the star power of Keifer Sutherland keeping this show afloat.  Maybe they think this series has some potential and just needs a few tweaks.  It start out quite strong in the ratings, but it fell pretty far pretty fast as genre fans quickly became frustrated with the show that played out like Touch by and Angel with numbers.  The network may believe that a slight course change can bring back the audience that first tuned in for it, so they decided to go ahead and keep it around for one more year.

Prospects for Third Season:  Not good.  Even if some tweaking does help improve the quality of the series, the show's move to Friday nights is less than promising.  FOX has been trying to prop up a Friday block of genre shows for a while with the likes of Dollhouse, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and then Fringe the last two seasons, but with little success.  Now they are pairing Touch with Fringe, but the latter series already has one foot out of the door as it prepares to end its run.  In all likelihood, Touch will exit with that one as well.

Nikita (CW) - This was The CW's lowest rated series this past season, but that doesn't mean too much for a network when pretty much all of your shows are living in the gutter (there highest rated series, Vampire Diaries, only averaged a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic for the season based on sameday viewing).  Nikita, though, had one edge that most of the other CW shows did not: a sizable international audience.  Now usually, that doesn't mean much for shows airing on the U.S. broadcast networks.  It couldn't save Terra Nova this past season nor Heroes a few years ago, and both of those played very well internationally.  But then both of those shows were a whole lot more expensive than Nikita.  So despite the fact that the series only averaged a 0.5 rating (based on sameday viewing), its foreign fans apparently helped keep it alive.

Prospects for Fourth Season:  Excellent.  The guys over at TV by the Numbers believe that most studios won't renew a series for a third season unless they are pretty much certain they plan on giving it a fourth as well.  That brings it to 88 episodes and the current magic number for syndication.  So it looks like, despite its poor ratings domestically, Nikita will be around for at least a couple more years.

Grimm (NBC) - This was never really a bubble series, but it was also never really a strong performer during its first season.  It did start out quite well, pulling a 2.1 rating in its debut in the Friday 9 PM EST timeslot.  But then it settled into numbers between 1.3 and 1.5, which the fourth place network apparently considered acceptable for that low-rated night.  And they had enough other holes in their schedule to deal with that I guess they decided Grimm plugged up one leak well enough for the time being.

Prospects for Third Season:  A toss up.  If NBC continues to struggle and Grimm doesn't drop off too much, then they will probably keep the show alive.  But then the ratings for most shows decline in their second season, and Grimm doesn't have a lot of breathing room, especially considering the slippage it saw in its numbers toward season end.  Still, I would give it a better chance of surviving than FOX's Touch.

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Cancellation Watch: Syfy Cancels Sanctuary

For me this comes as no big surprise that Syfy decided to cancel the Amanda Tapping series Sanctuary after its fourth season, but I'm sure fans of the show were pulling for it to get at least one more year.  However, the series only averaged a 0.4 rating for its fourth season (based on sameday viewing), which was down from its third season and it ranked as one of Syfy's lowest rating scripted series.  The show had amassed 59 episodes over its four seasons (it usually ran 13 per season), so bringing it back for one more year would not get it to the magic 88 number that the syndication market seems to prefer these days.  So apparently the decision was made to go ahead and put it to rest, and apparently the series had wrapped up most of its loose ends with the season finale (I personally dropped out on the show in its second season).

Can it be Saved?  There is a Save Sanctuary Facebook page out there, but it doesn't look like it has a lot of activity at the moment.  The series would actually be affordable for another cable network or for Netflix, but I'm not certain how much benefit they would get from picking it up.  I'm not certain what other cable net would want it, especially considering the ratings it pulled this last season.  It would be an economical acquisition for Netflix, but it wouldn't generate near as much publicity as grabbing Terra Nova, The River, Jericho, etc.  And that seems to be what the streaming service is looking to do at this point with its original contect.  Thus the prospects for a continuation of Sanctuary seem grim.  There's always the possibility that it could go back to the web series format that it started with, but I'm not certain if that would still be an affordable move.  For now, consider it done.

You can see my thoughts on more of this season's cancelled genre shows at this link.

New in Comics: True Blood Ongoing and Godzilla Ongoing

Comics Due Out May 23rd: 

True Blood #1
IDW

Description: Alan Ball's hit HBO series, the sensually sizzling story of the lives and loves of vampires, mind readers, and all manner of creatures, returns as an ongoing series! With creative collaboration from TRUE BLOOD creator/writer/producer Alan Ball, this series features writers Ann Nocenti (Daredevil, Green Arrow) and Michael McMillian, with art by Michael Gaydos (Alias).

By:  Ann Nocenti, Michael Gaydos, Tim Bradstreet

Godzilla #1 
IDW

Description: Godzilla is back... in an all-new ongoing series! Duane Swierczynski and Simon Gane launch this ultimate action-movie blockbuster, ushering in a new era of monster battles. Ex-special forces tough-guy Boxer is a man with a grudge and vows to end the terror of Godzilla, no matter what. He assembles a top notch team to take down monster-sized threats... at $7 billion a bounty. What starts as a vendetta could become a lucrative business for Boxer... if he can live past day one!

By: Duane Swierczynski, Simon Gane, Arthur Adams

The Guild: Fawkes (one-shot)
Dark Horse  

Description: Felicia Day and The Guild are back, along with costar Wil Wheaton, for a brand-new story spotlighting Fawkes, the dashing, debonair, and douchey leader of the evil guild Axis of Anarchy! His relationship with Codex threatened to tear the Knights of Good apart until he was thrown off a balcony for his treatment of her. Set after season 4 of the show, this issue reveals how Fawkes deals with his split from Codex and navigates the aggressive personalities of the Axis, and follows his journey to his surprising state when he returns in season 5!

By:  Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson, Paul Duffield

More of This Week's Comics at This Link

Why Were They Cancelled? Terra Nova, The River, Alcatraz, The Secret Circle, and More

Another season is wrapping up and another batch of science fiction and fantasy shows have been sent before the network executioners. And interestingly enough, only new shows got the axe this year. Any series that had a couple of seasons under its belt got the greenlight for another year (with the exception of NBC's Chuck which was in its final season). But most of the newcomers had no such luck and ended after brief runs. Here's a quick rundown on each of those with my thoughts on what led to their cancellations and whether they have a chance of being saved (and see my thoughts on the bubble shows that were not cancelled at this link):

Terra Nova (FOX) - This series had a lot going for it coming into the season including a theatrical level budget, plenty of hype, and the genre-cred of Steven Spielberg's name attached.  And, it had dinosaurs, which had plenty of genre fans (including myself) pumped (hey, it brings out the kid in us).  But the series delivered a major misfire out of the gate as it gave us a sci fi / family drama hybrid that piled cliche upon cliche and went heavy on the teen angst angle.  Genre fans wanted to like Terra Nova, and many lively debates sprung up across the internet forums.  But the series never drew huge ratings, and it saw a steady decline throughout its eleven episode run.  Still, it played well internationally and apparently the network executives really wanted to bring it back.  But it was just too expensive, and ultimately the numbers did it in: too big of a budget, not high enough ratings to justify the expense.

Can it be Saved?  There is a chance that this one could still continue.  20th Century Fox TV immediately started shopping the series around once FOX made the decision to cut ties with it.  Netflix showed an interest in acquiring it, but apparently it was beyond their financial means.  There's been no further word on the show since then, so that means that its chances of continuing are fading fast.  But with the studio pushing to keep it alive, something still could happen.  I previously mulled over the possible landing spots for the show at this link.

The River (ABC) - This horror/mystery series from Oren Peli and executive producer Steven Spielberg (who apparently needs to stick with movies based on his batting average this season) delivered a Lost meets Paranormal Activity hybrid but with little of the spark of either of those two.  It started off its eight episode run with a mediocre debut in the ratings and just went down from there, dropping to near CW levels by the time it wrapped up.  Thus, despite the pedigree of the show, ABC decided to cut bait and move on.

Can it be Saved?  This is another one that Netflix raised their hand on, but again it might be financially out of their reach.  Talks are still ongoing at this point, and the first season is getting a quick release to DVD on May 22nd.

Alcatraz (FOX) - This J.J. Abrams series delivered a crime drama with strong sci fi elements (much stronger than his CBS series Person of Interest), but it apparently just did not appeal to enough fans of both genres to keep it afloat.  The comments that I saw among sci fi fans indicated that they quickly became frustrated with the show as it settled into a formula of escaped convict of the week.  And apparently the sci fi elements just didn't do it for the viewers accustomed to more straightforward procedural shows.  Alcatraz actually started strong in the ratings and held onto its audience for several weeks, but then it went into a quick decline as nonplussed viewers began to give up on the show.  And thus, this mystery was truncated with little hope of resolution.   

Can it be Saved?  Apparently some fans are trying to energize a campaign to keep the show alive, but it doesn't look like this one has built up too devoted of a following.  Should Netflix's attempt to pick up The River fall through, it wouldn't surprise me if they would make a grab at this one.  It has Abrams' name attached which could bring them some good press.  But apart from that, consider this one gone.

The Secret Circle (CW) - This series seemed like a surefire winner going into the season.  It had Kevin Williamson guiding it and it was based on a series of L.J. Smith novels, and that duo had already launched a winner with Vampire Diaries.  And The Secret Circle had the post Diaries timeslot, so you would expect viewers of the first show to stick around for the second.  But The Secret Circle never managed to hold onto the audience of its lead-in, and by the end of the season it was losing over half of audience of Vampire Diaries.  So The CW decided that one season was enough and gave this show its walking papers.

Can it be Saved?  Despite the fact that this show never pulled very high ratings, it apparently did build up a devoted fanbase and they have several campaigns ongoing to keep the show alive.  And the fact that the series aired on The CW means that it is a lower budget production than what you might see from the Big Four broadcast networks.  So it would likely be affordable for one of the cable channels and would be much more in line with the budget Netflix would target for a show.  So I would say that this one is not completely dead yet.

Awake (NBC) - This dual-reality series likely suffered from the same drawbacks that doomed Alcatraz, but possibly even more so.  It merged procedural and sci fi elements, but did it in an even less satisfying manner than the J.J. Abrams series.  And the show started off on uncertain footing as its debut pulled fairly weak ratings, though actually not too bad for fourth place NBC.  But by the end of its run it was teetering on low CW-range ratings, and struggling NBC just couldn't justify keeping it around.

Can it be Saved?  I haven't seen much in the way of a strong fanbase supporting this show, but a petition has emerged to keep the series alive.  I would say, though, that among this season's cancelled genre shows this one has the least chance of getting saved.

[Update 5/22] Sanctuary (Syfy):  Read about that cancellation at this link

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New on DVD This Week: Teen Wolf Season 1, The River Season 1, and More

DVDs Due Out on or Around May 22nd:

 

  More New and Recent Releases at This Link

Web Series Review: Pioneer One

Status: One Season Completed Totaling 6 Episodes
Credits: James Rich (Tom Taylor), Alexandra Blatt (Sofie Larson), Jack Haley (Dr. Zachary Walzer), Aleksandr Evtushenko (Yuri), Josh Bernhard (Co-Creator, Writer, Producer), Bracey Smith (Co-Creator, Writer, Producer, Director)
Nominated IAWTV Awards: Best Drama Web Series
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Synopsis: Pioneer One is a speculative fiction web series that begins when an unidentified spaceship enters Earth’s atmosphere and spreads radiation across hundreds of miles of Montana then crashes in Canada. U.S. officials immediately suspect terrorism and dispatch two Homeland security agents to investigate. They discover that the spaceship is of Russian origin and one person, who survived the crash, was onboard. The investigation reveals that this person, whom they refer to as Yuri, is allegedly the child of two Soviet astronauts sent to Mars on a secretive mission during the 1980’s. He is kept in quarantine as the Homeland Security agents try to get to the bottom of the mysteries surrounding the case, but information has leaked and the Russians demand the return of their citizen and spaceship while the Canadians are clamoring for the quarantine to end.

Review/Commentary: The synopsis above gives just a bare-bones description of the series and sets up its basic premise. The story has unfolded thus far across six episodes that range in length from thirty to forty five minutes and has focused on the investigation run by the two Homeland Security agents as well as the politics and science surrounding the incident. I consider Pioneer One to be a triumph of independent film-making and a clear indication that the web truly offers a new range of options for episodic sci fi productions. The series is quite excellent, a rare piece of thought-provoking story-telling, and it definitely hit a nerve with the sci fi community as the show’s producers turned to them for donations to fund the project and they responded with overwhelming generosity. The production values for the series are excellent considering its budget (I believe the full six episodes cost less than $100 thousand, a fraction of the cost of a single episode of a network or cable production). Of course the series has little in the way of special effects and it was rougher around the edges early on, but it made significant leaps forward with each episode. It can also be quite slow at times, but the same can be said of science fiction classics like The Andromeda Strain, Silent Running, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. I can take slow as long as the story keeps my attention, and I believe that Pioneer One delivered a much more satisfying viewing experience than the mediocre sci fi entries the networks have thrown at us of late, such as FOX’s recent mega-dollar misfire Terra Nova.

Productions like Pioneer One and Cell: The Web Series (more on that one at this link) represent the pinnacle of what can be achieved with independent genre web series. Neither sets their ambitions beyond their means and both offer thoughtful, intelligent, challenging tales that engage their audience through their story-telling, not through special effects or gimmicks, while also managing to steer clear of cliché. Both of these also lack the rough edges that we see with many other web productions and both offer a good starting point for viewers new to the web series experience. Pioneer One, like Cell: The Web Series, received notice at this year’s IAWTV Awards, and just like that series ended up getting shut out. It was nominated for Best Drama Web Series and should have received several more in my opinion. It did, though, pull a win in 2010 for Best Drama Pilot at the New York Television Festival.  

Pioneer One and Cell are both must-watch web series for all science fiction fans. If you don’t watch any other independent web productions, make sure that you at least give both of these a look.

Links/More Information: You can download and/or watch all six episodes of Pioneer One a the show’s website. You can also watch the series beginning from Episode 1 at YouTube.com. A DVD release of the series is forthcoming, and you can sign up to be notified when it is available at the Pioneer One website.

Visit the Pioneer One website at this link.

Start watching Pioneer One from Episode 1 on YouTube at this link.

Watch the Trailer for Pioneer One Here:

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Web Series Review: Cell The Web Series

Status: One Season of 13 Episodes Completed
Credits: Mark Gardner (Creator/Writer/Director), Danny Cameron (Brian), Jourdan Gibson (Woman), Kevin McCarthy (Man)  
IAWTV Nominee: Best Drama Web Series, Best Writing (Drama), Best Female Performance (Drama), Best Male Performance (Drama), Best Cinematography, Best Original Music  
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)  

Synopsis: This Prisoner-esque series begins with a man named Brian waking up in a cell, but not knowing why he is there. He screams to be released before he discovers that another person is in the neighboring cell; a woman who claims she does not remember her name and she warns Brian to keep his temper under control. A man then shows up, we do not get his name, and proceeds to punish Brian for his misbehavior with an electric cattle-prod and other means. The man tells the woman that it is her job to teach Brian and keep him in line and from there follows a progression of humiliations to break the will and identity of both the inmates in an at times nightmarish setting.  

Review/Commentary: This production delivers a series in the vein of The Prisoner and Lost, though in much tighter quarters, giving us engaging drama, confounding mysteries, and an emerging mythology, and accomplishes all that on a single set with no more than three actors (until the final episode at least) and practically no special effects. And while this is definitely a small, intimate, claustrophobic story, it also has plenty of hints toward a grander tale much like what played out on Lost.

The synopsis above basically gives you the set up for the series, but you’ll want no more information than that going in because this tale does not follow the direction you would expect and delivers several shockers. And it also gives us some intense, riveting, drama. There were times that I found myself just staring wide-eyed at the screen with my jaws agape because I was so astounded by the events transpiring, unlike anything you would expect delivered from a typical Prime Time television series. The series runs thirteen episodes of around eight to twelve minutes each (some shorter and the finale goes twenty minutes) and I sat through it all in almost one sitting because I found myself so engrossed. It reminded me of the way I reacted to the early episodes of Lost, amazed by the subtlety and complexity that the writers weaved into the stories. I should note that the acting falls short in a few places and the series kind of drags in the middle, but count those only as nitpicks. For the most part the actors do an excellent job and the few stumbles barely detract from the overall excellence of the production. And Cell definitely manages to outshine much of the more “professional” work we see on television and delivers a much more challenging viewing experience.

Mark Gardner, who has some professional work on his resume, created, wrote, and directed the series, and I would definitely count him as an emerging talent. And this series has received several awards and many accolades since it first came out last year. It recently received quite a number of nominations (six total) from the IAWTV awards, but unfortunately no wins, which I consider a travesty. While the other web productions that took away multiple awards like RCVR (more about that one at this link) and Mercury Men have their merits, I consider Cell one of the best productions that I have encountered on the web and this is the one that should have walked away with multiple trophies. Still, the nominations alone speak to the show’s accomplishments and will hopefully bring more attention to Cell: The Web Series and help it move forward with production of its second season.  

Links/More Information: Another area where this series succeeds is its website. So many web series out there have barely adequate websites at best and quite a few have next to nothing in the way of a homepage, making it difficult to figure out where to view the episodes and which one to start with. Not so with Cell: The Web Series. This show’s site (link below) gives you everything you need. It provides a brief description of the show, gives information on the cast and crew, links to reviews, and more. And most importantly, you can watch all thirteen episodes from this site. More web productions should follow Cell’s example and set up a similar, easy to navigate, all-encompassing page like this. You can also watch the entire series on YouTube, if you prefer, at the link below.

Visit the Cell Homepage at this link.

Watch Cell on You Tube starting from episode 1 at this link.

Watch the Trailer: