By Jeff Rosz | May 17th, 2013  With all sorts of new programming coming down the pipe at Syfy more in line with the cross-media pollination of Defiance, the basic cable channel today announced it would be ending its mainstay Warehouse 13 after an abbreviated fifth season to ‘wrap things up.’ This marks the fall of great things as at one point the network with smitten with the idea of spinning this show off. Read on for the ‘farewell’ press release.
NEW YORK – May 17, 2013 – Syfy today announced that its long-running flagship series Warehouse 13 will return for a fifth and final season of six episodes in 2014. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | May 10th, 2013  Hardly a surprise, Syfy has gone ahead and renewed their rookie sensation Defiance for a second season. The series has been probably the most recognized in quite some time to land on the network thanks to its MMORPG tie-in, and while ratings are not quite hitting bonanza status, neither are the basic cable channel’s other programs at this time. Read on for the press release.
New York, NY – May 10, 2013 – Syfy has renewed its groundbreaking series Defiance, giving a 13-episode second season order to the critically acclaimed hit that has catapulted Syfy to the top cable drama spot in the time period among adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers for three consecutive Mondays. Season two of Defiance, produced by Universal Cable Productions, will begin production in Toronto in August for a 2014 premiere, returning as the anchor of Syfy’s Powerful Monday’s block of primetime original series. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | April 24th, 2013 For those of you who have been watching Defiance, you may want to know whether or not to expect a renewal. I personally expect one, but the ratings suggest it might not be a homerun as ratings suggested after week one. The show’s 2.7 million viewers and 1.0 18-49 rating became 2.4 million viewers and a 0.8 18-49 rating in its second outing. It is never good to see a 20% drop-off, but it is to be expected with such widely-hyped debuts. As we have seen time and time again with pay television shows during the off-summer months, the story will be had with the DVR viewing (that means Live+7 Day total) so we continue to eyeball those figures as the Syfy program looks for its trough.
It is worth noting that Syfy’s press release on the matter was titled ‘Defiance Continues to Deliver in Week Two.’ That is incredibly vague spin to say the least and I might add hacky. This is why you cannot trust press releases all the time because their job is to make the viewer believe more than 1% of the country is watching any given program which is seldom the case when it comes to basic cable.
By Jeff Rosz | April 16th, 2013 It seems that all the hype paid off. Syfy’s launch of Defiance found 1.3 million viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 last night, making it the network’s top scripted premiere since Eureka in 2006. The cable channel has become more known for its unscripted offerings since its Battlestar Galactica days, thus the importance of having a hit like Defiance. Partially accredited with the show’s success is the enlistment of MMO game maker Trion Worlds to make a virtual version of the show’s backdrop to tie-in with on-going storylines. The game’s launch was plagued with a lot of issues from what I read, but that definitely did not slow down the success of Syfy’s newest cash cow which may be on the fast track to receive the spin-off treatment. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | April 10th, 2013  Syfy is busy revealing their upcoming scripted slated as they follow news of Bryan Fuller’s High Moon with word of Robert Zemeckis’ No Place. This particularly show has a lot of similarities to CBS’s summer series Under the Dome in that the program covers a gated community that is cut off from the outside world. Only one man can contact the powers responsible as he is forced to lead his fellow residents beyond ‘the void.’ Zemeckis is best known for directing such films as Back to the Future, Forest Gump, and most-recently Flight. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | April 10th, 2013  Bryan Fuller, who most-recently manufactured two NBC dramas Mockingbird Lane and Hannibal, is now partnering with Syfy for his next project. The Pushing Daisies creator is set to produce a scripted program called High Moon, based on the best-selling John Christopher novel The Lotus Caves. The effort is billed as an ‘out-of-this-world’ series that explores what happens when nations establish colonies to mine the moon’s resources. They soon discover a new form of life, creating chaos and a thrilling atmosphere. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | March 30th, 2013 One of the more ambitious television projects that has been around in quite some time appears to belong to Syfy. The network partnered with Rift game developer Trion Worlds to launch a joint entertainment experience, one-half TV show, one-half MMORPG. Its basic cable component goes by the name Defiance, and it is a straight sci-fi program set in the year 2046. They seem to be wanting to establish a deep world to explore, but the plot seems to focus on two characters played by True Blood’s Grant Bowler and The Bible’s Stephanie Leonidas as they stumble on a town called Defiance formerly known as St. Louis. More details and the first 14 minutes of the pilot episode after the jump. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | February 11th, 2013 Syfy issued a release on Monday announcing the finalization of a deal to bring Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle to the small screen. The network has partnered with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions and X-File’s producer Frank Spotnitz to back a mini-series based on the award-winning novel. For those not in the know, High Castle features an alternate history in which the Nazis were the victors of World War II. The story takes place in 1962 where fascism rules and Jews are in hiding. More details after the jump. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | January 7th, 2013  Syfy just announced the premiere date for their next ‘big’ scripted television series. Defiance will debut with a two-hour episode on Monday, April 15 at 9 pm. The show comes from Caprica and Battlestar Galactica producers Kevin Murphy and Michael Taylor with the former running the video game-based program. Priest director Scott Stewart helmed the pilot episode making this all the more interesting. Defiance stars Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Stephanie Leonida, Tony Curran, Jaime Murray, Graham Greene, and Mia Kirshner. Hit the jump for some plot details as well as a trailer for those of you who missed out when that debuted back in October. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | November 28th, 2012  Syfy has seen tremendous success with their monopoly on paranormal themed unscripted shows through the years, and they are not about to let up. The cable network has ordered three new programs to fit into this mold to air in the first half of 2013. They are all very much for the Ghost Hunters crowd as indicated by today’s press release after the jump. As far as details are concerned, the series’ include Ghost Mine, Stranded, and Notorious Hauntings–all of which are pretty self-explanatory. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 2nd, 2012  It is official. M. Night Shyamalan’s credibility as a filmmaker is so bad now that the once promising director behind The Sixth Sense is now headed to Syfy–a network known for its mediocre procedural programming. On the plus side, there will be a big fish, small pond scenario here that should really help the NBCUniversal-owned channel’s street cred.
Okay, so before we all groan, let’s take a look at what The Happening director is prepared to throw down. He has partnered with Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Marti Noxon for a scripted series called Proof for which he will direct the pilot episode. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | July 11th, 2012  Syfy’s ability to attract guest stars from other stuff that people are familiar with knows no bounds. The cable network announced today that they have enlisted Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey actor Iain Glen for a guest spot on the upcoming season of Haven. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | June 15th, 2012 Syfy programs are continuing to enlist the help of the genre’s aging heroes as Warehouse 13 has tapped Star Trek: Next Generation’s Brent Spinder for a guest spot on the show’s upcoming fourth season. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | June 12th, 2012  Syfy has a new plan they announced today that will serve to promote their future forays into original movies. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | June 5th, 2012  There is good news to report for fans of Syfy’s Lost Girl. The show has been picked up for a third season with a return scheduled for January of next year. Continue Reading
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