TV

What to watch on TV: New and returning sci fi in 2017

Posted on by earthtoshawna

I’ve more or less given up on George R.R. Martin’s “Winds of Winter” (the next book in the series on which “Game of Thrones” is based) but at least we can depend on HBO to satisfy our need for dragons and dire wolves. I’m really excited for Season 7, which is expected to come later than usual this year (in the summer rather than the spring). We’re also going to have to savor it not only because this will be the penultimate season but because the last two seasons will have fewer than the usual 10 episodes.

We will have to say farewell to our favorite clones this year, with the fifth and final season of “Orphan Black” (BBC America). The last few seasons premiered in April, so we can probably expect the show to return in April.

If you like quirky comedy, I recommend “People of Earth” (on TBS), about a support group for people who have been abducted by aliens. I wasn’t sure at first what to make of this weird show, but it’s grown on me, and I will be watching for the second season. It will likely be back in the fall.

“The Expanse” (Syfy) will return on Feb. 1 – finally! I’ve almost forgotten what happened last season, since it has been nearly a year since the Season 1 finale. It took a while for the plot to gain momentum in the first season, so here’s hoping the second season hits the ground running.

A new Star Trek series is coming in May. “Star Trek: Discovery” will air on CBS All Access and Netflix. Taking on a beloved franchise like Star Trek is risky. Hopefully the show’s creators Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman are up to the task. Sonequa Martin-Green (“The Walking Dead”) will play the lead role; Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones, and Anthony Rapp also star.

A new mini-series, “Electric Dreams: The World of Philip K. Dick,” is expected to come out sometimes this year. You may recognize the name Philip K. Dick – he wrote the stories behind so many science-fiction films: “Total Recall,” “Blade Runner,” “Minority Report,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” and “Paycheck,” to name a few. The popular Amazon series “The Man in the High Castle” is also based on one of Dick’s novels.

philip-k-dick

Philip K. Dick

“Electric Dreams” is produced by Ronald D. Moore (“Battlestar Galactica,” “Outlander”), Michael Dinner, and Bryan Cranston, who will also appear in one of the episodes, each of which is a stand-alone drama.

There is no air date as of yet, but it is slated to premiere on Channel 4 in the UK and distributed internationally by Sony Pictures Television.

I can barely keep up with all the new series out right now. Two that I have been wanting to watch but haven’t yet are “Travelers” (Netflix) and “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” (BBC America).

The latter might sound familiar to you, as it is also a Douglas Adams novel, which has been adapted to TV before – in 2010 on BBC. (Adams also wrote the novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” which was also adapted to a BBC TV series, as well as a movie, in 2005.)

Photo at top: Dominique Tipper and Steven Strait star in “The Expanse,” on Syfy. “Game of Thrones” photo, HBO. 

P.S. Check out this recap for Syfy’s “The Expanse.”

Check out these binge-worthy sci-fi, fantasy TV series

Posted on by earthtoshawna

  1. “Battlestar Galactica.” There are four seasons, but you have to start with the miniseries. My favorite TV show of all time, it stars Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and so many other great actors. It is epic, dramatic, suspenseful, and just plain awesome. So say we all!
  2. “Star Trek.” Any and all. I came in at “Deep Space Nine,” so I’m more a fan of the later series. I sometimes think if I had watched Star Trek when I was younger, I would have set my sights on science, rather than journalism.
  3. “Game of Thrones” is the first science fiction-fantasy series ever to win an Emmy for best drama, so you know it’s something special. GoT has knights, dragons, wolves, witches, giants, and ice zombies, and the special effects are amazing. But the real magic is the plotting and political intrigue, and the stellar performances of the ensemble cast. My one complaint is that HBO goes too far sometimes, adding violent scenes that weren’t in the books.
  4. “Orphan Black.” If you haven’t seen this BBC show yet, you’re in for a treat. Tatiana Maslany stars as a young mother and con woman who has just discovered she’s a clone – one of many. And then the plot thickens. Stick with it; it keeps getting better.
  5. “Heroes.” With the “Heroes Reborn” premiere this week, what better time to re-watch the original series, about ordinary people discovering they have random superpowers? The series has a huge cast of great actors playing interesting characters, and Zachary Quinto (who plays Spock in the new Star Trek films) is amazing as psychotic supervillain Sylar.
  6. “The 4400.” This series drew a lot of comparisons to “Heroes” but actually came first. In the pilot episode, 4,400 people suddenly appear near Mount Rainier. All of them have disappeared at some point during the past 50 years, but no one knows where they have been all this time, or how they got back, and some of them have returned with special abilities.
  7. “Life on Mars.” Jason O’Mara plays a New York City cop who is hit by a car in 2008 and wakes up in 1973. I’m a sucker for a good time travel tale. It was canceled after one season, and some say it wasn’t good as the BBC version, but I ask of you, did the BBC version have Harvey Keitel?
  8. “Caprica.” I didn’t love this prequel series as much as the series from which it was spun, but it satisfied my craving for more “Battlestar Galactica.” Starring Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Paula Malcomson, Alessandra Torresani and Polly Walker, “Caprica” tells the story of how the Cylons were created.
  9. “Defying Gravity.” Another good show that was canceled after one season, “Defying Gravity” starred Ron Livingston as one of eight astronauts on a mysterious six-year mission. This was pitched as “Grey’s Anatomy in outer space,” which may have sold the series, but was maybe also its downfall.
  10. “Dr. Who.” I confess I have only seen one season of this goofy time-travel series, but I’m planning to go back and watch more. It’s on my list.

(Photo: “Battlestar Galactica,” Syfy)

Will Tatiana Maslany win Emmy for ‘Orphan Black’?

Posted on by earthtoshawna

If you are a fan of “Orphan Black,” you may have thought, “Wow, that actress really deserves an Emmy.” 
Well, Tatiana Maslany has finally been nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. 
Maslany plays Sarah, a British punk rock mom who discovers she’s a clone – one of many, and she plays all of them. You know she’s doing an amazing job when you forget they are all the same person in real life. It’s an addictive series –  gritty and suspenseful, but with plenty of comic relief. I don’t want to give anything away, but I highly recommend putting it on your short list for what to binge watch next.
Another one of my favorite shows, Game of Thrones, was nominated for 24 awards this year. Among the nominations are Outstanding Drama Series, a Best Supporting Actor nod for the incomparable Peter Dinklage, who won an Emmy for his role as Tyrion Lannister in 2011, and nods for Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, and Diana Rigg.
Game of Thrones has also been nominated for cinematography, production design, writing (D.B. Weiss and David Benioff) and direction (David Nutter) awards.
The HBO series swept the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday. Will they sweep the Primetime Emmys? Tune in to the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on FOX, Sunday, Sept. 20, to find out.
 
New TV series
 
Here are a few of the new shows I will be checking out this fall. I use the term “new” loosely, as all of the following are adaptations of other TV shows and movies – but they are great stories, so let’s hope the TV shows will be too.
  
Monday, Sept. 21
“Minority Report” (FOX) is a sequel adaptation of the 1956 Philip K. Dick story and the 2002 film (Steven Spielberg). In the movie, Tom Cruise starred as the Chief of PreCrime, a police force that aimed to stop crimes before they were committed, through the use of “precogs,” mutant siblings who can see the future.  The TV series, set 11 years after the events in the movie, focuses on a precog named Dash, played by Stark Sands.  
 
Tuesday, Sept. 22

“Limitless” (CBS) is a sequel based on the 2011 film of the same name. The story revolves around a drug called NZT-48 which increases the user’s IQ and gives him a photographic memory. The main character in the series is Brian Finch, played by Jake McDorman. Bradley Cooper, who starred in the movie, will have a recurring role.  

Thursday, Sept. 24
“Heroes Reborn” (NBC), a 13-episode miniseries, is a continuation of the show “Heroes” (2006-2010). Some of the original actors will reprise their roles, including Jack Coleman as Noah Bennet, Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura, Jimmy Jean-Louis as The Haitian, Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman, Noah Gray-Cabey as Micah Sanders, and Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh. 
 
guardians-of-the-galaxy-full
Saturday, Sept. 26
“Guardians of the Galaxy” (Disney XD) is an animated spinoff of the comic book and film of the same name. Stephen Wacker, Marvel’s vice president for current animation, has said the series would strive to replicate the film’s offbeat sense of humor, and would pick up where the movie left off.
(Photos: BBC America; Disney XD)