SCI FI Announces Super-Powered Slate
Without the fanfare and noise of the usual Upfronts in New York, SCI FI Channel revealed their new slate of programs for the coming year. There are four new scripted programs plus the already announced “Battlestar Galactica” spin-off “Caprica” and two new reality projects.
SCI FI describes them thusly:
SCRIPTED:
TRUE BELIEVER (2-hour backdoor pilot)
Based on an original concept from Rosario Dawson, David Atchinson (Dawson’s co-author on the Image Comics book Occult Crimes Task Force), Matthew Spradlin and Tom Feister, True Believer is a quirky, contemporary dramedy about a 20-something comic book nerd who hires a washed-up real-life Superhero to be his crime-fighting sidekick and teach him the ropes. Together, this unlikely duo set out to save the World.
THE STRANDED (2-hour pilot)
SCI FI and Virgin Comics joined forces last year to create new comic book titles under the SCI FI/Virgin Comics banner. The titles integrate the unique spirit and vitality of both brands and create intellectual properties that can be developed across all mediums from publishing, film and television to digital and gaming.
Released in January 2008, the debut title The Stranded has been a huge hit, selling out in just a few weeks. SCI FI is now developing the property, written by comic book vet Mike Carey, into a 2-hour pilot.
In The Stranded, five seemingly everyday people must face the terrifying question: what if your entire life – your childhood, your family, your memories – was a lie? For the stranded, Sisera, Endo, Drum, Tamree, and Cullen, it’s true. Each of them is from another world called Standfire, and now their past is returning to try and kill them.
DEPUTIZED (2-hour pilot)
Written by Joe Gazzam, Deputized is a dramedy in which an “average Joe” suddenly finds himself possessing special abilities after being accidentally fitted with an alien exoskeleton that cannot be removed. As a result, he is enlisted to serve on the inter-galactic police force that patrols the universe.
ALICE (6-hour mini-series)
Writer/Director Nick Willing, Executive Producers Robert Halmi, Sr. and Robert Halmi, Jr. (RHI Entertainment) who, with SCI FI, created the most watched program in the Channel’s history (Tin Man), are re-teaming to develop a modern day re-telling of the classic Alice in Wonderland.
REALITY
ESTATE OF PANIC
From the producers of Fear Factor comes the most physically and psychologically challenging competition yet – Estate Of Panic. In the pilot, millions of dollars are hidden in a massive estate and seven strangers are invited to find the money. During the hour, contestants will be challenged in different areas of the house to overcome the terrors that await them at every corner. After each of the three challenges, two people are eliminated adding their money into a pot. The last person standing walks away with everyone’s found money. ( Editor’s Note: Sounds like The CW’s “13″ to me!)
BRAIN TRUST
In Brain Trust, a band of geniuses know as ‘The Trust” are enlisted by everyday people to help find new solutions to some everyday problems. The Trust convenes and collaborates using their creative and intellectual prowess to strategize and solve the problem. The solutions hatched in their genius world are then put to the test. The “Trust” is comprised of; a Mensa member with a perfect SAT score, an award-winning computer scientist/ neuroroboticist, the man with the highest recorded IQ in the United States, a behaviorist and gamer; a math whiz and author, and a successful software developer.
RETURNING SERIES
SCARE TACTICS
Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan (30 Rock) has signed on to host an all-new season of SCI FI Channel’s fan-favorite Scare Tactics. The frighteningly funny hidden camera show is slated to return this year on SCI FI. Set up by friends and loved ones, unsuspecting victims are placed into elaborately staged scary situations involving movie-style special effects and makeup. The horror hoaxes are skillfully designed to tap into the wildest fears of the prank’s prey. Viewers laugh along with the hilarious reactions of the show’s “stars” as they are caught off-guard and on-camera.
MIND CONTROL WITH DERREN BROWN
Last summer, SCI FI Channel introduced mind-blowing British sensation Derren Brown to American audiences; garnering rave reviews, an avid fan base, and Internet buzz. This fall, Mind Control with Derren Brown returns for an all-new second season that will kick off with a “must-be-seen-to-be-believed” special event.
Season 2 will consist of six 1-hour episodes in which Derren Brown demonstrates his beguiling skill of mental persuasion. Described as “part James Bond, part Yoda,” Derren Brown has been astounding U.K. audiences with his numerous television series, specials and sold out live tours. By his own admission, Brown has no paranormal ability; he is not a psychic or medium. Instead, he uses a mixture of suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship to uncannily predict and control human behavior.
Photo: MIND CONTROL WITH DERREN BROWN — Pictured: Derren Brown — SCI FI Channel Photo: Giovanni Rufino
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POSTED IN: In the Works, SCI FI Channel
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