SFTV Roundup & News Tidbits

Taking a break from the Comic Con stuff to update a few things in the SFTV world.

SFTV Schedule Files Updated - The SFTV Schedule files have been updated as of August 4th with current schedule info for upcoming shows. Use the links on the right hand side of the SFTV Blog.

Dresden Files Not Renewed - After what seemed like a long time of "No Decision Has Been Made" responses from the SciFi Channel, they did finally confirm that they have not renewed The Dresden Files for a second season. Reports such as this one by TV Guide's Matt Roush indicate SciFi's costs were higher than they could justify even though the show did comparable ratings to Battlestar Galactica and almost double what Painkiller Jane has been getting. The people running Dresden City have some additional information including a post from Robert Wolfe. Efforts are continuing to get Lionsgate to try to find another home for the series, but indications are they were waiting for SciFi to officially cancel the show and may not have any other potential outlets in mind. The Dresden Files DVD set comes out this week, so if sales are good, Lionheart could look into other possibilities including a direct to DVD release somewhere down the road. In the meantime, the Dresden Files books are still selling strong and Jim Butcher is still planning on continuing the series through 20 books and possibly more. I really think if SciFi had given the show more of a chance, it would have picked up additional viewers, but they seem to be putting a lot of their eggs into the new Flash Gordon series starting this week which there doesn't appear to be real high expectations for from the fan community.

Masters of Science Fiction debuts on ABC - The long awaited Masters of Science Fiction debuts on ABC last night in the 10 pm Saturday time slot. No word yet on how the ratings were but it is unlikely we will see more than the four bought by ANC and the two additional ones produced. The do have a MoSF Blog on TV Guide's web site and the producers have a very good Official Masters of Science Fiction web site with lots of info about the series including the episodes ABC is not airing. ABC has a basic information page on their web site and don't appear to be offering any online episode viewing. As I've indicated before, the show had a lot of promise but I think them going with ABC pretty much killed any likelyhood this will do well enough to be an ongoing series.

Doctor Who Rumors Squelched - One of the British tabloid papers had indicated that at the end of Series Four for the new Doctor Who, David Tennant would be leaving and be replaced by James Nesbitt, currently starring in the BBC series Jekyll with Steven Moffat taking over as showrunner. Moffat posted a message on Outpost Gallifrey stating "The James Nesbitt story is a total fabrication. Made up. A fantasy. Just a guy sitting at a desk and just inventing stuff.I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm getting embarrassed for the deeply wonderful Jimmy Nesbitt. So tell everyone please, cos it's getting very silly. Steven Moffat".

FOX Pushes Back New Amsterdam to Midseason - FOX announced schedule changes this week that took their new series New Amsterdam off of the schedule, pushing it back to mid-season. Also debuting on FOX in mid-season will be The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Pratchett's Colour of Magic filming, Hogfather to debut in US on Ion. Currently filming in the UK is a new miniseries based on Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic, the book that introduced Pratchett's Discworld series. It will air on Sky One in the UK this fall. Sean Astin is Twoflower, the first Discworld tourist, David Jason is the wizzard Rincewind, Tim Curry is Trymon, and Christopher Lee is doing the voice of Death. The Hogfather miniseries produced last year for Sky One will be airing in the US on Ion TV as part of the RHI Weekend movie package. The producers are looking to first distribute The Colour of Magic as a movie first. This past week, a group of fans got to be extras in a crowd scene. Be on the lookout for some reports on the filming....

Lee