Sci Fi Channel's Future: Alice, Stranded And Scare Tactics

By Steve West: 2008-03-19 15:05:58

Last night’s Sci Fi Channel upfronts were not exclusively about Battlestar Galactica. The network has a slew of other programming coming back or premiering in the next year that they hope will continue the success of the Sci Fi brand. I’m just hoping that anything can catch fire like BSG, because I want to love this network. I’m a huge sci fi fan, but too often we get disappointment that proves shows like BSG and Eureka are too often the exception. So, let’s take a look at the Sci Fi Channel’s upcoming year to determine how great things might be.

Last year’s Mind Control with Derren Brown returns again with a second season of 6 one-hour episodes. To kick off the second season this fall Derren Brown will appear in a “must-be-seen-to-be-believed” special event. I have no idea what that could mean. Also coming back is the piddle inducing Scare Tactics. The hidden camera show first appeared back in 2003 on Sci Fi, and the horror hoax reality program returns with host Tracy Morgan (30 Rock).

Two new reality programs are also on the way to Sci Fi this year. Estate of Panic, from the producers of Fear Factor, follows contestants as they search for a fortune in a huge estate. They’ll have to face challenges and horrors throughout the mansion, and the brief clips shown at the event last night make this look like the ultimate cheese fest…or honest fun. Brain Trust has some geniuses solving everyday problems. It’s almost like Myth Busters, except the Trust includes a Mensa member, a neuroboticist and the man with the highest IQ in the United States. The group gets together to solve the problem and then test their solutions.

I had no idea what to expect when it was announced that Rosario Dawson was producing a backdoor pilot for Sci Fi. First of all, I’d been caught with a piece of shrimp in my mouth as I coughed. So that didn’t help at all. True Believer’s premise almost makes me a believer, despite the near asphyxiation. The dramedy is about a 20-something comic nerd who hires a washed-up real-life hero to be his sidekick. It sounds so emphatically geeky and wonderful that I want it to succeeed. And Dawson has worked in comics with Occult Crimes Task Force. Her co-author on that series, David Atchinson, is also on board with True Believer.

The Stranded started out in comic form as a joint venture between Sci Fi and Virgin Comics. Now the series is being made into a 2-hour pilot, being written by Mike Carey. The show will follow the same story as the comic, asking what if your entire life was a lie. Sisera, Endo, Drum, Tamree and Cullen find out as their past comes back to haunt them. Deputized is another dramedy that finds a run-of-the-mill fellow being fitted with an alien exoskeleton that can’t be removed. He joins the intergalactic police force. Um…yeah. This doesn’t sound at all like it’ll fail. Hey, if I couldn’t get behind M.A.N.T.I.S., why would I get behind another exoskeleton story?

Finally there’s Tin Man. Last year it became the most watched program in Sci Fi’s history, and the creators have gone ahead and re-teamed to bring Alice in Wonderland to life. Like Tin Man, Alice will be a modern retelling of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale.

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