Thanks to Ron Wolfe, here is a summary of this Summer & Fall's sci-fi/fantasy programming line-up:
Mondays
8-9 Fathom (NBC) new
Ever wonder what life would be like if a new form of sea life began to appear in locales all over the earth? In this expansive drama, those who are about to find out include some naval officers in the South Antarctic Sea, a family in San Diego, scientists from the Oceanographic Institute in Monterey, and fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico. The seemingly innocent creatures they find are beautiful and kids may even want to play with them -- but is there something more to them? One thing's for sure - they're full of surprises as viewers can embark on this unfathomable journey to discover what might be lurking in the sea.
Tuesdays
9-10 Supernatural (WB) new
A journey into the dark world of the unexplained that will deliver the terror of films like “The Ring” and “The Grudge. ” Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki, “Gilmore Girls”) has done his best to escape his family's eerie history, but, along with his older brother Dean (Jensen Ackles, “Smallville”), Sam is bound by tragedy and blood to a dangerous, other-worldly mission. Criss-crossing the mysterious back roads of the country in their `67 Chevy Impala, the Winchester brothers search for their missing father – and hunt down every evil supernatural force they encounter along the way. From Warner Bros. Television Production Inc. in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision, with executive producers McG (“Charlie's Angels” “The O.C. ”), writer/executive producer Eric Kripke (‘Boogeyman") and director/executive producer David Nutter (“Without a Trace, ” “Smallville, ” “Roswell, ” “Band of Brothers, ” “The West Wing, ” “ER, ” “The X Files”).
Wednesdays
9-10 Lost (ABC)
9-10 Invasion (ABC) new
For centuries man has searched the skies for signs of intelligent life… but to no avail.
What if the explanation lay in the fact that aliens were already here... already among us? And what if all of the natural disasters we’ve been experiencing of late were smokescreens designed to mask something far more ominous?
When yet another devastating hurricane threatens Florida, temporarily cutting off a small town at the edge of the Everglades, U.S. Park Ranger Russell Poole takes heroic measures to keep both the town’s citizens and his family safe. In the middle of the violent storm, his young daughter is the only one to see small lights floating towards the water, seemingly unaffected by the vicious winds. At the time he thinks nothing of her claim, but begins to suspect that something may indeed be amiss when his missing ex-wife is found naked, with no memory of what happened during the storm.
As the tiny town struggles to recover while his nemesis, the Sheriff, quarantines the entire area, Poole begins to investigate the strange goings on, unwittingly beginning a fight for the survival of the human race.
Veteran writer/producer Shaun Cassidy and celebrated director Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing”) bring you the suspenseful tale of a blended family that finds itself at the center of a conspiracy to mask an alien takeover that is happening one neighbor at a time.
Cast:
William Fichtner (“Black Hawk Down”): Sheriff Underlay
Eddie Cibrian (“Third Watch”): Russell
Kari Matchett: Mariel
Lisa Sheridan: Larkin
Tyler Labine (“That Was Then”): Dave
Alexis Dziena: Kira
Evan Peters (“The Days”): Jesse
Ariel Gade: Rose
Thursdays
8-9 Alias (ABC)
8-9 Smallville (WB)
About to begin its fifth season on The WB, “Smallville” is coming off a great year that continued to explore the mythology of the early days of the Clark Kent character. More exciting pieces of the puzzle will be revealed next season when Clark finds himself transported to the Fortress of Solitude.
9-10 The Night Stalker (ABC) new
When a pregnant woman is snatched from her home, the shocked citizens of L.A. believe it’s an act of domestic violence. But crime reporter Carl Kolchak suspects that the truth is far more complicated. That’s because 18 months ago Kolchak’s wife was killed in a bizarre fashion and he has been the FBI’s no. 1 suspect ever since.
Kolchak's determination to find the truth behind his wife's mysterious murder has led him to investigate other crimes that seem to have some kind of supernatural component. But he's trying to piece together a puzzle that keeps changing shape. Who or what is committing these crimes? How are they all related? And why do some victims end up with a strange red mark on their hands in the shape of a snake? With sidekick Perri Reed, a sexy if skeptical fellow reporter in tow, Kolchak will go to any lengths to answer these questions. But when he does discover the truth – will anyone believe him?
Cast:
Stuart Townsend (“League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”): Carl Kolchak
Gabrielle Union (“Something the Lord Made”): Perri Reed
Eric Jungmann (“Not Another Teen Movie”): Jain McManus
Cotter Smith (“X2”): Tony Vincenzo
Credits:
Executive Producer/Writer: Frank Spotnitz (“The X Files”)
Executive Producer/Director: Daniel Sackheim (“The X Files”)
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Fridays
8-9 Stargate SG-1 (Scifi) [July 15]
new Ben Browder, Beau Bridges and Claudia Black join the cast
8-9 Ghost Whisperer (CBS) new
vehicle based on the work of James Van Praagh about a newlywed communicating with dead people who have not quite crossed over to the other side.
9-10 Stargate Atlantis (Scifi) [July 15]
new Mitch Pileggi (x-files) Jason Momoa (Baywatch)
9-10 Threshold (CBS) new
Carla Gugino ("Sin City"), Charles S. Dutton ("Something the Lord Made"), Brian Van Holt ("House of Wax"), Robert Patrick Benedict ("Felicity") and Brent Spiner ("The Aviator") in a suspenseful drama about a team of experts who are assembled when the U.S. Navy makes a chilling discovery: an extra terrestrial craft has landed in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey (Gugino) is a government contingency analyst whose job is to devise response plans for worst-case scenarios. When her plan called THRESHOLD is activated upon the news of the UFO, she and her hand-picked team of eclectic specialists get to work deciphering the intention of the craft and preparing for the possibility of a crisis situation -- an alien invasion. Brannon Braga ("Enterprise"), David Heyman ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") and David Goyer ("Blade: Trinity") are executive producers for Paramount Network Television.
10-11 Battlestar Galactica (Scifi) [July 15]
Saturdays
9-11 Scifi movies (Scifi)
Sundays
8-9 Charmed (WB)
Returning for its eighth season, “Charmed, ” starring Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs, has been a success story for The WB from day one. Sure to shake things up for the Charmed Ones, actor and “Extra” host Mark McGrath will join the cast next season. Taking a comedic turn at 9:00, Sundays will feature back-to-back episodes of the increasingly popular sketch comedy show, “Blue Collar TV, ” starring Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy
9-10 The 4400 (USA) [June 5]
Returning for its second season
We have had a "feature" article about the declining number of episodes per season available for reading for a number of years (see "Who's Playing Who?" in our Feature Articles section.) Becasue of the smaller number of episodes, viewers of the 2001-2 season have been subjected to multi-week pre-empting and numerous re-runs during the season, interrupting the flow of any show substantially.
The typical "season" is 18, 20 or 22 episodes. So when we recently realized that Enterprise will air 26 episodes this season, it caught our attention.
Actually the count is 25 episodes including the two-hour pilot. Even so, that harkens of the "days of old" when a season flowed from a September debut to the December holiday re-runs to more new episodes until the season ender in May and finally the inevitable summer re-runs. But that didn't happen this season for Enterprise.
Twenty-six episodes! It is very telling of the commitment that Paramount made to the series and UPN made to its affiliates. But the fact that the season has been chuckfull of re-runs might also show the lack of concern UPN has had for fans.
Or maybe it is that UPN has been in flux. With new management canceling Special Unit 2 and putting the few remaining episodes of Wolf Lake in its place, there certainly was not enough new material to cover both time slots through late May.
And May is THE sweeps month upon which networks earn their reps, stations gain their new ad rates and new seasons are based. So it is no surprise that some weeks in May will have TWO new first-run episodes of Enterprise, back-to-back.
Still and all, we have had problems this season being faithful viewers of most series, including Enterprise. Some weeks there were too many new episodes in the same time slots (for example, Alias vs. The X-Files vs. Six Feet Under.) Too many times, we sat down to watch an episode only to think "Oh... yeah... this week is a re-run" and changed channels at that point. Worse yet, how many weeks did we find a show pre-empted, again and again, only to find that we missed the next new episode when the show finally re-surfaced? Too many!
If genre programming now finds itself struggling for ratings, surely one reason has to be this lack of concern for the viewership when weekly schedules are created. A better solution is needed, possibly having TWO distinct seasons per year, each with 13 or more episodes per series (like Witchblade or The Sopranos.) This may not be an affordable option for the traditional networks, but those with their own production houses, like FOX and Viacom might be able to do "Showtime-like" deals, where a series is first shown on a premium cable channel and then air the same series on a broadcast network.
We can only hope that some people in the business read this or maybe some fans contact those folks to make them aware of the problem. Without some attention to it, the trend towards fewer episodes per season can only lead to fewer viewers who will remember to watch a series week after week. Fewer viewers not only mean more canceled shows, but lower ad revenues for TV stations. You'd think someone would at least be concerned about that.
